Ha! That'd be hilarious if MySpace ads were all targetted to pedophiles. You'd see ads for trenchcoats, fedoras, used work vans, pre-made "Free Puppies" signs, those tiny web-cams, night vision goggles, rope, duct tape, DVD ads for Happiness and Lolita, etc...
As Demetri Martin said on the Daily Show (regarding MySpace): On the downside, it's loaded with sexual predators. On the plus side, it's also loaded with sexual prey.
I hate getting into semantics but you said most, not many. The difference between the two is huge, and this is what got me to respond to your original post. I didn't have a problem with the rest of what you wrote.
As for the atheist websites, most I've come across have been pretty bad. They're pretty abrasive, offensive or way too pretentious. So don't judge all (or even most) non-believers based on whatever websites you went to, actually, I commend you just for going to them.
Finally, my personal reasons. Let me preface this by saying I'm not advocating my viewpoint to anyone else, including you. I'm merely explaining some of my beliefs because you asked. What follows is in no way exhaustive as I could easily fill a book with my reasons.
Some of my problems stem from two assertions. The first is that God is omniscient. The second is that God is a loving and just being.
All Abrahamic religions/sects advocate that a religious devotion, practice and/or belief is required to avoid damnation and/or ascend to Heaven. For instance, many Christians believe in order to reach Heaven, one must accept that Jesus is their savior, and that He died to atone for our sins. Now, suppose one lived a moral but non-pious life. A just God it seems, would reward the moral aptitude of the individual and forgive them for failing to adhere to whatever religious doctrine (of which there are many with no clear way to choose which is correct).
If God views doubt in Him as the gravest sin (pride), and outweighs a nearly infinite number of moral acts, that doesn't seem just to me. Perhaps it's a failing of comprehension on my part though, which leads me to God's omniscience. God already knows what it takes for each person to meet His requirements to reach Heaven and yet, according to the Abrahamic religions, many fail these requirements and are still damned for all eternity. So, God creates people that He knows will be damned, despite the fact that He is perfectly capable of doing what it takes to save them without interfering with His gift of free will. That doesn't seem very loving to me. Neither does creating people He knows will suffer for eternity.
most agnostic beliefs are based on straw-man versions of religion
How much research have you done and from which sources can you make such a claim? You can fairly argue that many agnostic arguments are based on straw-men. But I find the claim that most agnostic beliefs are based on poor reasoning is totally offensive. It would be as offensive as claiming most monotheist beliefs are based on a fear of hell. And as far as I know, there's only one agnostic belief, that is there is no certainity that God does or doesn't exist. There is no agnostic doctrine that ties all agnostics together, and no collection of shared beliefs other than a doubt in God.
Personally, I have very basic, fundamental and simple objections to Abrahamic religions, none of which I'd consider straw-men.
I think one of the best (certainly most famous) examples of a scientist priest is Gregor Johann Mendel. As the wikipedia article mentions, he is sometimes called the "father of genetics" and provided insight into one of the mechanisms of evolution. In today's American political context, a priest discovering genetics is sweetly ironic.
Trying to fit all games into an online model forces them to be basically all versions of the same game (all the same run around-kill-collect-level model of game play).
I don't know about that, I have a Toshiba 34HFX85 (which I don't recommend to anyone, although HD looks great on it). It has an HDMI input and a couple component. My cable box outputs DVI and component. Switching between component and a DVI->HDMI connection I notice no difference at all, we're talking 1080i resolution here. Maybe with a bigger TV one might notice a difference, I don't know.
A full transcript of the news conference does go into who Hawkings thinks should go:
AP Reporter: Professor, you mentioned the ratio of ten women to each man. Now, wouldn't that necessitate the abandonment of the so-called monogamous sexual relationship, I mean, as far as men were concerned? Hawking: Regrettably, yes. But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious... service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature. Reuters Reporter: I must confess, you have an astonishingly good idea there, Professor.
Isn't anyone else ticked off at the fact that there are under 10 games worth owning for the Gamecube?
WTF are you talking about? Here's the list of ~24 games I own that are exclusive to GC (all worth owning): Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem F-Zero GX Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance Geist The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Luigi's Mansion Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Metroid Prime Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Pikmin Pikmin 2 Ribbit King Star Fox Adventures Star Fox: Assault Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader Super Mario Sunshine Super Smash Bros. Melee Tales of Symphonia WarioWare, Inc. Wave Race: Blue Storm
Here are GC games I own that are available on at least 1 other platform. Most are worth owning, though there are about 4 exceptions (*cough* "Muppets Party Cruise" *cough*): Beyond Good & Evil Call of Duty: Finest Hour Dead to Rights GUN The Hobbit Killer 7 Peter Jackson's King Kong The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Metal Arms: Glitch in the System Midway Arcade Treasures 2 Midway Arcade Treasures 3 Monopoly Party Muppets Party Cruise Resident Evil 4 Second Sight The Simpsons Hit & Run Skies of Arcadia Legends Spyro: A Hero's Tail Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly Starsky & Hutch Super Monkey Ball Super Monkey Ball 2 TimeSplitters 2 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 True Crime: New York City True Crime: Streets of LA Turok: Evolution Viewtiful Joe Viewtiful Joe 2 X-Men Legends XIII
It can output through component video jacks, but they're limited to 720p or 1080i. If you could actually afford a 1080p TV
False. Component is capable of carrying 1080p. The issue is if the new DVD formats will require HDCP (HD Copy Protection). Any movie that is "protected" by HDCP will require a digital (DVI or HDMI) connection to display at full resolution. Analog connections (like component) will be downgraded to 480p. So, if you're buying the cheaper PS3 and you're interested in using it to watch Blu-Ray movies, you're making a gamble that you won't come across a movie you want that is "protected" by HDCP. If almost every movie ends up being "protected" by HDCP, you're screwed with the cheaper PS3.
Since E3 is only open to the gaming press
In theory this is true, but almost anyone who can afford a pass is allowed entry (not to mention all the extra tickets given to legitmate press that can wind up in anyone's hand).
Its is about as effective in conveying meaning as the F-word if you use it as almost every other word.
Fuck that.
Seriously though, the author wasn't saying that we're in a police state, I think the suggestion was we've made some progress towards a police state. For one thing, power has shifted towards the executive branch: signing statements, NSA wiretapping, disregard for laws (national and international), torture, etc... Still, things need to get a lot worse for the US to be a police state, but I think it would be easy for an alarmist to argue we're heading in that direction. The argument isn't that we're like Nazi-Germany, but rather that we're like Weimar Republic-Germany. I don't neccesarily agree with such sentiment, but I also think it has more validity than the idiotic claims that Bush is a nazi.
Personally, I think once the Bush administration leaves, power will shift again (away from the executive branch).
Two reasons why I haven't. The current configuration works as is, I don't have a need for Linux. The other reason, is that I'd rather do other things in my free time than muck around with Linux (at least lately). Not necessarily better things to do, just stuff I'd rather do. While I'm competent in a Unix shell, I have limited experience with Linux and zero experience administering a *nix box on my own. And the first task for a Linux install, creating a separate Linux partition, seems fairly daunting and easy to fubar.
I should post anonymously to avoid horrible embarrassment. My home computer was bought in '99, (550 mhz), and while intended for useful work, it was also an awesome gaming rig at the time, it came preloaded with Win98 SE. While still my main machine, it's only regularly used for web browsing now. XP would slow the thing down, and I have no desire to purchase/pirate 2k. The only stability problems I've had were due to a stick of memory going bad (so it has even less RAM than when I bought it in '99).
That said, I don't care about this announcement. I understand my setup is outdated, and I don't expect any software to support it.
I have no desire to upgrade my machine, or rather, any desire to upgrade is outweighed by the cost of a new machine. I have only two reasons I would need a bleeding edge computer. The first is to play PC games, but I've moved to consoles for my gaming needs simply because it's cheaper (I can't justify $200 every 1-2 year just to play new games). The other is do work on my home machine but I'm not interested in doing any work during my off hours (the main app I need to run often slows my 1ghz work machine to a crawl). For web browsing/paying bills, my setup is more than adequate.
Re:Video Games as the Next Art Medium?
on
In Defense of Games
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· Score: 2, Insightful
What are games missing to truly take hold among the masses & become a popular medium for entertainment?
In all the other story telling mediums we have a huge variety of genres, books and movies have come up with a mind blowing number of unique tales to tell. With video games, the stories are mostly limited to violent conflict. Even the typical Mario game is a violent tale of a rescue, where sole resolution to the story is Mario's fight to "kill" all who stand in his way. There seems to be a huge lack of stories told in the videogames where violence plays no role. If you look at just video games that tell a story (ignore puzzle and sports games) there is little outside of the action genre. Even most story-driven turn based games would become an action film or book if the medium changed. Where is the video game equivalent of a Holden Caulfield?
So, I think a big part of the limited appeal of video games, is that the stories are lacking. Of course videogames don't need to tell a story, they can simply be games and still be perfectly entertaining and fun. But to get to wider audience, to become more than just games, they have to break out of this bubble that says the only option available to move a story forward is through some violent activity.
The thing I don't understand is the popularity of The Fight Club in the first place.
That's like saying "I don't get why people like Citizen Kane so much, of course, I haven't seen it..." Note, I'm not saying Fight Club is as good as Citizen Kane.
Rent the movie (it'll only cost you a few bucks and a couple hours). The less you know about it before you see it, the better you'll find it. The actual fight club and fight scenes make up a very small part of the movie. The movie has a lot to say about modern society (most of it negative). It's also one of those rare movies where you pick up something new each time you watch it. It also has the best movie PHB outside of Office Space.
Is this a serious question? Video game generations are marked by what consoles are out at a particular time. We're currently coming to the close of the PS2-GC-XBOX generation (because their successors are all supposed to come out within the next year). The generations used to be defined by the dominate console architecture at the time (8bit, 16bit, 32bit, etc...) but this is no longer useful. This generation distinction is less useful when it comes to PCs, but is still sometimes used.
To sum up, the comment...one of the best games of the fading generation. had nothing to do with the state of PC gaming.
Re:I know Linux is a leper with this crowd...
on
30 Greatest Games of 2005
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· Score: 2, Interesting
I follow pygame projects as well, but what really looks promising is Panda 3D.
Irréversible is a movie which has two scenes which are very graphic. I don't think it was rated in the US, but it would without a doubt earn a NC-17 rating. I saw it in an art house theater and the ticket seller actually warned me it had extremely graphic scenes in it! The scenes in this movie are graphic because they're integral to the story; they're not in there for shock value. In fact, one of the graphic scenes helps explain the brutality of the other scene. If those two scenes were shot/edited to get an 'R' rating, I wouldn't have had nearly the strong emotional reactions I had to the story and characters in the film. I wouldn't call Irréversible a 'classic', though I'd say it's a good movie and one I'll never forget. I highly recommend a rental (if you can find it) if you're looking for something 'different'.
A minor correction, Carnivale's first season is out on DVD (has been for a while). Though you'd need to rip it to watch it on a PSP as I don't think it's out on UMD (probably never will be). Carnivale is easily my favorite drama TV show of all time. Anyone who is into fantasy, should check out ASAP.
Same for those of you playing old NES ROMs. I'm sure you all took your own old carts and dumped the contents to memory stick yourself... right?
I thought you only needed to own the old ROM to be able to legally download them? And while I'm personally against copyright infringment, who cares if people are downloading 20 year old abandonware?
Back on topic though! I think you're overall right about the PSP, though I still think it has a better chance than you give it. The one serious drawback for me with the PSP is the load times. If I've got less than 5 minutes to get some quick gaming in, I don't want to spend 10-20% (30sec-1min) of that time staring at a loading screen.
/. posted a link to a story a little while ago where a guy built a model of something similar, with plans to scale things up massively. But I think his plan would only work with depths you can only get in the ocean (I could be wrong).
That's harder to determine than just looking at cost per kilowatt-hour isn't it? Lets pretend for example that the 15% renewable energy shuts down one coal plant. Now, lets also say that this coal plant caused a bunch of health related problems like asthema and acid rain. And lets say these health related problems contributed to higher insurance costs (to those that have insurance), higher taxes to pay for those that are on medicare, and lower quality of life for anyone suffering from the ill effects of the coal plant.
It would be intersting to see things like that figured into the magical cost per kilowatt-hour figures.
Nope. Currently the tax penalties for "gifts" over $10,000 (I think) are pretty big. So there isn't much of a difference between over time and at death AFAIK (which isn't much).
while those who die in unexpected accidents get their money taken from the government?
Unless the government is the one that killed you, it was death itself that deprived you of your wealth (among other things).
Slashdot Mirror
Ha! That'd be hilarious if MySpace ads were all targetted to pedophiles. You'd see ads for trenchcoats, fedoras, used work vans, pre-made "Free Puppies" signs, those tiny web-cams, night vision goggles, rope, duct tape, DVD ads for Happiness and Lolita, etc...
As Demetri Martin said on the Daily Show (regarding MySpace): On the downside, it's loaded with sexual predators. On the plus side, it's also loaded with sexual prey.
As for the atheist websites, most I've come across have been pretty bad. They're pretty abrasive, offensive or way too pretentious. So don't judge all (or even most) non-believers based on whatever websites you went to, actually, I commend you just for going to them.
Finally, my personal reasons. Let me preface this by saying I'm not advocating my viewpoint to anyone else, including you. I'm merely explaining some of my beliefs because you asked. What follows is in no way exhaustive as I could easily fill a book with my reasons.
Some of my problems stem from two assertions. The first is that God is omniscient. The second is that God is a loving and just being.
All Abrahamic religions/sects advocate that a religious devotion, practice and/or belief is required to avoid damnation and/or ascend to Heaven. For instance, many Christians believe in order to reach Heaven, one must accept that Jesus is their savior, and that He died to atone for our sins. Now, suppose one lived a moral but non-pious life. A just God it seems, would reward the moral aptitude of the individual and forgive them for failing to adhere to whatever religious doctrine (of which there are many with no clear way to choose which is correct).
If God views doubt in Him as the gravest sin (pride), and outweighs a nearly infinite number of moral acts, that doesn't seem just to me. Perhaps it's a failing of comprehension on my part though, which leads me to God's omniscience. God already knows what it takes for each person to meet His requirements to reach Heaven and yet, according to the Abrahamic religions, many fail these requirements and are still damned for all eternity. So, God creates people that He knows will be damned, despite the fact that He is perfectly capable of doing what it takes to save them without interfering with His gift of free will. That doesn't seem very loving to me. Neither does creating people He knows will suffer for eternity.
That's enough for now, I need sleep!
Personally, I have very basic, fundamental and simple objections to Abrahamic religions, none of which I'd consider straw-men.
I think one of the best (certainly most famous) examples of a scientist priest is Gregor Johann Mendel. As the wikipedia article mentions, he is sometimes called the "father of genetics" and provided insight into one of the mechanisms of evolution. In today's American political context, a priest discovering genetics is sweetly ironic.
Ah! "man mount" how could I forget?
The closest I got to your cat command was on a hp box:
cat: Cannot open food in can: No such file or directory
I don't know about that, I have a Toshiba 34HFX85 (which I don't recommend to anyone, although HD looks great on it). It has an HDMI input and a couple component. My cable box outputs DVI and component. Switching between component and a DVI->HDMI connection I notice no difference at all, we're talking 1080i resolution here. Maybe with a bigger TV one might notice a difference, I don't know.
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
F-Zero GX
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Geist
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Luigi's Mansion
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Pikmin
Pikmin 2
Ribbit King
Star Fox Adventures
Star Fox: Assault
Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
Super Mario Sunshine
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Tales of Symphonia
WarioWare, Inc.
Wave Race: Blue Storm
Here are GC games I own that are available on at least 1 other platform. Most are worth owning, though there are about 4 exceptions (*cough* "Muppets Party Cruise" *cough*):
Beyond Good & Evil
Call of Duty: Finest Hour
Dead to Rights
GUN
The Hobbit
Killer 7
Peter Jackson's King Kong
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Metal Arms: Glitch in the System
Midway Arcade Treasures 2
Midway Arcade Treasures 3
Monopoly Party
Muppets Party Cruise
Resident Evil 4
Second Sight
The Simpsons Hit & Run
Skies of Arcadia Legends
Spyro: A Hero's Tail
Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly
Starsky & Hutch
Super Monkey Ball
Super Monkey Ball 2
TimeSplitters 2
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
True Crime: New York City
True Crime: Streets of LA
Turok: Evolution
Viewtiful Joe
Viewtiful Joe 2
X-Men Legends
XIII
In theory this is true, but almost anyone who can afford a pass is allowed entry (not to mention all the extra tickets given to legitmate press that can wind up in anyone's hand).
Seriously though, the author wasn't saying that we're in a police state, I think the suggestion was we've made some progress towards a police state. For one thing, power has shifted towards the executive branch: signing statements, NSA wiretapping, disregard for laws (national and international), torture, etc... Still, things need to get a lot worse for the US to be a police state, but I think it would be easy for an alarmist to argue we're heading in that direction. The argument isn't that we're like Nazi-Germany, but rather that we're like Weimar Republic-Germany. I don't neccesarily agree with such sentiment, but I also think it has more validity than the idiotic claims that Bush is a nazi.
Personally, I think once the Bush administration leaves, power will shift again (away from the executive branch).
I should post anonymously to avoid horrible embarrassment. My home computer was bought in '99, (550 mhz), and while intended for useful work, it was also an awesome gaming rig at the time, it came preloaded with Win98 SE. While still my main machine, it's only regularly used for web browsing now. XP would slow the thing down, and I have no desire to purchase/pirate 2k. The only stability problems I've had were due to a stick of memory going bad (so it has even less RAM than when I bought it in '99). That said, I don't care about this announcement. I understand my setup is outdated, and I don't expect any software to support it. I have no desire to upgrade my machine, or rather, any desire to upgrade is outweighed by the cost of a new machine. I have only two reasons I would need a bleeding edge computer. The first is to play PC games, but I've moved to consoles for my gaming needs simply because it's cheaper (I can't justify $200 every 1-2 year just to play new games). The other is do work on my home machine but I'm not interested in doing any work during my off hours (the main app I need to run often slows my 1ghz work machine to a crawl). For web browsing/paying bills, my setup is more than adequate.
Rent the movie (it'll only cost you a few bucks and a couple hours). The less you know about it before you see it, the better you'll find it. The actual fight club and fight scenes make up a very small part of the movie. The movie has a lot to say about modern society (most of it negative). It's also one of those rare movies where you pick up something new each time you watch it. It also has the best movie PHB outside of Office Space.
To sum up, the comment ...one of the best games of the fading generation. had nothing to do with the state of PC gaming.
I follow pygame projects as well, but what really looks promising is Panda 3D.
Irréversible is a movie which has two scenes which are very graphic. I don't think it was rated in the US, but it would without a doubt earn a NC-17 rating. I saw it in an art house theater and the ticket seller actually warned me it had extremely graphic scenes in it! The scenes in this movie are graphic because they're integral to the story; they're not in there for shock value. In fact, one of the graphic scenes helps explain the brutality of the other scene. If those two scenes were shot/edited to get an 'R' rating, I wouldn't have had nearly the strong emotional reactions I had to the story and characters in the film. I wouldn't call Irréversible a 'classic', though I'd say it's a good movie and one I'll never forget. I highly recommend a rental (if you can find it) if you're looking for something 'different'.
Actually, I think Malcom in the Middle is still pretty good. Until Curb Your Enthusiasm it was the only sitcom I watched once Seinfeld ended...
Back on topic though! I think you're overall right about the PSP, though I still think it has a better chance than you give it. The one serious drawback for me with the PSP is the load times. If I've got less than 5 minutes to get some quick gaming in, I don't want to spend 10-20% (30sec-1min) of that time staring at a loading screen.
/. posted a link to a story a little while ago where a guy built a model of something similar, with plans to scale things up massively. But I think his plan would only work with depths you can only get in the ocean (I could be wrong).
BTW, asthema is like asthma only more deadly and spelled more incorrectly.
It would be intersting to see things like that figured into the magical cost per kilowatt-hour figures.