When you mention the positives, you might also want to mention any negatives.
For example...City of Heroes and City of Villains are great games.....until you make a few character, and get REALLY REALLY sick of seeing the same damn powers over and over again. City of Villains is essentially City of Heroes but your guys are evil, and a couple other tweaks.
EVE Online is fun, and something new, but you will not 'get anywhere' economically or power wise in the game if you are a casual gamer. There's simply no way. You need to mine for a ridiculous amount of time, and if you are in a corporation...well...it can be like having a second office job.
"No, WoW just reveals latent gender-identity issues in our youth. Why else would almost all of America's male teenagers want to play a female night-elf?"
Because when you're glued to a computer for 12 hours a day, and your character is running all over the place, which would you rather be staring at...a flat saggy male dwarven ass.....or a tight perky elven ass on some chick who has the rack to match?
Yeah, thats what I thought. I'd pick the dwarf too.
While I wish I was in the above situation, unfortunately due to my lack of appropriate experience for the work they've tossed on me, I am not effective at my job. I'm late on deadlines, have errors in my work, etc. They've been forgiving so far because they know my situation, but it sure doesn't put me in any position for a raise. And unfortunately I can't foresee becoming good enough in the near future to warrant one.
It is mandatory in that "it is HIGHLY suggested" that I stay until my tasks are done...because in the end the employer doesn't care really how late I have to work as long as we make the deadlines. Which are always short, and then adding my workload and slight lack of experience to the problem.
Unfortunately it seems like I work 24*7.....*hint*I'm a programmer*hint* And when I'm not working, its too late to pound the pavement cuz every company is closed. And yeah...I know it sounds like whining...but most of the time I honestly don't have the energy to pound the pavement 24/7. Its been bad enough that my health has suffered a bit from the stress and lack of rest.
"Choose your vector first before you start accelerating so hard in that chosen direction"
Hi, story poster here.
Its funny that you said that...because while I've been thinking about other jobs, I have no idea what I want to do next. I have thoughts of law school, but I don't want to go through all of that if I end up disliking it as much. Although the rewards would be big...
Hell, part of me just wants to be a lazy ass and become some surf bum in Hawaii.
I guess that would be a good follow-up question...
Once you're in the real world, how do you get to test out jobs since you can't exactly intern somewhere at a certain point. Does anybody have any suggestions for a test or some guide I can read to perhaps gain some insight into what kind of jobs I might be interested in?
So people believe it or not *gasp* LOVE their jobs. I too aspire to one day find myself in a job I love....I just have to figure out what it is. Try doing a compare/contrast sometime of your life at your current job versus their job. It would probably get pretty depressing. Can you see why they might enjoy being founders of one of the coolest, most useful, most loved, most innovative companies in HISTORY?
Yeah..that may be a small exaggeration, but still....these guys are fucking rockstars and they know it. They're benevolent rockstars, but they'll still enjoy the fuck out of it while they can. You only get one life to live, and if you hit the jackpot, you might as well try your damndest to enjoy it as much as you can.
"So now you own 1 million shares and other people own 1 million shares. All you have to do to get rich is sell your shares out into the market."
Although make sure to keep in mind that you lose a little control with each share. The correct way to maintain control is to remain the majority shareholder with 51% or more of the total shares.
You might really enjoy an old MUD called Dragonrealms. It is by far one of the best games I've ever played and the best part about it was how it hid the numbers. Which is kind of ironic since its predecessor, Gemstone III (they're both made by Simutronics) was ALL about the numbers.
Both games took place in roughly the same setting, but I gotta say, the roleplaying that went on in DR was unlike anything I've ever experienced. Its funny because people could get a general feel for the quality of weapons, armor, etc by appraising it and getting a verbal description, but people primarily dressed and outfitted themselves according to their characters tastes rather than by what gave them the highest bonus.
Plus, magic was interesting, requiring you to look for verbal cues on how your spells were doing and your harnessing of power for them. Definitely worth checking out. Yes, it had a monthly fee, but it has VERY active developers and GMs and is an incredible gaming environment. When was the last time you played an MMORPG where you tried to guage how much health a monster had left by how damaged it looked when you examined it?
Ok, I'll bite...we need them because whether you personally care for the service or not, it has begun to draw a lot of Slashdotters away. This in turn impacts ad revenue, which in turn decides how long Slashdot will be around.
So is it a popularity contest? Yes. But only because both sites require money to run smoothly and keep operating. We don't need them, we need to compete with them, which might mean coming up with more competitive features like this.
I don't think you realize how important the usage of the transportation is versus what powers it. People who don't take things like trains usually do so for reasons other than what it is powered by. It may not be feasible...there may not be a track by them.....they may like driving, or have to bring a lot of things with them, etc.
So while we may be able to do some cool things with public transit, I don't think it will drive a comeback....at least not until some of its other restrictions are solved.
I know this is too far down to be read....but what the hell...
Taco, while I know these changes are good to consider, and i'm glad you guys are innovating....I'm really wondering how much of this is because your company honestly wants to just improve your site, or if there are ad sales incentives behind this.
The reason I ask is because while its good to get users the stories they want....it seems as if this changed is designed to make people read more stories and view more ads.
I just kinda feel like....I want the changes to be made for the users, not what works best for ad dollars.
Actually, I really like that idea. Plus, since Slashdot is currently trying to figure out how to remain competitive with Digg, it would be a good fit. It kind of lets them compete with a similar but different method of story posting.
This is great, because we're in the midst of a usability war with two very popular news blog sites. Should generate some good innovation.
Fortunately for we the consumers though, 3D printers and model fabricators are making a lot of progress. We can now print circuits and multiple materials...I am confident some time this century we will face the very real situation of being able to swap "templates" online and print it up at home. Maybe not a Mercedes, but maybe small electronic devices.
Of course, you still need to feed it the necessary amount of raw materials.
Ok....so you've expressed your displeasure with the current market forces, you admit you need to adapt to the new situation...what do you plan on doing about it? You seem to be almost trying to argue that it is not ethically right for some peace corps college kid to upload his pictures because it deprives you of revenue...or maybe I just read that wrong.
How do you know they're violent because they're bored? If they didn't grow up with two responsible, caring parents at home, what makes you think they won't have violent tendencies for reasons OTHER than being bored?
For most people, there would be no need to carry it outside, but even in tournaments against friends or professional athletes...there's ALWAYS the chance for it to turn ugly.
While your heart was in the right place with your post, I don't think you really thought it through.
WHile yes, it might eventually allow us to forget about oil in the DISTANT future...you need to consider a couple things.
First...there's existing technology and infrastructure which will be around for a LONG time that is quite dependant on the oil from the Middle East. This won't magically allow us to turn around the next day and say "ok, we got fusion, we don't need your oil anymore". Think of all the old cars that still depend on it and that wouldn't be able to be refitted with an electric battery.
Next...think of all the countries that will not be able to afford the new technology since it will initially be so expensive. They will still be quite reliant on the oil.
And the third thing is that there's some uses of oil that fusion power just can't be used for.
So yes, it will help alleviate the energy crisis...it most definitely will not solve our oil problem, especially in the immediate future. Sorry to rain on your parade, but I thought I should point out the reality of the situation.
Well put. People wonder why industries remain sleezy and don't change. The reason why is that it just takes a few greedy people out of the BILLIONS of people alive to perpetuate the situation. That's why we still have shady politicians and music execs.
However, there are some things that plant the seeds of change that they can do nothing about. We are very fortunate that this digital revolution has occured and that Steve Jobs has been the one ushering it in. They'll fight...but as everybody knows, the cat is most definitely out of the bag, and he's already shredded it so they can't put him back in with his razor sharp P2P claws while he listens to his iPod. And their attempts to sue him back into the bag only piss him off and make him want to scratch the executives.
"If I was a small manufacturer of electronic devices, and stupid rules like this were the law of the land. I'd make my devices with firmware that can easily be modified on a USB connection."
Here's a question for ya then...there are plenty of people here on Slashdot with ideas for technological solutions to this. Unfortunately, most of us don't have the technical know-how to buy off-the-shelf parts to make the device and start selling it, and most of us don't have the capital to hire a manufacturing company to make it.
Can anybody suggest how to "start a business" manufacturing products when you don't have the technical skills to make it yourself, or the startup capital to outsource it? Also, lets say you did have some startup capital...how can someone who knows nothing about the manufacturing process go about learning about it or finding a company(s) to make their products from start to finish?
I ask this because I really WOULD like to do something about all this crap, I just have no friggin idea where to get started.
Not only that, but I would in fact consider this a Slashvertisement as I'm sure there are plenty of Slashdotters who have or are in the process of submitting a patent or possibly will in the future.
Slashdot Mirror
For example...City of Heroes and City of Villains are great games.....until you make a few character, and get REALLY REALLY sick of seeing the same damn powers over and over again. City of Villains is essentially City of Heroes but your guys are evil, and a couple other tweaks.
EVE Online is fun, and something new, but you will not 'get anywhere' economically or power wise in the game if you are a casual gamer. There's simply no way. You need to mine for a ridiculous amount of time, and if you are in a corporation...well...it can be like having a second office job.
Because when you're glued to a computer for 12 hours a day, and your character is running all over the place, which would you rather be staring at...a flat saggy male dwarven ass.....or a tight perky elven ass on some chick who has the rack to match?
Yeah, thats what I thought. I'd pick the dwarf too.
Hi, story poster here.
Its funny that you said that...because while I've been thinking about other jobs, I have no idea what I want to do next. I have thoughts of law school, but I don't want to go through all of that if I end up disliking it as much. Although the rewards would be big...
Hell, part of me just wants to be a lazy ass and become some surf bum in Hawaii.
I guess that would be a good follow-up question...
Once you're in the real world, how do you get to test out jobs since you can't exactly intern somewhere at a certain point. Does anybody have any suggestions for a test or some guide I can read to perhaps gain some insight into what kind of jobs I might be interested in?
Newsflash...not everybody likes the same characters. Hell, not everybody likes this show even.
Yeah..that may be a small exaggeration, but still....these guys are fucking rockstars and they know it. They're benevolent rockstars, but they'll still enjoy the fuck out of it while they can. You only get one life to live, and if you hit the jackpot, you might as well try your damndest to enjoy it as much as you can.
Although make sure to keep in mind that you lose a little control with each share. The correct way to maintain control is to remain the majority shareholder with 51% or more of the total shares.
Both games took place in roughly the same setting, but I gotta say, the roleplaying that went on in DR was unlike anything I've ever experienced. Its funny because people could get a general feel for the quality of weapons, armor, etc by appraising it and getting a verbal description, but people primarily dressed and outfitted themselves according to their characters tastes rather than by what gave them the highest bonus.
Plus, magic was interesting, requiring you to look for verbal cues on how your spells were doing and your harnessing of power for them. Definitely worth checking out. Yes, it had a monthly fee, but it has VERY active developers and GMs and is an incredible gaming environment. When was the last time you played an MMORPG where you tried to guage how much health a monster had left by how damaged it looked when you examined it?
So is it a popularity contest? Yes. But only because both sites require money to run smoothly and keep operating. We don't need them, we need to compete with them, which might mean coming up with more competitive features like this.
So while we may be able to do some cool things with public transit, I don't think it will drive a comeback....at least not until some of its other restrictions are solved.
Taco, while I know these changes are good to consider, and i'm glad you guys are innovating....I'm really wondering how much of this is because your company honestly wants to just improve your site, or if there are ad sales incentives behind this.
The reason I ask is because while its good to get users the stories they want....it seems as if this changed is designed to make people read more stories and view more ads.
I just kinda feel like....I want the changes to be made for the users, not what works best for ad dollars.
This is great, because we're in the midst of a usability war with two very popular news blog sites. Should generate some good innovation.
Of course, you still need to feed it the necessary amount of raw materials.
For most people, there would be no need to carry it outside, but even in tournaments against friends or professional athletes...there's ALWAYS the chance for it to turn ugly.
WHile yes, it might eventually allow us to forget about oil in the DISTANT future...you need to consider a couple things.
First...there's existing technology and infrastructure which will be around for a LONG time that is quite dependant on the oil from the Middle East. This won't magically allow us to turn around the next day and say "ok, we got fusion, we don't need your oil anymore". Think of all the old cars that still depend on it and that wouldn't be able to be refitted with an electric battery.
Next...think of all the countries that will not be able to afford the new technology since it will initially be so expensive. They will still be quite reliant on the oil.
And the third thing is that there's some uses of oil that fusion power just can't be used for.
So yes, it will help alleviate the energy crisis...it most definitely will not solve our oil problem, especially in the immediate future. Sorry to rain on your parade, but I thought I should point out the reality of the situation.
You don't live in the London or Seattle by any chance do you?
Until China builds the World's First "Sun Ray" and aims it at Japan. Then Japan will be the Land of the Burning Sun.
However, there are some things that plant the seeds of change that they can do nothing about. We are very fortunate that this digital revolution has occured and that Steve Jobs has been the one ushering it in. They'll fight...but as everybody knows, the cat is most definitely out of the bag, and he's already shredded it so they can't put him back in with his razor sharp P2P claws while he listens to his iPod. And their attempts to sue him back into the bag only piss him off and make him want to scratch the executives.
Here's a question for ya then...there are plenty of people here on Slashdot with ideas for technological solutions to this. Unfortunately, most of us don't have the technical know-how to buy off-the-shelf parts to make the device and start selling it, and most of us don't have the capital to hire a manufacturing company to make it.
Can anybody suggest how to "start a business" manufacturing products when you don't have the technical skills to make it yourself, or the startup capital to outsource it? Also, lets say you did have some startup capital...how can someone who knows nothing about the manufacturing process go about learning about it or finding a company(s) to make their products from start to finish?
I ask this because I really WOULD like to do something about all this crap, I just have no friggin idea where to get started.