ya, pretty sure the ESRB rating system is voluntary and no company has to get their game rated. Though not sure if Sony/MS/Nintendo require it to make a game for their system. If not, then the way things are going, companies are going to start putting their own ratings on their games, or no rating at all. The ESRB is going way too far, lately. That trailer posted in the first comment was lame. No wonder why there's been talk about replacing the ESRB...
I agree. I can't stand the iPod (which a lot of/.ers have fetishes for) Most of Apple's UI's are disgusting to me. (read: all) iTunes is a POS and DRM only? bleh. Oh, and the iMoniker just makes me want to flog Jobs with a fish...
My PSP can play music (I don't ever have an urge to listen to 30GB of music anyway, 1-4GB is more than enough) and can play games. Yes, their games library is a bit shoddy and Sony shoots themselves in the foot over marketing and the poor choices they make. Even so, the PSP is much better in my eyes than most other music/video players out there.
Now, if they would only sell DVD/UMD combos for a few dollars more than a DVD alone, I might buy a few... oh, and the stop gimping their hardward, that would be nice, too:/....it's still better in my opinion than much of what is out there.
They aren't buying BR diodes from an internal section of Sony. They are buying from another company who has had shortages. There is nothing they can do about price when they aren't setting it. They need BR diodes and the company that sells to Sony has set the prices of them high because of high cost of production. For once, it's not totally Sony's fault.
I, for one, believe that HD won't go anywhere until someone tries to push it through and I commend Sony on trying. The 360 is getting slapped around by some because of no HDD and HD-DVD as built in all units. The only thing wrong with the PS3 is Sony's marketing department. Sony has an amazing product and they're shooting themselves in the foot. The game dev's that are complaining are just not used to this new architecture. It's like jumping from Cray to x86. They're just very different. There is nothing wrong with this, they just need time to adjust and saying that it was a mistake just because some game dev's don't want to learn something new is shortsighted.
I went to LHS, the first high school mentioned in the article and honestly, the staff they had were very lazy, the teachers knew next to nothing about computers, and not all students even had laptops. I was in the class just before they started the program (my brother was in the first class allowed to sign up for the laptop program) so I ended up buying my own laptop to bring to school for personal use.
The problems with the network staff at the school were any problems, they would blame the student and just re-image the system. Now, re-imaging is a quick solution but blaming the student wasn't fair. Also, they made the students pay ~$900 for the laptop which wasn't work $400 in my opinion. I believe in the first version of the laptop, it was an IBM thinkpad celeron 500-700 I believe. (I'm probably wrong) It made the system virtually useless outside of typing where you could buy your own system for marginally more money, get to keep it, and have it much more useful.
The biggest problem was allowing free access the the wireless network and then complaining when all of the students played Counter Strike during Academic Study (a 2hr study hall every other day for all students) so students doing any legitimate work wouldn't be able to because of the network being overloaded. Also, the teachers didn't know much about computers, which wasn't their fault but implementing a laptop program without training the teachers first is a bit useless.
Putting into place access restrictions and blocking net traffic with decent tools would have fixed a lot of the problems they had. Also, mandating that each student be given a laptop would have helped teachers since all of them would be working with students who had them. Since it wasn't mandatory (when I was there) a lot of students who couldn't afford them were left out which segmented the student body. However, using laptops in classes that aren't technical classes is a bit difficult. If they didn't expect this problem when they started the program, then they were blind. I had my laptop in my Computer Science 3-4 class and I got a lot of work done; but I also played a lot of Diablo 2 during classes. However, it did make keeping track of my notes a lot easier than stuffing them into my backpack. The laptops do get in the way more than help but the problems with overwhelmed networking staff, sub-par equipment, flaky networks (which could have been fixed with better restrictions on access), and uselessness in the classroom made these programs doomed from the start.
Re:To advance, correct errors rather than drag it.
on
The Future of the PSP
·
· Score: 1, Insightful
You want a bigger screen yet make it lighter? You must be a PR person where you work....
"Well, we just promised that this device will manufacture gold. Make it happen"
A bigger screen would be nice but I like the slight heft it has and UMD really isn't that big of a problem. Honestly, I see more problem with memory sticks being erased. And just because you'd rather use a different type of memory stick doesn't mean Sony will put in an 8-1 reader for whoever is out there that doesn't like the format they choose.
Why do all of you blame young people who are illiterate or too poor or whatever your fake reasons are? How about the large number of 60+ people in this country. Do you all want to be tech supporting your grandparents? I know I don't... there's nothing wrong about not having internet even if a lot of the people they asked are between 20 and 40. Why is this even a story? Just because most of the people at/. think everything from the toaster to the bedspread should have an IP address (which if they connect everything to the internet I'm gonna because a hermit) doesn't mean everyone else has to agree with you or even give a shit.
Isn't the ESRB a rating the game companies choose to use on their own? I don't even think it's required by anything that a game be certified by them. If some law requires the ESRB to do something, couldn't companies just decide not to have their games reviewed?
Well, couldn't this be potentially dangerous? Creating random DNA molecules or changing existing bacteria could potentially create some very infectious disease. It doesn't sound like the best idea; even if the chance is remote...
I can't stand light controllers. I don't like anything that doesn't have some weight to it; makes it feel cheap and not really there. I want something that will hold my hands down so when I use it, I don't feel like I am just pushing air.
Why do people keep complaining about the DVD functionality of the PS2? I have been using my launch-day PS2 to watch DVDs since launch. I also don't think that they're launching it as a Blu-Ray player first and console second but having the Blu-Ray functionality for a fraction of the price is definetely a good deal. If you don't want the blu-ray player, don't buy it. They're trying to get a "media center" type system into homes. It'll probably act as a DVR as well... and with the rumors around about it being able to support linux and homebrew stuff, and the upgrade potential for the core system (no HDMI upgrade but meh...) I think you all are a bit critical of Sony. They haven't been doing well marketing it, but it's not a bad setup for the price they're asking... you all are just being stubborn >.>
The lag from the accelerometer was still not because it was "unfinished" but because it was a demo on a big screen since the PA guy didn't have any trouble in the version he played. I was guessing about the rumble, it interfering makes sense, though. If the pack moves on you.... you kinda lose fine controls >.>
The E3 demo was laggy, but one of the Penny Arcade guys got to play the game and he said there was no lag whatsoever. The reason that they probably left the rumble out (if they did... I read someone say that, didn't read it anywhere) was because a small company said they had the rights to the patent and Sony probably didn't want to pay them.
The way I see it is that they should Sell DVD's for, lets say $20 (or whatever) Now, instead of selling the UMD for $20, they should sell a DVD+UMD bundle for $25 or so. The UMD idea is great, but if the PSP is the only thing I can view it on, it's not worth $20+
I don't want to HAVE to download software. What if the company that distributes it online goes out of business? Then I have no way of getting that software if my system needs to be reinstalled. I'd still have to make backups of what I buy; I'll take driving to the store. Hell, if you're that lazy, order it online... they'll ship it right to you.
I'm not a physicist, just your average CS student but everytime I think about Time Travel, I think about that Van Damme movie, Timecop I think? You know the one, he time travels and can't touch himself because it'll destroy him. Well, how far off is that?
The Law of Conservation of Energy states:
"The Law of Conservation of Energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but can change its form."
So, how I see it is that every moment in Time has a set amount of energy. (Could be wrong >.>) If I moved forward or backwards in time, I would effectively be destroying energy at one moment and creating it somewhere else. Seems to break a fundamental law of physics to me...
Let's let China run it. Then, we don't have to worry about other countries yelling at the US because it will all be censored and we would never find out >.>
Yeah, I did as well. As did the previous two parent posts about this book. (Which I replied to instead of starting my own post) Please read posts beforehand (or do a find) before posting on a certain topic:/
Yeah, I read The Terminal Man and it didn't seem like it worked too well then.... though I heard about some rats with an electrode attached to the "pleasure center" of their brains and everytime they hit a switch, they would get a shock. Needless to say, the rats died of heart attacks, I believe. Good way to go if you ask me.
Actually, I remember an anime fansub group did this for april fools one year. They translated it right, but they made it sound really weird. ie. instead of "Let's go to the store" they would sub something like "we gotta go to the pub and get a drink" it was hilarious. They then released a REAL version the next day. It was great, though. I don't remember what series/fansub group did it, though. Anyone know what I'm talking about? I wanna say Naruto or something, but it's been a while.
The anime that I would put at the top of my list, about half of it would have huge eyes and be hysterical (to me). The other half would be serious and, yes, look a little similar, but Not be nearly as bad as most people make it out to be. Some of my favorite anime are: Kenshin, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, Azumanga Daioh, Trigun, Slayers, Hikaru no Go, and a few others I can't think about right now. There is a lot of anime that have amazing storylines. Cowboy Bebop and GiTS are two of them. If you can tell from my username, I LOVE Rurouni Kenshin. Sometimes they drop into the big eyes, retarded anime char idea to get a few laughs; but that anime taught me a lot of what I needed to know in order to pass that section of my history class (Meiji Revolution int Japan for those that don't know) Most anime that have the big eyes and characters that look 14 are for children. Thus why they sound, act, and look like children. On the other hand, there is a lot of anime that was never intended for children (and I'm not talking about XXX anime).
Re:Big eyes + Adult voices == Weird.
on
The Business of Anime
·
· Score: 1, Informative
Well, first off, only dubbed anime uses weird sounding voices. Original Japanese vioces, at least to most people I know, don't sound at all bad; especially compared to dubbed anime.
Second, not ALL anime is based on "tired cliches, underage girls" There are a lot of really good anime out there that have envolving plots and are probably better than the crap that is made in the US.
I will again say that there is anime like what you brought up, but not ALL of it is. I really wish people would get off the stereotype train most americans seem to be on...
Slashdot Mirror
ya, pretty sure the ESRB rating system is voluntary and no company has to get their game rated. Though not sure if Sony/MS/Nintendo require it to make a game for their system. If not, then the way things are going, companies are going to start putting their own ratings on their games, or no rating at all. The ESRB is going way too far, lately. That trailer posted in the first comment was lame. No wonder why there's been talk about replacing the ESRB...
I agree. I can't stand the iPod (which a lot of /.ers have fetishes for) Most of Apple's UI's are disgusting to me. (read: all) iTunes is a POS and DRM only? bleh. Oh, and the iMoniker just makes me want to flog Jobs with a fish...
:/ ....it's still better in my opinion than much of what is out there.
My PSP can play music (I don't ever have an urge to listen to 30GB of music anyway, 1-4GB is more than enough) and can play games. Yes, their games library is a bit shoddy and Sony shoots themselves in the foot over marketing and the poor choices they make. Even so, the PSP is much better in my eyes than most other music/video players out there.
Now, if they would only sell DVD/UMD combos for a few dollars more than a DVD alone, I might buy a few... oh, and the stop gimping their hardward, that would be nice, too
They aren't buying BR diodes from an internal section of Sony. They are buying from another company who has had shortages. There is nothing they can do about price when they aren't setting it. They need BR diodes and the company that sells to Sony has set the prices of them high because of high cost of production. For once, it's not totally Sony's fault.
I, for one, believe that HD won't go anywhere until someone tries to push it through and I commend Sony on trying. The 360 is getting slapped around by some because of no HDD and HD-DVD as built in all units. The only thing wrong with the PS3 is Sony's marketing department. Sony has an amazing product and they're shooting themselves in the foot. The game dev's that are complaining are just not used to this new architecture. It's like jumping from Cray to x86. They're just very different. There is nothing wrong with this, they just need time to adjust and saying that it was a mistake just because some game dev's don't want to learn something new is shortsighted.
I went to LHS, the first high school mentioned in the article and honestly, the staff they had were very lazy, the teachers knew next to nothing about computers, and not all students even had laptops. I was in the class just before they started the program (my brother was in the first class allowed to sign up for the laptop program) so I ended up buying my own laptop to bring to school for personal use.
The problems with the network staff at the school were any problems, they would blame the student and just re-image the system. Now, re-imaging is a quick solution but blaming the student wasn't fair. Also, they made the students pay ~$900 for the laptop which wasn't work $400 in my opinion. I believe in the first version of the laptop, it was an IBM thinkpad celeron 500-700 I believe. (I'm probably wrong) It made the system virtually useless outside of typing where you could buy your own system for marginally more money, get to keep it, and have it much more useful.
The biggest problem was allowing free access the the wireless network and then complaining when all of the students played Counter Strike during Academic Study (a 2hr study hall every other day for all students) so students doing any legitimate work wouldn't be able to because of the network being overloaded. Also, the teachers didn't know much about computers, which wasn't their fault but implementing a laptop program without training the teachers first is a bit useless.
Putting into place access restrictions and blocking net traffic with decent tools would have fixed a lot of the problems they had. Also, mandating that each student be given a laptop would have helped teachers since all of them would be working with students who had them. Since it wasn't mandatory (when I was there) a lot of students who couldn't afford them were left out which segmented the student body. However, using laptops in classes that aren't technical classes is a bit difficult. If they didn't expect this problem when they started the program, then they were blind. I had my laptop in my Computer Science 3-4 class and I got a lot of work done; but I also played a lot of Diablo 2 during classes. However, it did make keeping track of my notes a lot easier than stuffing them into my backpack. The laptops do get in the way more than help but the problems with overwhelmed networking staff, sub-par equipment, flaky networks (which could have been fixed with better restrictions on access), and uselessness in the classroom made these programs doomed from the start.
You want a bigger screen yet make it lighter? You must be a PR person where you work....
"Well, we just promised that this device will manufacture gold. Make it happen"
A bigger screen would be nice but I like the slight heft it has and UMD really isn't that big of a problem. Honestly, I see more problem with memory sticks being erased. And just because you'd rather use a different type of memory stick doesn't mean Sony will put in an 8-1 reader for whoever is out there that doesn't like the format they choose.
Why do all of you blame young people who are illiterate or too poor or whatever your fake reasons are? How about the large number of 60+ people in this country. Do you all want to be tech supporting your grandparents? I know I don't... there's nothing wrong about not having internet even if a lot of the people they asked are between 20 and 40. Why is this even a story? Just because most of the people at /. think everything from the toaster to the bedspread should have an IP address (which if they connect everything to the internet I'm gonna because a hermit) doesn't mean everyone else has to agree with you or even give a shit.
Isn't the ESRB a rating the game companies choose to use on their own? I don't even think it's required by anything that a game be certified by them. If some law requires the ESRB to do something, couldn't companies just decide not to have their games reviewed?
Well, couldn't this be potentially dangerous? Creating random DNA molecules or changing existing bacteria could potentially create some very infectious disease. It doesn't sound like the best idea; even if the chance is remote...
ok.... why does the /. crowd overuse acronyms? Why can't they just spell it out for people who aren't as "cool" as everyone else....
I can't stand light controllers. I don't like anything that doesn't have some weight to it; makes it feel cheap and not really there. I want something that will hold my hands down so when I use it, I don't feel like I am just pushing air.
....not really. Could care less what others think about what I say. Which is why I don't post everything I think on the interweb.
I really don't like Blogs. The word sound childish and lame, and I don't care at all about what others say; especially if it is about themselves.
Why do people keep complaining about the DVD functionality of the PS2? I have been using my launch-day PS2 to watch DVDs since launch. I also don't think that they're launching it as a Blu-Ray player first and console second but having the Blu-Ray functionality for a fraction of the price is definetely a good deal. If you don't want the blu-ray player, don't buy it. They're trying to get a "media center" type system into homes. It'll probably act as a DVR as well... and with the rumors around about it being able to support linux and homebrew stuff, and the upgrade potential for the core system (no HDMI upgrade but meh...) I think you all are a bit critical of Sony. They haven't been doing well marketing it, but it's not a bad setup for the price they're asking... you all are just being stubborn >.>
The lag from the accelerometer was still not because it was "unfinished" but because it was a demo on a big screen since the PA guy didn't have any trouble in the version he played. I was guessing about the rumble, it interfering makes sense, though. If the pack moves on you.... you kinda lose fine controls >.>
The E3 demo was laggy, but one of the Penny Arcade guys got to play the game and he said there was no lag whatsoever. The reason that they probably left the rumble out (if they did... I read someone say that, didn't read it anywhere) was because a small company said they had the rights to the patent and Sony probably didn't want to pay them.
The way I see it is that they should Sell DVD's for, lets say $20 (or whatever) Now, instead of selling the UMD for $20, they should sell a DVD+UMD bundle for $25 or so. The UMD idea is great, but if the PSP is the only thing I can view it on, it's not worth $20+
I don't want to HAVE to download software. What if the company that distributes it online goes out of business? Then I have no way of getting that software if my system needs to be reinstalled. I'd still have to make backups of what I buy; I'll take driving to the store. Hell, if you're that lazy, order it online... they'll ship it right to you.
I'm not a physicist, just your average CS student but everytime I think about Time Travel, I think about that Van Damme movie, Timecop I think? You know the one, he time travels and can't touch himself because it'll destroy him. Well, how far off is that?
The Law of Conservation of Energy states:
"The Law of Conservation of Energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but can change its form."
So, how I see it is that every moment in Time has a set amount of energy. (Could be wrong >.>) If I moved forward or backwards in time, I would effectively be destroying energy at one moment and creating it somewhere else. Seems to break a fundamental law of physics to me...
Let's let China run it. Then, we don't have to worry about other countries yelling at the US because it will all be censored and we would never find out >.>
Yeah, I did as well. As did the previous two parent posts about this book. (Which I replied to instead of starting my own post) Please read posts beforehand (or do a find) before posting on a certain topic :/
Yeah, I read The Terminal Man and it didn't seem like it worked too well then.... though I heard about some rats with an electrode attached to the "pleasure center" of their brains and everytime they hit a switch, they would get a shock. Needless to say, the rats died of heart attacks, I believe. Good way to go if you ask me.
Yeah, I read the book and it didn't seem like it worked too well then....
Actually, I remember an anime fansub group did this for april fools one year. They translated it right, but they made it sound really weird. ie. instead of "Let's go to the store" they would sub something like "we gotta go to the pub and get a drink" it was hilarious. They then released a REAL version the next day. It was great, though. I don't remember what series/fansub group did it, though. Anyone know what I'm talking about? I wanna say Naruto or something, but it's been a while.
The anime that I would put at the top of my list, about half of it would have huge eyes and be hysterical (to me). The other half would be serious and, yes, look a little similar, but Not be nearly as bad as most people make it out to be. Some of my favorite anime are: Kenshin, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, Azumanga Daioh, Trigun, Slayers, Hikaru no Go, and a few others I can't think about right now. There is a lot of anime that have amazing storylines. Cowboy Bebop and GiTS are two of them. If you can tell from my username, I LOVE Rurouni Kenshin. Sometimes they drop into the big eyes, retarded anime char idea to get a few laughs; but that anime taught me a lot of what I needed to know in order to pass that section of my history class (Meiji Revolution int Japan for those that don't know) Most anime that have the big eyes and characters that look 14 are for children. Thus why they sound, act, and look like children. On the other hand, there is a lot of anime that was never intended for children (and I'm not talking about XXX anime).
Well, first off, only dubbed anime uses weird sounding voices. Original Japanese vioces, at least to most people I know, don't sound at all bad; especially compared to dubbed anime. Second, not ALL anime is based on "tired cliches, underage girls" There are a lot of really good anime out there that have envolving plots and are probably better than the crap that is made in the US. I will again say that there is anime like what you brought up, but not ALL of it is. I really wish people would get off the stereotype train most americans seem to be on...