I may be a bit paranoid here, but I think it opens the door to a telescreen-like technology. The main problem in Nineteen Eighty-Four with the telescreen was that humans had to watch the two-way screens. So as a citizen, you may assume that maybe, no one is watching at this moment.
Now, if the technology is tried, tested and improved enough, why not put 'em everywhere. You know, juste like in London, to prevent crimes. Then vote some laws that says doing this or that is terrorist-like and then illegal. Then arrest more people.
Yeah, I'm stretching it. But you know, when the technology's there, available and working, there is no reason not to use it. Then you can mix techs and end up with nicer cocktails. Like an "ID tag canon" that shoots a tiny RFID tag on someone when the camera decides he looks suspicious -- it'll be easy to follow him. Then you bust his ass when he gets home and hope to find some pot or porn.
Ok, ok. Sci-fi gibberish. But still, if *I* can think of this, I'm sure many others can come up with worse than that. And apply it.
Bingo! That's the one. Hehe, just reading the name gives me shivers. I've spent lots of time playing that game. I've never played it on other computers though. Thanks for reminding me of the name!
Agreed. The C64 has played a major role in the evolution of home computers. It sold a lot, sure, but most importantly, it was fun to learn, program and play with.
Of course, I'm biased. I remember when we went to the store in 1985 my parents and I, to buy our C64. It was supposed to be a much better system than the old TI-99 I had learned to type my name on, before I could even write it with a pen. When we got home, with the precious box, after many hours late at night, my father had to give up because the disk drive was not working. You have no idea how long was the day after, until finally, my father went to the store to get a new one. Again, defect. The other day, we exchanged the disk drive for a 1541. And then, the magic began.
I remember using GEOS with a joystick (hehe), drawing, writing texts and trying about anything in GEOS just for the fun of it (and because it looked very serious!) I remember that fishing game, which came with the computer. You had to pick the trout (fish #4, iirc) to beat almost any other fish. There's also all those Epyx games I remember. GI Joe was lots of fun too. We ended up with a huge lot of game copies, taken from an uncle and I'd spend hours going through them ("Still loading..."). Then there were the BBSes, the computer magazines (I think I remember seeing a screenshot of the first image scanner for the C64), the BASIC books I got from school (and I always ended up with some syntax error when I was about to launch the game)...
Ahh... The good ol' days. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's got so much fun with that nice piece of computer. As the parent said, it's strange the C64 didn't get more kudos (yet).
I know my C64 is in some box in my parent's basement, with a collection of floppies, broken joysticks and other junk. I'll have to try it out some time.
They believe movie fans will prefer to pay a reasonable price for a legal downloaded movie rather than risk illegally swapping a computer file that could contain viruses or be a poor quality copy of a film.
No we won't. Not all of us. People who already download movies illegaly now have access to forums where quality copies are available, feedbacks and comments let people judge if the movie is worth the download, some titles are posted before they're released on DVD, many languages, subs and regions can be found rather easily -- FOR FREE. Of course, there's always the crappy cam or the bad compression here and there. But it's not like you pay much for them either...
I think the industry just missed the boat. If they want "pirates" to use their service instead, they'll need to provide some insentive, which same-as-DVD release date and prices are not.
Nobody will end up in 2nd or 3rd place with a "good enough" idea either. It is going to be some pretting friggin good ideas, worthy of a prize. Even if some idea does not win the contest, it might very well inspire some genius elsewhere to come up with something better or it could also be improved, tested and used. You never know.
the rich guys still get their Hummers and Ferraris but (unfortunally for the enviroment) it's their liberty
I'll agree with the Hummer part. But Ferraris? First of all, it's not like they're many among car owners. Not enough to make a significant difference, especially if you consider the (usually low) mileage they travel with them. The average supercar owner isn't likely to go to work every day in traffic jams and travel coast to coast every sunday, you know...
You should blame the SUVs in urban areas instead. Or the kid with the modified 4-banger. Or the average person with an average car, an average engine displacement and an average mileage that ends up polluting way more than the rare luxury/super cars.
The murderer is the sole persone responsible. If people start to sue the game maker, then they could sue Sony too (Playstation) and/or Microsoft (Windows) for making this game playable. What TV brand was he playing GTA on? Maybe they could sue Samsung, or Hitachi too? And Wal-Mart. Definately Wal-Mart. I mean, they sell the game. And every single magazine and website who a) gave good critics to the game and b) has advertised the game....
You know, this has to stop somewhere. The guy was sick. His parents, friends and relatives who knew him are much more guilty than people who created the video game. Society itself is guilty of allowing such people to roam free. But then, we can't incarcerate everyone "just in case". So my point is: shit happens. Whatever his reasons, whatever the motives, whatever the games he played and the programs he watched, he is a murderer. He's been sentenced to death. The vast majority of people who play GTA do not go on a killing spree aftewards. The game is not the problem.
1.) Not every American has a gun. In fact, there are many who think that noone should even have so much as a pointy stick. We also have to go through... system of registration and permit application... We ban the mentally ill, criminals, and many other people from owning firearms.
To quote Chris Rock: so what'd you want? A cookie? You're supposed to do that. That's the least one could expect his country to do. Come on.
2.) Depending on the numbers you use, the United States has fewer violent crimes than many other nations... However, it is a documented fact that in many countries where gun possession is illegal, knife and other weapon crimes increase substantially.
Uh ok. First of all, please show us the numbers. Of course if, as you say, it depends on the numbers you use, then maybe you can prove anything. But just for the fun of it, try comparing two similar and bordering nations like, say, the USA and Canada. See what you come up with. And by the way, I'd much rather be attacked by a kid with a knife than a kid with a gun. There's a reason why there's not much knife regulations: it's much easier to kill with a gun than a knife.
3.) So most of the rest of the civilized world thinks our gun policies are "ludicrous"?
Yes. Are you really comparing Switzerland with the USA? Europe is a different place. You are comparing responsible people with Americans. The violent crime rate in the USA is almost ten times that of Switzerland, per 100,000. That somehow shows that guns themselves are not the problem. Therefore, I wouldn't let Americans own guns. But you do. So we think your gun "policies" are ludicrous.
It could be won, but even if it can't we should still fight it to at least reduce the damage done.
Yes, there's a real problem that has to be fought. But the way it looks, potheads will soon get shot by flying drones. =P
Well, only slightly over half of 15% of the population actually voted for him
And he's still in power? Only 15% of the country voted for him, he's ruining everybody, making war around the world, violating the basis of your nation, slows scientific research, and no one complains? You know, it's easy to dismiss the issue by saying only 15% voted for him. But the point is, 99% of Americans ARE voting for him everyday by letting him in power. And for that, we see Americans as a bunch of lazy assholes, too preoccupied with their daily TV shows to do much to save democracy.
Mod me down all you want. That doesn't change the fact that, in reality, despite what CNN and Fox might say, Americans are seen as a bunch of morons pretty much everywhere. Don't blame me, that's just the way it is and will be until you show some common sense.
Do your own investigations and read personal blogs around the world for a more dynamic outlook into our global society.
Actually, just reading something from outside the US, even from mainstream medias, as long as it isn't from the US, will make a big difference.
I'm Canadian (eh) and during the 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq events, I have been reading CNN and my usual sources of "mainstream" information (CBC and a local newspaper's online edition). Often I just couldn't believe the American and Canadian media were talkiing about the same events. You guys miss a lot of details, have the informations later than the rest to make sure it is properly filtered (if you get the info at all) and emphasis is always where the Americans look good (I bet we hear more about your killed soldiers around the world than you do).
Blogs are great when you know which ones to read and can think for yourself what's true and what's not. Unfortunately, most people try to think the least they can and will opt for the easy, TV-dinnerish mass media. Then they get flooded with "patriotic" bullshit and are terrorized with urgent news flashes, alert levels rising, flue pandemics killing millions and even the most insignificant event in a day is turned into an important call to support the war on terror.
And I can tell that based on the differences between American and Canadian biggest news sources. It's amazing how an (almost) entire country's attention can be taken away from stuff that matters with reality shows, hollow programs and biased 5 o'clock news. Even with more intelligent humour (say, like the Simpsons), Mister American will laugh at Homer hitting his head on the wall and will never, ever get the message behind it. Ah well.
What scares me, actualy, is that Canada is becoming like that too. Wait ten years and we'll be seeing used British unmanned flying drones paid twice the price crash all over the place. Hell yeah.
I think it's sad there are no more comments here. I remember taking an introduction to astrophysics back in college and having lengthy discussions with the teacher. And I was the only person in class who was interested at all. There are so many unanswered questions and so many beautiful things we see but can't explain yet in space, I can't believe humans don't spend more energy trying to solve all these mysteries.
Black holes were one of my favorite subjects. Say, for exemple, that you would fall into a black hole, and let's say that light doesn't get trapped in, so outside observers could see what's going on and let's also pretend you do not get crushed/melted in the process. What you would see could very well look like what TFA shows. But what if you look backwards, what if you gaze towards the universe instead of the chaotic center? Because a singularity is in fact an infinite curvature of space-time, that makes a black hole a spot where the universe ends. Would you see the universe fast foward to its end? Would external observers see you fall slowly, until the end of time?
Ok, IANAAstrophysicist. But I'm damn good at day-dreaming. And, again, I think it's a shame we spend trillions in weapons but cannot manage to have some sort of reasonable space program. Of course there are no direct economic benefits when going into and exploring space, so let's just forget about our origins, our future and everything that surrounds us. Let's just say we come from Jesus' father's balls and pretend we're the center of the universe. There. That's easy.
You definitely would NOT mention it to the press if you wanted to get published in a top journal like Nature, Science, or Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Maybe with a cure that has such an importance (if it does work), you just don't care being published in a top journal? Or maybe you know they'll be lining up anyway to have more details...
Would you be willing to pay a small fee each month if you could get all the music you want and have no legal liability?
Yes. And I already am. I am paying for my internet access and the CDs and DVDs I buy are levied because I am expected to be pirating music/movies with them.
Because I am considered guilty anyway and because I have paid my debt through various levies, I do not expect to have any legal liability. Thank you.
Sorry to crush you with this, but the world's needs are more important than a few enterprises' economical whims.
Yeah. But when your whole culture is just that, a few enterprises, it could mean a lot.
It can also mean your culture isn't very deep and that affecting these few enterprises' economical whims might actualy improve things around, but that's another story...
I actualy am working in the industry. And I know Photoshop is an industry standard. But I said "so called" as in "I don't care". Another example would be "Microsoft is the industry standard" in, say, desktop stations. Well, I'm sure many here still prefer to use Linux or MacOS as desktops and don't give a flying fuck who is the industry standard. Industry standard != better.
You were right on something though, the submitter is asking for a book and I'm suggesting online tutorials. Granted, I'm not answering.
It's quite annoying to see people still trying to push Photoshop in some of the other posts. The submitter is asking for something else. If you only know Photoshop, then fine -- you just won't be helpful.
Personnaly, I've been playing with Corel Draw since version 1 or 2 and I've sticked with Corel since then. At some point, I've started using Photoshop because it was obviously more advanced in photo editing than Corel. But since Corel 7, I got back to Corel Photopaint (that's when they started copying Photoshop properly). Let me read any report, let me hear any professional, let me see any demonstration showing -- and even proving -- that Photoshop is better, I don't care. I think I even believe Photoshop is superior in many ways to Photopaint. But I'll keep using Photopaint because I like the tools, the interface and there's absolutely nothing as of now that I haven't been able to achieve with this software.
However, since Photoshop is the so-called industry standard, I'll also read documentation and tutorials on Photoshop. A lot of free tutorials can be found on the web and many are very useful and actually go behind the curtains, trying to explain what you want to achieve in the end, not only what button to press.
I think the point is: know your tool. When you experiment enough with a program, you'll get used to it and your skills can be ported to another software. And it also goes the other way around: things you'll learn on a different program will easily be reproduced on the program you use if you know it well enough. So that book on Photoshop may very well be useful, especially considering there'll be a lot more books on Photoshop and, consequently, more chances of finding a high-quality book.
You should be looking for a book that explains what you want to know and disregard what software they're using as an exemple. If they're really explaining things thouroughly and if you know your tools enough, it'll go like a charm.
Frankly, for the last splash screen contest, I've submitted quite a few images made in Corel Photopaint on a Windows box (obviously). Most of them got good scores and some ended up high in the ranking.:)
Slashdot Mirror
Now, if the technology is tried, tested and improved enough, why not put 'em everywhere. You know, juste like in London, to prevent crimes. Then vote some laws that says doing this or that is terrorist-like and then illegal. Then arrest more people.
Yeah, I'm stretching it. But you know, when the technology's there, available and working, there is no reason not to use it. Then you can mix techs and end up with nicer cocktails. Like an "ID tag canon" that shoots a tiny RFID tag on someone when the camera decides he looks suspicious -- it'll be easy to follow him. Then you bust his ass when he gets home and hope to find some pot or porn.
Ok, ok. Sci-fi gibberish. But still, if *I* can think of this, I'm sure many others can come up with worse than that. And apply it.
Bingo! That's the one. Hehe, just reading the name gives me shivers. I've spent lots of time playing that game. I've never played it on other computers though. Thanks for reminding me of the name!
Of course, I'm biased. I remember when we went to the store in 1985 my parents and I, to buy our C64. It was supposed to be a much better system than the old TI-99 I had learned to type my name on, before I could even write it with a pen. When we got home, with the precious box, after many hours late at night, my father had to give up because the disk drive was not working. You have no idea how long was the day after, until finally, my father went to the store to get a new one. Again, defect. The other day, we exchanged the disk drive for a 1541. And then, the magic began.
I remember using GEOS with a joystick (hehe), drawing, writing texts and trying about anything in GEOS just for the fun of it (and because it looked very serious!) I remember that fishing game, which came with the computer. You had to pick the trout (fish #4, iirc) to beat almost any other fish. There's also all those Epyx games I remember. GI Joe was lots of fun too. We ended up with a huge lot of game copies, taken from an uncle and I'd spend hours going through them ("Still loading..."). Then there were the BBSes, the computer magazines (I think I remember seeing a screenshot of the first image scanner for the C64), the BASIC books I got from school (and I always ended up with some syntax error when I was about to launch the game)...
Ahh... The good ol' days. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's got so much fun with that nice piece of computer. As the parent said, it's strange the C64 didn't get more kudos (yet).
I know my C64 is in some box in my parent's basement, with a collection of floppies, broken joysticks and other junk. I'll have to try it out some time.
They believe movie fans will prefer to pay a reasonable price for a legal downloaded movie rather than risk illegally swapping a computer file that could contain viruses or be a poor quality copy of a film.
No we won't. Not all of us. People who already download movies illegaly now have access to forums where quality copies are available, feedbacks and comments let people judge if the movie is worth the download, some titles are posted before they're released on DVD, many languages, subs and regions can be found rather easily -- FOR FREE. Of course, there's always the crappy cam or the bad compression here and there. But it's not like you pay much for them either...
I think the industry just missed the boat. If they want "pirates" to use their service instead, they'll need to provide some insentive, which same-as-DVD release date and prices are not.
Nobody will end up in 2nd or 3rd place with a "good enough" idea either. It is going to be some pretting friggin good ideas, worthy of a prize. Even if some idea does not win the contest, it might very well inspire some genius elsewhere to come up with something better or it could also be improved, tested and used. You never know.
If you can read this, you're hot.
I'll agree with the Hummer part. But Ferraris? First of all, it's not like they're many among car owners. Not enough to make a significant difference, especially if you consider the (usually low) mileage they travel with them. The average supercar owner isn't likely to go to work every day in traffic jams and travel coast to coast every sunday, you know...
You should blame the SUVs in urban areas instead. Or the kid with the modified 4-banger. Or the average person with an average car, an average engine displacement and an average mileage that ends up polluting way more than the rare luxury/super cars.
Ah. It's called terrorism now ;)
You know, this has to stop somewhere. The guy was sick. His parents, friends and relatives who knew him are much more guilty than people who created the video game. Society itself is guilty of allowing such people to roam free. But then, we can't incarcerate everyone "just in case". So my point is: shit happens. Whatever his reasons, whatever the motives, whatever the games he played and the programs he watched, he is a murderer. He's been sentenced to death. The vast majority of people who play GTA do not go on a killing spree aftewards. The game is not the problem.
To quote Chris Rock: so what'd you want? A cookie? You're supposed to do that. That's the least one could expect his country to do. Come on.
2.) Depending on the numbers you use, the United States has fewer violent crimes than many other nations ... However, it is a documented fact that in many countries where gun possession is illegal, knife and other weapon crimes increase substantially.
Uh ok. First of all, please show us the numbers. Of course if, as you say, it depends on the numbers you use, then maybe you can prove anything. But just for the fun of it, try comparing two similar and bordering nations like, say, the USA and Canada. See what you come up with. And by the way, I'd much rather be attacked by a kid with a knife than a kid with a gun. There's a reason why there's not much knife regulations: it's much easier to kill with a gun than a knife.
3.) So most of the rest of the civilized world thinks our gun policies are "ludicrous"?
Yes. Are you really comparing Switzerland with the USA? Europe is a different place. You are comparing responsible people with Americans. The violent crime rate in the USA is almost ten times that of Switzerland, per 100,000. That somehow shows that guns themselves are not the problem. Therefore, I wouldn't let Americans own guns. But you do. So we think your gun "policies" are ludicrous.
It could be won, but even if it can't we should still fight it to at least reduce the damage done.
Yes, there's a real problem that has to be fought. But the way it looks, potheads will soon get shot by flying drones. =P
Well, only slightly over half of 15% of the population actually voted for him
And he's still in power? Only 15% of the country voted for him, he's ruining everybody, making war around the world, violating the basis of your nation, slows scientific research, and no one complains? You know, it's easy to dismiss the issue by saying only 15% voted for him. But the point is, 99% of Americans ARE voting for him everyday by letting him in power. And for that, we see Americans as a bunch of lazy assholes, too preoccupied with their daily TV shows to do much to save democracy.
Mod me down all you want. That doesn't change the fact that, in reality, despite what CNN and Fox might say, Americans are seen as a bunch of morons pretty much everywhere. Don't blame me, that's just the way it is and will be until you show some common sense.
Actually, just reading something from outside the US, even from mainstream medias, as long as it isn't from the US, will make a big difference.
I'm Canadian (eh) and during the 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq events, I have been reading CNN and my usual sources of "mainstream" information (CBC and a local newspaper's online edition). Often I just couldn't believe the American and Canadian media were talkiing about the same events. You guys miss a lot of details, have the informations later than the rest to make sure it is properly filtered (if you get the info at all) and emphasis is always where the Americans look good (I bet we hear more about your killed soldiers around the world than you do).
Blogs are great when you know which ones to read and can think for yourself what's true and what's not. Unfortunately, most people try to think the least they can and will opt for the easy, TV-dinnerish mass media. Then they get flooded with "patriotic" bullshit and are terrorized with urgent news flashes, alert levels rising, flue pandemics killing millions and even the most insignificant event in a day is turned into an important call to support the war on terror.
And I can tell that based on the differences between American and Canadian biggest news sources. It's amazing how an (almost) entire country's attention can be taken away from stuff that matters with reality shows, hollow programs and biased 5 o'clock news. Even with more intelligent humour (say, like the Simpsons), Mister American will laugh at Homer hitting his head on the wall and will never, ever get the message behind it. Ah well.
What scares me, actualy, is that Canada is becoming like that too. Wait ten years and we'll be seeing used British unmanned flying drones paid twice the price crash all over the place. Hell yeah.
Black holes were one of my favorite subjects. Say, for exemple, that you would fall into a black hole, and let's say that light doesn't get trapped in, so outside observers could see what's going on and let's also pretend you do not get crushed/melted in the process. What you would see could very well look like what TFA shows. But what if you look backwards, what if you gaze towards the universe instead of the chaotic center? Because a singularity is in fact an infinite curvature of space-time, that makes a black hole a spot where the universe ends. Would you see the universe fast foward to its end? Would external observers see you fall slowly, until the end of time?
Ok, IANAAstrophysicist. But I'm damn good at day-dreaming. And, again, I think it's a shame we spend trillions in weapons but cannot manage to have some sort of reasonable space program. Of course there are no direct economic benefits when going into and exploring space, so let's just forget about our origins, our future and everything that surrounds us. Let's just say we come from Jesus' father's balls and pretend we're the center of the universe. There. That's easy.
Maybe with a cure that has such an importance (if it does work), you just don't care being published in a top journal? Or maybe you know they'll be lining up anyway to have more details...
Yes. And I already am. I am paying for my internet access and the CDs and DVDs I buy are levied because I am expected to be pirating music/movies with them.
Because I am considered guilty anyway and because I have paid my debt through various levies, I do not expect to have any legal liability. Thank you.
Well, yes. But Slashdot's editors assumed most Slashdot-readers would be too young to remember when it was first posted back in '53.
Get yourself a totally hot Hispanic girlfriend
:P
Are you aware you are posting on Slashdot? I mean, a girlfriend... come on! You insensitive clod
Sorry to crush you with this, but the world's needs are more important than a few enterprises' economical whims.
Yeah. But when your whole culture is just that, a few enterprises, it could mean a lot.
It can also mean your culture isn't very deep and that affecting these few enterprises' economical whims might actualy improve things around, but that's another story...
I actualy am working in the industry. And I know Photoshop is an industry standard. But I said "so called" as in "I don't care". Another example would be "Microsoft is the industry standard" in, say, desktop stations. Well, I'm sure many here still prefer to use Linux or MacOS as desktops and don't give a flying fuck who is the industry standard. Industry standard != better.
You were right on something though, the submitter is asking for a book and I'm suggesting online tutorials. Granted, I'm not answering.
It's quite annoying to see people still trying to push Photoshop in some of the other posts. The submitter is asking for something else. If you only know Photoshop, then fine -- you just won't be helpful.
Personnaly, I've been playing with Corel Draw since version 1 or 2 and I've sticked with Corel since then. At some point, I've started using Photoshop because it was obviously more advanced in photo editing than Corel. But since Corel 7, I got back to Corel Photopaint (that's when they started copying Photoshop properly). Let me read any report, let me hear any professional, let me see any demonstration showing -- and even proving -- that Photoshop is better, I don't care. I think I even believe Photoshop is superior in many ways to Photopaint. But I'll keep using Photopaint because I like the tools, the interface and there's absolutely nothing as of now that I haven't been able to achieve with this software.
However, since Photoshop is the so-called industry standard, I'll also read documentation and tutorials on Photoshop. A lot of free tutorials can be found on the web and many are very useful and actually go behind the curtains, trying to explain what you want to achieve in the end, not only what button to press.
I think the point is: know your tool. When you experiment enough with a program, you'll get used to it and your skills can be ported to another software. And it also goes the other way around: things you'll learn on a different program will easily be reproduced on the program you use if you know it well enough. So that book on Photoshop may very well be useful, especially considering there'll be a lot more books on Photoshop and, consequently, more chances of finding a high-quality book.
You should be looking for a book that explains what you want to know and disregard what software they're using as an exemple. If they're really explaining things thouroughly and if you know your tools enough, it'll go like a charm.
...and my inhaler is powered by a Pentium 4, according to the sticker :)
The 100 and 1000 years-ahead aliens almost certainly aren't backwards compatible enough.
AAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGGGGHHH!!!!
Phew. Sorry 'bout that. I've just imagined us in 1000 years playing Duke Nukem Forever in our flying cars but still using Windows.
I will become a mass serial killer running around with a jar of cheese whiz!
No. You will become a terrorist. Cheez Whiz is clearly a WMD.
Frankly, for the last splash screen contest, I've submitted quite a few images made in Corel Photopaint on a Windows box (obviously). Most of them got good scores and some ended up high in the ranking. :)
The drawing tools are from the USSR?
Yeah. And it's all free as in vodka.
Oh ok. Sorry about that...
Time to get hold of that new Commodore 64 thingy. I hear it's very stable now.