That just shows the pitfalls of swearing allegiance to one side or another in the OS war. It's the same thing that Linux zealots do when a Windows flaw is discovered, and (as this article demonstrates) it's the same thing Windows zealots do when a Mac or Linux flaw is discovered.
It's nothing specific to Mac users. It's a classic tactic to make your side look better and belittle the competition (outside the computer world, it's commonly called 'propaganda').
Not only that, but he jumps on the Windows-defending bandwagon as soon as he vows that he's not another one of those knee-jerk Windows apologists. He sets the whole thing up by saying he's not an extreme Windows fanboy, and then goes off and jumps the gun on a single Mac security flaw. The article wouldn't be as bad if it didn't stink of hypocrisy.
While it pains me greatly to see the passing of the company responsible for stealing so many hours of my teenage years, it doesn't come as much of a surprise. Black Isle has been going downhill since BioWare came into the game, and their games, while always being a bit ahead of Bioware's in terms of quality, never seemed to sell as many copies.
Planescape: Torment is a great example of this. Torment to this day remains one of the best games I have ever had the pleasure of playing, and it stands as perhaps the deepest roleplaying experience and certainly the most powerful game that I have played. According to BIS's sales figures from a couple years back, Torment had sold around 300,000 copies. While no slouch in the sales department (it certainly got them in the black), it wasn't quite up to the sales standards set by Bioware with the Baldur's Gate saga (also a great series of games, but nowhere near as powerful as Torment).
From there, it was downhill. Project after project was cancelled (including Torn, which looked to be a sweet 3d CRPG with all the reactivity and depth of Torment but with a snazzy 3d engine and the Fallout SPECIAL system), until Black Isle was stuck with a sequel to Icewind Dale (using the aging 2d Infinity Engine of the original Baldur's Gate in the era of 3d Neverwinter Nights and Morrowind). Then there was Lionheart, which took some of the elements of the cancelled Torn and tried to turn it into a decent game. What happened was an Arcanum-esque RPG: a great concept (a historical fantasy game that infused magic in the time of the Crusades) but with poor execution and an even worse engine and interface.
I hate to say it, but it looked like BIS was going to shut down since Interplay got bought out by Titus Interactive several years back. They just don't have the sales numbers to appease high-level marketing execs, despite their innovation and depth. The one silver lining of this predicament is the fact that other companies can now have a crack at some of the talent that has graced BIS for years. This could bode well for the phoenix-like CRPG industry if dev houses utilize this influx of great minds. An RPG fanboy can only hope...
What will be the 21st century's analogue of the atom bomb?
Whatever it is, it will probably be something none of us could think up (except maybe the Time Cube guy) in our wildest dreams. At the turn of the century, no one could have predicted what would happen 45 years down the line and I think the same holds true today, especially with the rate that innovation has increased since the 1900s.
Actually, the Java language itself is undergoing a bit of a rebirth at Universities. It's become the language of choice instead of C/C++ for intro- to intermediate-level CS courses. Sure, the name Java may have horrible connotations in light of the late-90's applet blitz, but when the current crop of undergraduates comes of age in a few years, Java will be seen in a much better light.
This kind of long-term market insinuation may be what Sun is banking on, especially since more and more non-CS majors are taking programming classes. As a short-term plan, of course, the decision seems to make absolutely no sense with the stranglehold that M-dollar-sign has on the consumer market and the current image of the Java language, but there just may be a longer-term goal behind Sun's actions.
While it may have spawned innumerable teenage imitators, one fortunate side-effect of the JenniCam is the FatCam the webcam that allows you to track the daily intake of junk food consumed by the developers at Troika Games.
The probe was Japanese, not American. If it was American, you can bet that a War on Space Terrorism would be declared and missiles would soon follow...
I don't think you can really grasp the cultishness of the iPod phenomenon until you go to a semi-closed environment like a University and witness it firsthand. It's subtle (since most people with iPods aren't as blatant about the fact that they're listening to them as the commercials would have you believe) and the members of this cult are only recognizable by their white Apple earbuds. But its definitely there.
In a way, it's similar to the whole Nalgene phenomenon: a lot of people have them, they're better than normal water bottles (or, in this case, walk/discmen), and they're pretty much different for everyone.
That being said, I haven't witnessed the iPod cult go as far as detailed in the article, despite the fact that I am one of them. Usually, I get no more than a brief nod as an acknowledgement of my cult membership. But then again, I might be the exception; spurned even by iPod culture...
The scariest part of upgrading I've found is the daunting process of mounting the heatsink on the processor. Most newer heatsinks have a little latch that helps with ease of installation, but there're always those renegade heatsinks without latches that just give me the jibblies to install.
It wouldn't be so much of a problem if the heatsinks didn't require so much force to fit over the nubs on the processor housing that you have to press on them with a screwdriver, risking the integrity of the printed circuitry around the processor and your sanity as you press down on them in hope that they'll fit. But no... they still make you press like there's no tomorrow.
Re:I'm an artist! look at me! read my blog! !@$&am
on
The Substance of Style
·
· Score: 1
Any jackass with a copy of any high-end creation utility thinks that they're a pro. I think it's due more to the empowerment of the tools than anything else, which is both a blessing and a curse. Tools such as Dreamweaver (for HTML), Acid (for music), and Visual Studio (for code) make anyone feel like a pro since they're so easy to use and make decent-looking products with.
If the things that they helped the user do were not as marketable (like word processing... how many word processing gurus have you seen out there thanks to Word?), then there would be less people assuming that they had mastered complex skills like coding, music, and graphic design from using high-end, professional-grade tools. When there are tools that great, there will inevitably be a lot of people who think that they have talent simply because they can use that tool. Just look at Slashdot...;]
Product placement would be a major problem... if it was actually effective advertising. It has absolutely no effect on people like me, and I watch a lot of TV.
All this talk about product placement has made me hungry and thirsty, so if you'll excuse me, I'm off to hop on my Segway(tm) and cruise over to my local AmPm(tm) to purchase a can of refreshing Pepsi(tm) and a peanut-rich Snickers(tm) brand candy bar. Yum.
When the masked Sith gets cut in half at the end, he bleeds. Anyone else getting visions of a similar move in Episode 4 where Obi-Wan cuts off Ponda Baba's arm and he bleeds? Does this mean the masked Sith is perhaps Ponda Baba's father? That would explain his reaction to Kenobi in the cantina...
As of this point, it looks like the RIAA isn't subpoenaing (sp?) the default names that Kazaa and Kazaa Lite use. This may be a good way of safety through mundanity for anyone who wants to hide their sharing habits, since there's no way the RIAA can possibly press charges againt everyone who use the default name. Especially when a lot of the people who use the default names probably don't share or have legitimate rights to the music on their hard drives...
Slashdot Mirror
That just shows the pitfalls of swearing allegiance to one side or another in the OS war. It's the same thing that Linux zealots do when a Windows flaw is discovered, and (as this article demonstrates) it's the same thing Windows zealots do when a Mac or Linux flaw is discovered. It's nothing specific to Mac users. It's a classic tactic to make your side look better and belittle the competition (outside the computer world, it's commonly called 'propaganda').
Not only that, but he jumps on the Windows-defending bandwagon as soon as he vows that he's not another one of those knee-jerk Windows apologists. He sets the whole thing up by saying he's not an extreme Windows fanboy, and then goes off and jumps the gun on a single Mac security flaw. The article wouldn't be as bad if it didn't stink of hypocrisy.
They already retried it with Win 98SE. I guess they aren't going with the age-old moniker of "third time's a charm" in this case...
While it pains me greatly to see the passing of the company responsible for stealing so many hours of my teenage years, it doesn't come as much of a surprise. Black Isle has been going downhill since BioWare came into the game, and their games, while always being a bit ahead of Bioware's in terms of quality, never seemed to sell as many copies.
Planescape: Torment is a great example of this. Torment to this day remains one of the best games I have ever had the pleasure of playing, and it stands as perhaps the deepest roleplaying experience and certainly the most powerful game that I have played. According to BIS's sales figures from a couple years back, Torment had sold around 300,000 copies. While no slouch in the sales department (it certainly got them in the black), it wasn't quite up to the sales standards set by Bioware with the Baldur's Gate saga (also a great series of games, but nowhere near as powerful as Torment).
From there, it was downhill. Project after project was cancelled (including Torn, which looked to be a sweet 3d CRPG with all the reactivity and depth of Torment but with a snazzy 3d engine and the Fallout SPECIAL system), until Black Isle was stuck with a sequel to Icewind Dale (using the aging 2d Infinity Engine of the original Baldur's Gate in the era of 3d Neverwinter Nights and Morrowind). Then there was Lionheart, which took some of the elements of the cancelled Torn and tried to turn it into a decent game. What happened was an Arcanum-esque RPG: a great concept (a historical fantasy game that infused magic in the time of the Crusades) but with poor execution and an even worse engine and interface.
I hate to say it, but it looked like BIS was going to shut down since Interplay got bought out by Titus Interactive several years back. They just don't have the sales numbers to appease high-level marketing execs, despite their innovation and depth. The one silver lining of this predicament is the fact that other companies can now have a crack at some of the talent that has graced BIS for years. This could bode well for the phoenix-like CRPG industry if dev houses utilize this influx of great minds. An RPG fanboy can only hope...
What will be the 21st century's analogue of the atom bomb?
Whatever it is, it will probably be something none of us could think up (except maybe the Time Cube guy) in our wildest dreams. At the turn of the century, no one could have predicted what would happen 45 years down the line and I think the same holds true today, especially with the rate that innovation has increased since the 1900s.
Actually, the Java language itself is undergoing a bit of a rebirth at Universities. It's become the language of choice instead of C/C++ for intro- to intermediate-level CS courses. Sure, the name Java may have horrible connotations in light of the late-90's applet blitz, but when the current crop of undergraduates comes of age in a few years, Java will be seen in a much better light.
This kind of long-term market insinuation may be what Sun is banking on, especially since more and more non-CS majors are taking programming classes. As a short-term plan, of course, the decision seems to make absolutely no sense with the stranglehold that M-dollar-sign has on the consumer market and the current image of the Java language, but there just may be a longer-term goal behind Sun's actions.
While it may have spawned innumerable teenage imitators, one fortunate side-effect of the JenniCam is the FatCam the webcam that allows you to track the daily intake of junk food consumed by the developers at Troika Games.
I love the Internet...
I hear that. Both games are chomping at the bit to make me fail my finals...
That's not a car. That's a Nazgul!
The probe was Japanese, not American. If it was American, you can bet that a War on Space Terrorism would be declared and missiles would soon follow...
I don't think you can really grasp the cultishness of the iPod phenomenon until you go to a semi-closed environment like a University and witness it firsthand. It's subtle (since most people with iPods aren't as blatant about the fact that they're listening to them as the commercials would have you believe) and the members of this cult are only recognizable by their white Apple earbuds. But its definitely there.
In a way, it's similar to the whole Nalgene phenomenon: a lot of people have them, they're better than normal water bottles (or, in this case, walk/discmen), and they're pretty much different for everyone.
That being said, I haven't witnessed the iPod cult go as far as detailed in the article, despite the fact that I am one of them. Usually, I get no more than a brief nod as an acknowledgement of my cult membership. But then again, I might be the exception; spurned even by iPod culture...
I hope the messages they send out to ISPs and mail server owners will still be brief, for our comfort...
...lots of bugs."
...until Darl McBride gets an account. Then you'd better watch which avatar you choose.
Or he could always take the easy way out and type 'F-U-N-D-S'. Gotta watch out for that, though. Might get a nasty earthquake...
With that incendiary comment, I think you just proved his point. ;]
So is egging celebrities the new pieing?
The scariest part of upgrading I've found is the daunting process of mounting the heatsink on the processor. Most newer heatsinks have a little latch that helps with ease of installation, but there're always those renegade heatsinks without latches that just give me the jibblies to install.
It wouldn't be so much of a problem if the heatsinks didn't require so much force to fit over the nubs on the processor housing that you have to press on them with a screwdriver, risking the integrity of the printed circuitry around the processor and your sanity as you press down on them in hope that they'll fit. But no... they still make you press like there's no tomorrow.
Any jackass with a copy of any high-end creation utility thinks that they're a pro. I think it's due more to the empowerment of the tools than anything else, which is both a blessing and a curse. Tools such as Dreamweaver (for HTML), Acid (for music), and Visual Studio (for code) make anyone feel like a pro since they're so easy to use and make decent-looking products with.
;]
If the things that they helped the user do were not as marketable (like word processing... how many word processing gurus have you seen out there thanks to Word?), then there would be less people assuming that they had mastered complex skills like coding, music, and graphic design from using high-end, professional-grade tools. When there are tools that great, there will inevitably be a lot of people who think that they have talent simply because they can use that tool. Just look at Slashdot...
Product placement would be a major problem... if it was actually effective advertising. It has absolutely no effect on people like me, and I watch a lot of TV.
All this talk about product placement has made me hungry and thirsty, so if you'll excuse me, I'm off to hop on my Segway(tm) and cruise over to my local AmPm(tm) to purchase a can of refreshing Pepsi(tm) and a peanut-rich Snickers(tm) brand candy bar. Yum.
*Here be Duality spoilers*
When the masked Sith gets cut in half at the end, he bleeds. Anyone else getting visions of a similar move in Episode 4 where Obi-Wan cuts off Ponda Baba's arm and he bleeds? Does this mean the masked Sith is perhaps Ponda Baba's father? That would explain his reaction to Kenobi in the cantina...
...comes the new 'L0tR'. It's Zero Cool!
All they need to say is something like "For every gigabyte you buy, you get another 24 megabytes FREE!"
Here's the definition of 'prole.'
As of this point, it looks like the RIAA isn't subpoenaing (sp?) the default names that Kazaa and Kazaa Lite use. This may be a good way of safety through mundanity for anyone who wants to hide their sharing habits, since there's no way the RIAA can possibly press charges againt everyone who use the default name. Especially when a lot of the people who use the default names probably don't share or have legitimate rights to the music on their hard drives...