Why not use one of the many free competing IM clients?
My favourite is Miranda (Windows only, free but not open source)) because it's incredibly lightweight, uses the default Windows UI, and has an incredibly active plugin community.
Then there's Pidgin (multiplatform, free open source) which is also an excellent and mature IM which is also very extensible.
No crapware whatsoever on these similar apps. Support the projects that contribute to the initiatives of free software with your downloads and your dollars. Snub the software that steals control of your computer for monetary gain.
I've been reading gaming magazines for nearly 20 years now and can confidently say that they have been very informative overall. Unlike most websites which regurgitate press releases, magazine editors build relationships with game developers and are invited to visit their offices to get their hands on alpha builds or deathmatches with the team. They then go back to the office where they put their professional writing skills and industry experience to proper use.
Games journalism is unquestionably real journalism. It covers news about an industry I care about, and it acts as consumer reviews of expensive products that I will buy or avoid based on their comments.
After about 3 months of ignoring L4D I tried the Dam it! mod and had a really great time. Not only was it refreshing to try a new campaign (especially one with no loading screens) but I actually found it SCARY since I didn't know what to expect around the corner. It really reminded me how much I like this game when I haven't done the maps to death. I might even reconsider buying L4D2 after all thanks to this reminder; I thought I'd just gotten tired of the premise but apparently not!
For my wedding I wrote my own wedding march song with a MOD tracker which composes free open source music. Nobody cared but me, but it was a big deal for me.
Stupid question but can you still create your OWN stuff for Sims 3?
You can by modding but it was never possible to create custom objects using the game GUI. The unfortunate truth is that with each subsequent major release the modders lose a little creativity because of the increased detail introduced in each new game. For example, Sims 1 was a 2D game so it was much easier to make really wacky and unique objects, whereas Sims 2 is fully 3D which requires much more detail, accuracy, and specific interactivity.
What's impressive about Sims 3 is that you can change the colours of each item (tables, clothes, cars, whatever). Previously you could only choose from a few preset colours and styles, but in Sims 3 you can add alternative surfaces to objects (so you can have pants made out of wallpaper or a matte leather fridge). The toolset makes it easy to copy the style from one object to another so that you can co-ordinate the look and material of all your decor.
On an unrelated note there is a Wii game called My Sims which is all about creating furniture and vehicles from basic polygons. It's an interesting idea but I thoroughly disliked that game because it had none of The Sims' personality. The Wiimote makes for a very precise 3D CAD input, though!
But you don't actually get to *be* evil. Sure, you can practice an evil speech, do an evil dance, steal candy from babies, and even become the evil overlord. But any actual evil behavior (rape, murder, torture) is conspicuously absent from the game.
Not that EA would want the ESRB rating.
Yeah, this is a game where even the ugliest aspects are still adorable. It still leaves room for satisfyingly naughty behaviour, from theft to fist fights to influencing others to embarrass themselves. What's unique about Sims in this fashion is the fact that your characters can autonomously gravitate toward antisocial behaviour, and the game actually rewards you for giving in to those urges. Even Grand Theft Auto punishes you for things you are rewarded for in Sims, and that game is rated M and even banned from some countries.
Play Sims 3 before making this claim. It's really packed full of content and options. I'm always interested in the expansions but ambivalent towards the "stuff packs" which give you more clothing and objects to interact with. They seem to have moved that content to their online store which is ridiculously priced.
They added more naughty stuff than ever in Sims 3. You can assign behavioral traits to your Sims now, including evil, hot headed, daredevil, and mean spirited. Not only do these traits enable specific behaviours but you even get rewarded for doing them. You can be a grade A bastard in this game and it will pat you on the back for it.
If your website's front page has a PageRank score of 3/10 or higher it is a prime candidate for hijacking. Google gives extra clout to hyperlinks from sites with a high PageRank (aka "link juice"), so it's easiest for a malicious party to hijack a small number of high-ranking sites than a large number of low-ranking sites. The higher your PageRank the greater your risk.
Thanks very much for this clarification. In American law the loser isn't always responsible for legal fees. Even if the defendant wins the case they still have to put forth the fees until such a time as they are reimbursed, so that, in addition to time spent, can be a huge drain on personal resources.
This is just another example of Big Media trying to bleed the little guy dry. This is an abuse of the judicial system where the plaintiff badgers a defendant through the legal system by forcing the defendant to commit all their funds to legal fees until they can no longer afford anything but a settlement.
This works just fine in America. I guess it's a welcome practise in Sweden as well.
Great summary. I've tried most MMOs and the longest I played any one was 5 non-consecutive months. They're all too similar for my tastes.
Free Realms is absolutely a breath of fresh air because there are so many play types and objectives. I find this game very innovative, and I predict we'll start seeing more crafting mini games in place of boring progress bars.
Huge kudos to Sony. I might actually foot the $5/month to kick the tires on some of the subscriber content. For those wondering, though, there's tons and tons of free content and they've added a lot since launch.
Free Realms is mostly co-operative and rarely competitive. It's in every party member's best interest that each player is as decked out as possible. Plus your character has to be a high enough level to use the subscriber items anyway so it's not like you can bribe your way to the top.
TFA refers to it as a "simulation game". The idea is to appreciate the complexity of something as you take the controls and appreciate your natural reverse engineering process as you identify each new subtlety. It's one thing to read about how a pilot spent hundreds of hours in a cockpit, but especially so by contrast when you put the craft in your own unskilled hands.
Besides, most of the things in life that I remember best I learned by trying something and failing.
1: It takes away valuable vertical screen real estate and cannot be repositioned to less valuable side areas.
2: It changes based on what it's Application Telepathy thinks you are doing.
3: You are not even offered the option of backwards compatibility to the old, customizable, fixed menuing system -- Microsoft dictates that they know what's best for you!
1 - You can double click one of the major headings on the ribbon to hide it until it's clicked again. Then it behaves like a pulldown menu.
2 - It's called semantic computing. It makes computing task-based instead of command-based. People don't want to think about repeatedly putting one foot in front of the other - they want to walk to the store.
3 - AKA older is betterer? I disagree - especially when you call the old pulldown menus "fixed". Pick 5 tasks, do them on Office 2003 and 2007, and count the mouse clicks.
Yes, Office 2010 will run on XP. Wouldn't make sense for them to bump up the requirements. I wouldn't be surprised if some features were disabled on XP though.
I guess I don't need to ask why your sentence is in past tense. DOS and dot matrix printers used to suffice as well, but do you intend to distribute your hard work with modems and floppies?
Just because "View / Header and Footer" is the way you're used to doing it, doesn't mean it's the best way. Word has been evolving and expanding all this time. You can only shoehorn new features into the old UI for so long before it becomes convoluted.
To learn the new ribbon all you have to do is think about what you are trying to accomplish and then navigate where you think it ought to belong. The new layout means you will find related functions that will improve your productivity and quality of communication. It's nothing but a good thing.
FYI, old hotkeys from previous versions of Office still work (e.g., Alt-F, S, will still save your document even though there's no "File" pulldown with a "Save" command.
I found it really interesting to hear that Microsoft is pushing so hard for web-based solutions, as well as incorporating network features into the local client. They seem to be adopting all the best features of Google Apps/Writely and putting extra polish on them.
For instance, anyone who's used Google Apps knows how bad the cross-compatibility is with Office documents so this alone will be the main decider for most businesses. Also, Google Apps' interface is rudamintary and the applications are utterly worthless for formatting documents for print, so these are areas MS can really excel in the cloud. It's also neat to see Microsoft incorporate collaborative edits of a single document - this was Google's main differentiator until now as it was infinitely better than Sharepoint's check-out system.
Most importantly for non-US businesses, Microsoft offers locally installed, locally hosted server solutions which means you don't have to entrust your private data to the cloud, the PATRIOT Act, or man-in-the-middle attacks. Also, your workplace doesn't stop if your WAN connection goes down.
I predict these features will be of little value to small businesses and home users who may opt for cheap or free competing products, but MS has a very good handle on how the workplace is evolving and becoming more distributed and this awareness will be very attractive for mid-to-large businesses.
In the conclusion of the article the author talks about how Google and Microsoft will not defeat each other, but some third player will storm in with innovative new ideas and steal the show. It's more like Mutually Assured Distraction in that they will be blindsided by some up-and-comer who is more in tune with what end users really need.
Slashdot Mirror
My mistake! I'm happy to state that Miranda is both free and open source!
Why not use one of the many free competing IM clients?
My favourite is Miranda (Windows only, free but not open source)) because it's incredibly lightweight, uses the default Windows UI, and has an incredibly active plugin community.
Then there's Pidgin (multiplatform, free open source) which is also an excellent and mature IM which is also very extensible.
No crapware whatsoever on these similar apps. Support the projects that contribute to the initiatives of free software with your downloads and your dollars. Snub the software that steals control of your computer for monetary gain.
I've been reading gaming magazines for nearly 20 years now and can confidently say that they have been very informative overall. Unlike most websites which regurgitate press releases, magazine editors build relationships with game developers and are invited to visit their offices to get their hands on alpha builds or deathmatches with the team. They then go back to the office where they put their professional writing skills and industry experience to proper use.
Games journalism is unquestionably real journalism. It covers news about an industry I care about, and it acts as consumer reviews of expensive products that I will buy or avoid based on their comments.
Plus it's something to read on the can.
Google is getting more possessive every day!
After about 3 months of ignoring L4D I tried the Dam it! mod and had a really great time. Not only was it refreshing to try a new campaign (especially one with no loading screens) but I actually found it SCARY since I didn't know what to expect around the corner. It really reminded me how much I like this game when I haven't done the maps to death. I might even reconsider buying L4D2 after all thanks to this reminder; I thought I'd just gotten tired of the premise but apparently not!
For my wedding I wrote my own wedding march song with a MOD tracker which composes free open source music. Nobody cared but me, but it was a big deal for me.
Stupid question but can you still create your OWN stuff for Sims 3?
You can by modding but it was never possible to create custom objects using the game GUI. The unfortunate truth is that with each subsequent major release the modders lose a little creativity because of the increased detail introduced in each new game. For example, Sims 1 was a 2D game so it was much easier to make really wacky and unique objects, whereas Sims 2 is fully 3D which requires much more detail, accuracy, and specific interactivity.
What's impressive about Sims 3 is that you can change the colours of each item (tables, clothes, cars, whatever). Previously you could only choose from a few preset colours and styles, but in Sims 3 you can add alternative surfaces to objects (so you can have pants made out of wallpaper or a matte leather fridge). The toolset makes it easy to copy the style from one object to another so that you can co-ordinate the look and material of all your decor.
On an unrelated note there is a Wii game called My Sims which is all about creating furniture and vehicles from basic polygons. It's an interesting idea but I thoroughly disliked that game because it had none of The Sims' personality. The Wiimote makes for a very precise 3D CAD input, though!
Walt Disney evil or Fallout evil?
I doubt there is a game more evil then Fallout.
I'd say it's halfway between Dennis the Menace and Falling Down evil, if that helps. :) Mischievous malevolence.
P.s., KOTOR2 is the game where you can be the most evil, says I.
But you don't actually get to *be* evil. Sure, you can practice an evil speech, do an evil dance, steal candy from babies, and even become the evil overlord. But any actual evil behavior (rape, murder, torture) is conspicuously absent from the game.
Not that EA would want the ESRB rating.
Yeah, this is a game where even the ugliest aspects are still adorable. It still leaves room for satisfyingly naughty behaviour, from theft to fist fights to influencing others to embarrass themselves. What's unique about Sims in this fashion is the fact that your characters can autonomously gravitate toward antisocial behaviour, and the game actually rewards you for giving in to those urges. Even Grand Theft Auto punishes you for things you are rewarded for in Sims, and that game is rated M and even banned from some countries.
Play Sims 3 before making this claim. It's really packed full of content and options. I'm always interested in the expansions but ambivalent towards the "stuff packs" which give you more clothing and objects to interact with. They seem to have moved that content to their online store which is ridiculously priced.
They added more naughty stuff than ever in Sims 3. You can assign behavioral traits to your Sims now, including evil, hot headed, daredevil, and mean spirited. Not only do these traits enable specific behaviours but you even get rewarded for doing them. You can be a grade A bastard in this game and it will pat you on the back for it.
If your website's front page has a PageRank score of 3/10 or higher it is a prime candidate for hijacking. Google gives extra clout to hyperlinks from sites with a high PageRank (aka "link juice"), so it's easiest for a malicious party to hijack a small number of high-ranking sites than a large number of low-ranking sites. The higher your PageRank the greater your risk.
Thanks very much for this clarification. In American law the loser isn't always responsible for legal fees. Even if the defendant wins the case they still have to put forth the fees until such a time as they are reimbursed, so that, in addition to time spent, can be a huge drain on personal resources.
This is just another example of Big Media trying to bleed the little guy dry. This is an abuse of the judicial system where the plaintiff badgers a defendant through the legal system by forcing the defendant to commit all their funds to legal fees until they can no longer afford anything but a settlement.
This works just fine in America. I guess it's a welcome practise in Sweden as well.
I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the EU imposes a fine on these movie companies for anti-competitive behavior.
That's a great point! The Pirate Bay should update their site so that it only works on IE! That ought to incur the wrath of the EU.
Great summary. I've tried most MMOs and the longest I played any one was 5 non-consecutive months. They're all too similar for my tastes.
Free Realms is absolutely a breath of fresh air because there are so many play types and objectives. I find this game very innovative, and I predict we'll start seeing more crafting mini games in place of boring progress bars.
Huge kudos to Sony. I might actually foot the $5/month to kick the tires on some of the subscriber content. For those wondering, though, there's tons and tons of free content and they've added a lot since launch.
Free Realms is mostly co-operative and rarely competitive. It's in every party member's best interest that each player is as decked out as possible. Plus your character has to be a high enough level to use the subscriber items anyway so it's not like you can bribe your way to the top.
TFA refers to it as a "simulation game". The idea is to appreciate the complexity of something as you take the controls and appreciate your natural reverse engineering process as you identify each new subtlety. It's one thing to read about how a pilot spent hundreds of hours in a cockpit, but especially so by contrast when you put the craft in your own unskilled hands.
Besides, most of the things in life that I remember best I learned by trying something and failing.
10 print "mumble"
20 if $wordperfect > "5.1" then goto 10
30 else print "phew!"
1: It takes away valuable vertical screen real estate and cannot be repositioned to less valuable side areas.
2: It changes based on what it's Application Telepathy thinks you are doing.
3: You are not even offered the option of backwards compatibility to the old, customizable, fixed menuing system -- Microsoft dictates that they know what's best for you!
1 - You can double click one of the major headings on the ribbon to hide it until it's clicked again. Then it behaves like a pulldown menu.
2 - It's called semantic computing. It makes computing task-based instead of command-based. People don't want to think about repeatedly putting one foot in front of the other - they want to walk to the store.
3 - AKA older is betterer? I disagree - especially when you call the old pulldown menus "fixed". Pick 5 tasks, do them on Office 2003 and 2007, and count the mouse clicks.
Yes, Office 2010 will run on XP. Wouldn't make sense for them to bump up the requirements. I wouldn't be surprised if some features were disabled on XP though.
I guess I don't need to ask why your sentence is in past tense. DOS and dot matrix printers used to suffice as well, but do you intend to distribute your hard work with modems and floppies?
Just because "View / Header and Footer" is the way you're used to doing it, doesn't mean it's the best way. Word has been evolving and expanding all this time. You can only shoehorn new features into the old UI for so long before it becomes convoluted.
To learn the new ribbon all you have to do is think about what you are trying to accomplish and then navigate where you think it ought to belong. The new layout means you will find related functions that will improve your productivity and quality of communication. It's nothing but a good thing.
FYI, old hotkeys from previous versions of Office still work (e.g., Alt-F, S, will still save your document even though there's no "File" pulldown with a "Save" command.
I found it really interesting to hear that Microsoft is pushing so hard for web-based solutions, as well as incorporating network features into the local client. They seem to be adopting all the best features of Google Apps/Writely and putting extra polish on them.
For instance, anyone who's used Google Apps knows how bad the cross-compatibility is with Office documents so this alone will be the main decider for most businesses. Also, Google Apps' interface is rudamintary and the applications are utterly worthless for formatting documents for print, so these are areas MS can really excel in the cloud. It's also neat to see Microsoft incorporate collaborative edits of a single document - this was Google's main differentiator until now as it was infinitely better than Sharepoint's check-out system.
Most importantly for non-US businesses, Microsoft offers locally installed, locally hosted server solutions which means you don't have to entrust your private data to the cloud, the PATRIOT Act, or man-in-the-middle attacks. Also, your workplace doesn't stop if your WAN connection goes down.
I predict these features will be of little value to small businesses and home users who may opt for cheap or free competing products, but MS has a very good handle on how the workplace is evolving and becoming more distributed and this awareness will be very attractive for mid-to-large businesses.
In the conclusion of the article the author talks about how Google and Microsoft will not defeat each other, but some third player will storm in with innovative new ideas and steal the show. It's more like Mutually Assured Distraction in that they will be blindsided by some up-and-comer who is more in tune with what end users really need.