Actually it appears this next gen setup is aimed at a well-to-do audience. The ideal experience of HD and 5.1 guarentees a serious outlay of cash on a home theater system that will dwarf even a $599 PS3. The days of cheap gaming are definately coming to an end.
I am 12 years into a tech career and I concur with your conclusion. This is without a doubt the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life, that is taking a fascinating hobby and turning it into a career. I'm heading back to school for an MBA. As Dilbert would say "Its too late for me but you can still save yourself."
I was up in vancouver visiting family when that story broke and read about it in the vancouver sun. I recall the scientist in charge took a header out of a helicopter. If and when the roof crashes on SCO you can bet people will lose their lives in the fallout.
It sounds like you are happy with your decision. Unfortunately (for me) I went with the CS degree... now I'm 12 years into the career, I've hit a glass ceiling and am planning to go back for my MBA. I would love to hear whether you have found your career to be viable, long term.
Its a well known rumor (fact) that during the shooting of the original Star Wars trilogy Harrison Ford told Lucas to his face, "George you can write this shit but I sure as hell can't say it." Further confirmation if you need it that George Lucas' writing and character development talents have never been his strong suit. The guy ain't David Mamet.
I agree with this post. A neighbor next door married a woman who brought along two kids (one teenage the other somewhat younger) from a previous marriage. These kids weren't what you'd call well adjusted; antisocial and in general pretty messed up. They *never* accepted him as their father. When the divorce came the guy wound up ripping out his plumbing and replacing his carpet. This was because the little mutants dumped cement down his toilet. I never really understood the line from "Tombstone" where Wyatt asks Doc what makes a man like Ringo the way he is and the response he gets is "he's mad for being born". Some people are just mean and angry simply because they exist. And thats just tragic.
Seeing your last name makes me curious.. you didn't once have a GS character named Hawkwind did you... a looong time ago. Circa 1991? I know, long long odds but I had to ask.
I'm suprised Fallout didn't show up on that list. The game and its spiritual predecessor Wasteland were genre defining in a way - post holocaust RPGs. Granted, a very small genre but on their strength alone they should have gotten at least honorable mention.
I know your pain to some degree. I had a run in with a very old yet extremely addictive text-based mud called Gemstone III way back when it debuted in 1990. Even back then it was the closest thing I'd ever seen to table top gaming. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the game was on GEnie and was billed at $6.00 per hour. Once the credit card meltdown of $350 hit that was the end of my online gaming career once and for all. I literally haven't set foot in an online game since probably 1991. But I know at $15 a month I'd get lost in these new games forever, so I feel for you.
One word: betamax. Don't think for a second it's up to the product. The side of the road is littered with the carcasses of burned out products, many of them superior. If there was any justice in the world we'd all be running on a distant descendant of DRI's GEM.
yes not to mention the fact that without a court order its flat out illegal to tap land line conversations. and that court order won't be forthcoming on "just a hunch".
I'm sure I'll get modded flamebait but this article strikes me as deluded. It assumes the following:
1. The market leader once gaining dominance will just choose to gravy train their product, ala IE.
2. The flow of new features goes from the commercial version to the FOSS version. The commercial entity apparently isn't capable of absorbing new features from the FOSS version.
This is a crock. A commercial version can remain hyper competitive even in the face of the "FOSS onslaught". There are numerous tricks than be pulled. Obscure or constantly changing file formats (ie.doc), cross integration with other products such that the whole "web" must be replicated to be truly competitive. And let's face it, not all software is an OS. Or an Office suite or a web server. Especially complex client server products can have dozens or even hundreds of interoperating processes; this stuff is a nightmare to replicate. You may find these tactics unpopular or even unethical but that's just the way it works in the real world. Large successful companies can and do make it painful in the extreme to erode their market share. The author seems to ignore the economics of market dominance.
Thanks for the memories. I was wondering if I was one of the few left who wandered the beginner's cave or visited the Temple of Ngurct. A great game indeed.
You are at death's door, knocking loudly.
(yes this is all from memory)
I'm going to split hairs here and say what you describe proves USB keys are more resilient and rugged, not more reliable. I doubt you could put a high-end SCSI hard disk through the wash or run over it with a car and expect it to work but - when used in a controlled environment - it will be extremely reliable, as much so as a USB key I suspect. This is in spite of the disk's moving parts, whereas the key has none. There's no debating they're more convenient however so the rest of your points are well taken.
Actually that reliability decrease has come over the last decade. It's sad up until a few years ago I had floppies from the early 1980s that still worked fine but when I copy onto a floppy disk manufactured today 2 out of 3 times it fails. I think it has more to do with the percieved value of the floppy in today's world (and corresponding lack of QC in the manufacturing process) than any intrinsic defect in the medium.
One method, referred to as the "poor man's patent" is to use registered mail. You place the CDs into a paper envelope, which the USPS seals, postmarks and datestamps and then ship it to yourself. Once you receive the packages you toss them onto the shelf for future patent breaking purposes. As long as the packages are UNOPENED when you go to court the datestamps are fairly unequivocal.
That's actually right in line with what I've been reading. Google has been notoriously tight lipped about their finances and technology in general. They tend to underplay everything to keep potential competitors at bay. It doesn't take a giant leap of faith to conclude that 4.2 billion page count (which conveniently maps into 32 bits unsigned) is just more of the same subterfuge.
I'll throw in the obligatory plug for GemStone III - now GemStone IV I believe. I am not a Simutronics employee nor have I ever been one. While people have complained about Simutronics' customer policies from time to time there is no denying the mystique of the game. That thing is a bottomless morass of a world, step wrong and you'll sink in and be lost forever. I got hooked on GS III when they started on GEnie (circa 1990) and only bailed when the addiction kicked in and credit card meltdown occurred (for me this was about $350 in charges one month).
The text MUD genre as a open-source hobby may be dying but as a commercial venture they are still completely viable. GemStone is still going strong after 14 years; your average graphical MMORPG is obsolete in 3 to 4 years, being generous.
Am I the only one who finds it interesting that when Linux releases it's source code to the public it's "many eyes catch all bugs" but when the Windows source is leaked it's "many eyes exploit many bugs"? It kinda sounds like a gross double standard.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm suprised Lawrence of Arabia didn't make the top 10. Actually shocked. A couple of scenes alone made this one of the best pictures I've ever seen:
The match fading out into the desert sun.
The camera panning up a hundred feet into the air, following a dust devil as O'Toole rides by on camelback.
Of course the classic entry of Omar Sharif as he appears over a period of minutes out of a mirage.
Actually it appears this next gen setup is aimed at a well-to-do audience. The ideal experience of HD and 5.1 guarentees a serious outlay of cash on a home theater system that will dwarf even a $599 PS3. The days of cheap gaming are definately coming to an end.
I am 12 years into a tech career and I concur with your conclusion. This is without a doubt the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life, that is taking a fascinating hobby and turning it into a career. I'm heading back to school for an MBA. As Dilbert would say "Its too late for me but you can still save yourself."
I was up in vancouver visiting family when that story broke and read about it in the vancouver sun. I recall the scientist in charge took a header out of a helicopter. If and when the roof crashes on SCO you can bet people will lose their lives in the fallout.
Good points anonymous. I wish I could mod you up.
Gee I thought the name on the Patent, "Yahoo" would have been enuf to give it away.
It sounds like you are happy with your decision. Unfortunately (for me) I went with the CS degree... now I'm 12 years into the career, I've hit a glass ceiling and am planning to go back for my MBA. I would love to hear whether you have found your career to be viable, long term.
Its a well known rumor (fact) that during the shooting of the original Star Wars trilogy Harrison Ford told Lucas to his face, "George you can write this shit but I sure as hell can't say it." Further confirmation if you need it that George Lucas' writing and character development talents have never been his strong suit. The guy ain't David Mamet.
I agree with this post. A neighbor next door married a woman who brought along two kids (one teenage the other somewhat younger) from a previous marriage. These kids weren't what you'd call well adjusted; antisocial and in general pretty messed up. They *never* accepted him as their father. When the divorce came the guy wound up ripping out his plumbing and replacing his carpet. This was because the little mutants dumped cement down his toilet. I never really understood the line from "Tombstone" where Wyatt asks Doc what makes a man like Ringo the way he is and the response he gets is "he's mad for being born". Some people are just mean and angry simply because they exist. And thats just tragic.
They also get the same benefits as a VC if one or more of those owned companies goes public: a buttload of cash.
Running that same query on the website of Seventeen magazine or General Motors would give you a far more accurate picture of Firefox's real uptake.
Seeing your last name makes me curious.. you didn't once have a GS character named Hawkwind did you... a looong time ago. Circa 1991? I know, long long odds but I had to ask.
I'm suprised Fallout didn't show up on that list. The game and its spiritual predecessor Wasteland were genre defining in a way - post holocaust RPGs. Granted, a very small genre but on their strength alone they should have gotten at least honorable mention.
I know your pain to some degree. I had a run in with a very old yet extremely addictive text-based mud called Gemstone III way back when it debuted in 1990. Even back then it was the closest thing I'd ever seen to table top gaming. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the game was on GEnie and was billed at $6.00 per hour. Once the credit card meltdown of $350 hit that was the end of my online gaming career once and for all. I literally haven't set foot in an online game since probably 1991. But I know at $15 a month I'd get lost in these new games forever, so I feel for you.
One word: betamax. Don't think for a second it's up to the product. The side of the road is littered with the carcasses of burned out products, many of them superior. If there was any justice in the world we'd all be running on a distant descendant of DRI's GEM.
yes not to mention the fact that without a court order its flat out illegal to tap land line conversations. and that court order won't be forthcoming on "just a hunch".
1. The market leader once gaining dominance will just choose to gravy train their product, ala IE.
2. The flow of new features goes from the commercial version to the FOSS version. The commercial entity apparently isn't capable of absorbing new features from the FOSS version.
This is a crock. A commercial version can remain hyper competitive even in the face of the "FOSS onslaught". There are numerous tricks than be pulled. Obscure or constantly changing file formats (ie .doc), cross integration with other products such that the whole "web" must be replicated to be truly competitive. And let's face it, not all software is an OS. Or an Office suite or a web server. Especially complex client server products can have dozens or even hundreds of interoperating processes; this stuff is a nightmare to replicate. You may find these tactics unpopular or even unethical but that's just the way it works in the real world. Large successful companies can and do make it painful in the extreme to erode their market share. The author seems to ignore the economics of market dominance.
Thanks for the memories. I was wondering if I was one of the few left who wandered the beginner's cave or visited the Temple of Ngurct. A great game indeed. You are at death's door, knocking loudly. (yes this is all from memory)
I'm going to split hairs here and say what you describe proves USB keys are more resilient and rugged, not more reliable. I doubt you could put a high-end SCSI hard disk through the wash or run over it with a car and expect it to work but - when used in a controlled environment - it will be extremely reliable, as much so as a USB key I suspect. This is in spite of the disk's moving parts, whereas the key has none. There's no debating they're more convenient however so the rest of your points are well taken.
Actually that reliability decrease has come over the last decade. It's sad up until a few years ago I had floppies from the early 1980s that still worked fine but when I copy onto a floppy disk manufactured today 2 out of 3 times it fails. I think it has more to do with the percieved value of the floppy in today's world (and corresponding lack of QC in the manufacturing process) than any intrinsic defect in the medium.
One method, referred to as the "poor man's patent" is to use registered mail. You place the CDs into a paper envelope, which the USPS seals, postmarks and datestamps and then ship it to yourself. Once you receive the packages you toss them onto the shelf for future patent breaking purposes. As long as the packages are UNOPENED when you go to court the datestamps are fairly unequivocal.
That's actually right in line with what I've been reading. Google has been notoriously tight lipped about their finances and technology in general. They tend to underplay everything to keep potential competitors at bay. It doesn't take a giant leap of faith to conclude that 4.2 billion page count (which conveniently maps into 32 bits unsigned) is just more of the same subterfuge.
The text MUD genre as a open-source hobby may be dying but as a commercial venture they are still completely viable. GemStone is still going strong after 14 years; your average graphical MMORPG is obsolete in 3 to 4 years, being generous.
Ah what the hell.. i'll kick him up :)
Am I the only one who finds it interesting that when Linux releases it's source code to the public it's "many eyes catch all bugs" but when the Windows source is leaked it's "many eyes exploit many bugs"? It kinda sounds like a gross double standard.