Really? I thought it was some of the most poorly executed action sequences I've ever seen. The worst was when the squids break into Zion. That scene should have been 15 seconds long at the most. The squids, if they were truly intelligent would have broken in, swarmed the defenses and taken down that whole big chamber in an instant. That, I think would have been breathtaking. But, not. Instead we get all the squids filing up in a line and flying head-first into gunfire. Lame.
Grandparent: Couldn't it also be argued that every single one of these games contributes on some level to the message "America is great - it's those foreigners you should fear and hate. Stay at home son, and join the US Army!" ?
Parent:
Games in which you can only follow the glorious patriotic line are just not complete. You've got to have the chance to be the bad guy once in a while.
I think your use of the phrase 'bad guy' serves to reinforce the grandparent's comment, not contradict it.
The Russian Orlan spacesuit worn by US astronaut Mike Fincke developed a problem with its oxygen supply (!), forcing both spacewalkers back to the airlock after less than 15 minutes.
Well, thank God for that parenthetical exclamation point to let me know it was a problem.
Grandparent:The job of the editors is to post stories which generate hits to the site. Slashdot plays the self serving FUD game just as well as your favorite evil mega-corp.
Parent:Most insightful comment I've seen posted here all day.
There's a damn good argument to be made that Slashdot is best served when the stories are inflammatory and riddled with falsehoods.
It's something that's always bugged me about slashdot, and I used to not post to stories out of some kind of vague principle. I figured that I was generating content (thus money -- albeit a small about) for them without getting anything in return and I didn't like it. I did however work on projects like Wiktionary, and smaller wikis like the open guide to London because no one was making any money off my labor in that case.
But, eventually I did start posting to slashdot when I started my own website. I figured the publicity that I could get from this site for my blog far, far out weighed the amount of money my comment on slashdot was worth. So it's a good deal for everyone, I make self-serving links to my own sites and get many regular readers from slashdot, and slashdot gets my own little contribution to their content pile and thus their coffers.
Still though, it does annoy me that it is in their best interest to have stories that end in either inflammatory or inaccurate comments.
I know Im going to get modded down for this; but Ive lived in Wa, Tx, Ak and Az; and out of all of them, its (ironically) been in Az where Ive seen lightening the most intensely (longer duration, and more clearly visible) and also the most closely (within blocks of where I live).
Please tell me why you think you will be modded down for this? No pro-ms or pro-sco comment here. Oh that's right, people just say it as a way to get modded up through reverse physiology.
I wish there was a way in the preferences to set all comments either the words "I know I'm going to get modded down for this" or "I've got karma to burn" at -1
Just thought I'd plug creative commons attempt to make a science commons. I'm really interested to see how this turns out. I'd apply for a job as director, but the requirements are steep to say the least.
But: do you want to meet people on the Web at all?
I didn't think I would, but yes. When I moved to London, I didn't know anyone in the city and had to bootstrap myself a new social network. Graduate school helped, but after a while I wanted more than one group of friends so I turned to Orkut. I've been to a bunch of meetings and generally my experiences have been positive.
The law regarding pornography involving consenting adults is really a complete mess in the UK.
Is there any place in the world where the laws aren't a mess? I'm not trying to be a smart ass, I'm just honestly curious if there are any countries out there that have a rational set of porn/sex laws.
I always wondered why the security was soooo poor: while it has changed slightly now (better usernames/passwords) it used to be the case that your username was your SSN and your password a number code (!). I am sure most of you will agree with me that this is scary...The nicer ones even give you credit-card-size RSA password generator which is combined with a calculator you can keep in your pocket. Hence my question: are others also worried about poor security of online banking in the U.S.? Are there banks which are better than the ones mentioned above?"
Seriously, what is up with your punctuation? We have a colon where there should be a period, an exclamation mark (in parentheses) followed by a period, an ellipse that touches the first word in the next sentence, and conclude with a quotation mark that doesn't have a partner. You also seem unable to decide on one space or two between sentences.
I try not to be a grammar nazi because I know that I often get it wrong in my own writing, but this was so tremendously obvious and distracting I couldn't read the article.
Slashdot Mirror
What's that sound? It's hundreds of responsible wikipedians clicking `revert' to hold back the flood of slashdot trolls.
-Colin
I'm proud to say I contributed to the goatse.cx article.
Don't be shy, post the link.
Don't forget the wiktionary, a much smaller wiki where it is easier to contribute.
The Slashdot trolling phenomena
Really? I thought it was some of the most poorly executed action sequences I've ever seen. The worst was when the squids break into Zion. That scene should have been 15 seconds long at the most. The squids, if they were truly intelligent would have broken in, swarmed the defenses and taken down that whole big chamber in an instant. That, I think would have been breathtaking. But, not. Instead we get all the squids filing up in a line and flying head-first into gunfire. Lame.
-Colin
Just as a plug, free textbooks can be found over at Wikibooks
It is interesting to note that one of the founders of greenpeace has turned against them.
-Colin
Grandparent: Couldn't it also be argued that every single one of these games contributes on some level to the message "America is great - it's those foreigners you should fear and hate. Stay at home son, and join the US Army!" ?
Parent: Games in which you can only follow the glorious patriotic line are just not complete. You've got to have the chance to be the bad guy once in a while.
I think your use of the phrase 'bad guy' serves to reinforce the grandparent's comment, not contradict it.
-Colin
my company can't do email reliably! we can't get attachments! our isp or servers suck! oops, we were at fault!
No kidding, this is like if my mom wrote an article about 'The End of Printers' because she couldn't get her new Lexmark to work.
The Russian Orlan spacesuit worn by US astronaut Mike Fincke developed a problem with its oxygen supply (!), forcing both spacewalkers back to the airlock after less than 15 minutes.
Well, thank God for that parenthetical exclamation point to let me know it was a problem.
I call dibs on the Y29.94K problem.
I'm a yank in England, but thanks to slashdot's ever-so-timely reporting there is no time to enter. The submission date is the 25th. : \
This is the song that never ends...
Grandparent: The job of the editors is to post stories which generate hits to the site. Slashdot plays the self serving FUD game just as well as your favorite evil mega-corp.
Parent: Most insightful comment I've seen posted here all day. There's a damn good argument to be made that Slashdot is best served when the stories are inflammatory and riddled with falsehoods.
It's something that's always bugged me about slashdot, and I used to not post to stories out of some kind of vague principle. I figured that I was generating content (thus money -- albeit a small about) for them without getting anything in return and I didn't like it. I did however work on projects like Wiktionary, and smaller wikis like the open guide to London because no one was making any money off my labor in that case.
But, eventually I did start posting to slashdot when I started my own website. I figured the publicity that I could get from this site for my blog far, far out weighed the amount of money my comment on slashdot was worth. So it's a good deal for everyone, I make self-serving links to my own sites and get many regular readers from slashdot, and slashdot gets my own little contribution to their content pile and thus their coffers.
Still though, it does annoy me that it is in their best interest to have stories that end in either inflammatory or inaccurate comments.
Hotmail had this same problem with Orkut's invites a while back.
I know Im going to get modded down for this; but Ive lived in Wa, Tx, Ak and Az; and out of all of them, its (ironically) been in Az where Ive seen lightening the most intensely (longer duration, and more clearly visible) and also the most closely (within blocks of where I live).
Please tell me why you think you will be modded down for this? No pro-ms or pro-sco comment here. Oh that's right, people just say it as a way to get modded up through reverse physiology.
I wish there was a way in the preferences to set all comments either the words "I know I'm going to get modded down for this" or "I've got karma to burn" at -1
Just thought I'd plug creative commons attempt to make a science commons. I'm really interested to see how this turns out. I'd apply for a job as director, but the requirements are steep to say the least.
But: do you want to meet people on the Web at all?
I didn't think I would, but yes. When I moved to London, I didn't know anyone in the city and had to bootstrap myself a new social network. Graduate school helped, but after a while I wanted more than one group of friends so I turned to Orkut. I've been to a bunch of meetings and generally my experiences have been positive.
For those interested, I wrote about my first orkut meetup on my blog here.
When's the last time you visited a website, drunk, by IP address instead of DNS alias?
When else would you think that was a good idea? : )
The law regarding pornography involving consenting adults is really a complete mess in the UK.
Is there any place in the world where the laws aren't a mess? I'm not trying to be a smart ass, I'm just honestly curious if there are any countries out there that have a rational set of porn/sex laws.
"You are attempting to access a site we believe is child pornography. If you would still like to view the site click here."
I think you meant to say 'If you would still like to view this sight and go straight to prison without a trial, click here.'
Everybody needs a porn buddy.
If everybody needs a porn buddy then why do we need the porn buddies? It's not really a secret if everone is doing it.
In the past I have used dialup while at the beach (oh the horrors!)
That must have been one long telephone cord.
"Alot" is NOT A WORD.
What about alittle?
I always wondered why the security was soooo poor: while it has changed slightly now (better usernames/passwords) it used to be the case that your username was your SSN and your password a number code (!). I am sure most of you will agree with me that this is scary...The nicer ones even give you credit-card-size RSA password generator which is combined with a calculator you can keep in your pocket. Hence my question: are others also worried about poor security of online banking in the U.S.? Are there banks which are better than the ones mentioned above?"
Seriously, what is up with your punctuation? We have a colon where there should be a period, an exclamation mark (in parentheses) followed by a period, an ellipse that touches the first word in the next sentence, and conclude with a quotation mark that doesn't have a partner. You also seem unable to decide on one space or two between sentences.
I try not to be a grammar nazi because I know that I often get it wrong in my own writing, but this was so tremendously obvious and distracting I couldn't read the article.
-Colin