Of course, launching a plane won't provoke the same massive retaliatory strike that launching any kind of ICBM could trigger. And besides, it sounds cooler--they'll get more funding that way:)
Re:The Register
on
RFID Explained
·
· Score: 0, Offtopic
"Well, I guess that makes a point in reading the article before commenting"
Well, really, we cant hold you responsible for something that 90% of the/. community doesn't bother with...
"On the other side, it might help loadbalancing the/.ing..."
True, never even considered that. The Reg won't thank you though;)
It initially confused the crap out of me...I read it on the Reg a couple hours ago, and then reading this new article was initially sure I was losing my mind or something. Need more caffeine.
Re:The Register
on
RFID Explained
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Considering they're apparently sending bounty hunters after the guy, the end might prove more permanent in the near future. I wonder what they'll do to get the money if they actually capture him? Will offshore banks pony up for people 'under extreme duress'?
Hear hear! I agree. My handwriting is also abysmal, and always has been (in elementary they graded us on handwriting...straight Cs all the way).
If I need to hand-write, I'll do it in print (which i can write almost as fast as most people's cursive, and marginally more legible), but for most things typed is the way to go. No one should be forced to strain their eyes reading my chicken scratch. Cursive needs to go the way of the dodo:)
List of stuff I've read recently or am planning on reading soon:
-Star Wars New Jedi Order Series (if I can ever find the third book in it...)
-David Edding's Beglariad and Mallorean series (old but always fun)
-Peter F Hamilton's Nights Dawn Trilogy
-George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series (book 4 coming soon!)
-Jack Whyte's Camulod Chronicles (Historical fiction on King Arthur's grandparents, very very good)
-Tom Clancy's Red Rabbit (been reading bits and pieces for months)
-Robert Jordan's WOT #10, Crossroads of Twilight (his slowest read ever though, and not too good IMO)
-The Legacy of Herot, and Beowulf's Children. These two books had like 4 authors, Niven and Pournelle among them I believe.
-Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series
-Neal Stephenson - Cryptonomicon, Zodiac, Diamond Age
-Search for an online book, The Heretic. Got it from a friend, he said there was free downloads--very cool hacker type book, equates it to spellcasting and such.
-Anything by Robert Ludlum
-Clive Cussler novels
Some of these are oldies, but still good. Not all are fantasy or scifi. I've got a ton of others, but these are all the more recent ones (although in most cases it was re-reading them for the millionth time).
For me at least. I've sent in rebates for NICs, 2 different routes, and a Wireless Bridge, and gotten them all back. As well I've had luck with D-link (cable modem rebate) and Western Digital, but those two were Best Buy rebates I believe.
Linksys has been good when purchasing online (buy.com) and Best Buy rebates are good too.
The one rebates I've not had work out are K-byte's (RAM people). I got a lot of old PC-133 RAM for some old comps with rebates, and they said my claim was invalid for not having a street address...despite my photocopies showing it being clearly the opposite. But K-byte RAM sucks anyways, so it shouldnt be a problem as you shouldnt be buying them.
Overall, I've gotten back about $200 in rebate money in the past year, and forgotten to send in/been denied (all for invalid reasons) for about $80 worth.
I got a 19" as well when my old 17" Trinitron finally died. The 17" lasted 7 years in my possession, and before that was an office monitor at a naval base for who knows how many years (its an ancient Mac trinitron I converted to PC). The 19" Trinitrons are simply amazing, and better overall than any LCD I've ever seen (sharp, doesnt ghost, high res, and keeps a nice 75MHz refresh rate even at high res). Got mine at Newegg.com for $280, free shipping, arrived 3 days after I ordered...been 6months so far with nary a problem.
I cranked it to 1600x1200 at 32bit color...and it was unplayable with the frame limiter off (waaaaay too fast). With the limiter on, it was unplayable at any res (way too choppy). Which really bites, that I have this great new kickarse system and cant even play GTA on it:(
Anyone had any luck changing the frame limits of the limiter? Anyone even tried?
Heh, I am a big SSBM fan myself, it was loads of fun. I dont mean crap like that BMXXX game or anything by adult targetted...I simply mean games outside Nintendo's standard Pokemon/Yugioh/other small children's stuff. Metroid Prime is the perfect example. The new Zelda game is not. I dont want softcore pr0n on the console, I want games that don't treat me like a 3 year old;)
Theres the thing, and what I really meant in my post. Sorry for being obscure. By online play, I mean online play with stuff to do in it;) Phantasy Star is cool, but theres not much out there, and as you point out, sadly theres not any real sites for it. Compare that to the PS2 and SOCOM, and theres quite a difference. I would buy a GC for a game like SOCOM to play online.
As it is now I still wont get a GameCube, simply because there arent enough games for it to interest me. I beat Metroid Prime on my friends GC, and the new Zelda game just sickens me (cell shading is *not* for Link). If Nintendo splits their product line a little more along age boundaries they can easily keep their childrens market of Pokemon stuff, but provide fun adult games as well (preferably with lots of online options). So again, sorry for being obscure, but I packaged in more games and places to play them when I originally said online play;)
And sorry for typos, tense differences, etc--its late and I'm too tired to proof this...
First, Nintendo needs to learn a lesson from its portable market. Biggest reason why I'll get a GBA SP? OR why everyone got GBAs to begin with? *Backwards compatibility*
Sony has it with PS2. It made getting a PS2 much more lucrative than a GC, since I could finally play the FF games, as well as GTA series.
Nintendo should maintain bacwards compat. for Gamecube games, and move up to full sized discs like the PS2 for better soundtracks and even more graphics goodies. I'm not a tech genius but I imagine the system can differentiate between big and small legacy discs...if my $5 cdrom drive can read those funny shaped business card discs, Nintendo should be able to accomplish this.
So...bigger discs for more goodies, and backwards compatibility with Gamecube. Go Nintendo.
Oh, more adult targetted games wouldnt hurt. And maybe online play...but my first two points are the biggies.
And if the level of grammar and (usually) proper spelling in my post did not illustrate otherwise, I'm a well educated graduate from high school some time ago.
Yeeeeeah. You switched tense in that sentence a few times. Normally, one would let that pass, but, ironically enough, in that very sentence you're essentially stating your grammar should speak for your level of education. Ouch."
Never said I was an English major. Don't care to proofread. I was more referring to the fact that I knew how to actually write a sentence, with decent punctualization and proper use of capitalization-- traits which I'm sure you'll agree many seem to lack today.
I dislike picking apart posts for grammar and such, and usually dont care about it at all. Criticizing someone elses grammar is a sure way to have your sentence dissected in a flash. But the last 3 words in my sentence there *are* pretty out of whack with most of the rest:grin: Thats what I get for editing the sentence and not rereading it. Silly disjointedness. Luckily when I type stuff for more important reasons I care enough to proof it.
And the sarcasm was directed at what I perceived to be an insinuation that I had no place in this conversation, despite being a perfect case of why this law is unnecessary. So I felt the need to throw some sarcastic remarks in there.
Anywho, I'm done with this topic for the day. Heading home from work and all that. I would say its been entertaining, but somehow this bill just makes me sad, and worried.
Drinking age: yes, I disagree with it. It hasnt destroyed our neighbors across the pond to let younger folks have a touch of wine earlier than 21.
Porn to minors: Again, parental involvement could go a long way. And no kid today is gonna buy a magazine when he can get it for free on the 'net. So parents still need to be actively involved.
Ratings on movies: I dont know the law on this, but it seems no where near as restricting as the proposed video game bill. How many NC-17 movies have you seen lately? I can count on one hand the number of them released to major theatres in my own living memory.
The law should not have to mandate this junk. Its like passing a law requiring everyone to have common sense, or requiring parents to care about their kids. I have no doubt that some form of this bill will become law eventually. But fact of the matter is, it shouldnt be needed. Thats my point.
"I can see both sides of the issue. Yes, it is up to the parents to monitor their child's behavior. But have you ever heard of a child sneaking something that he shouldn't? Kids in my neighborhood who go to middle school (7th and 8th graders), walk right past Blockbuster on the way home from school. In the 3-4 hours they are home alone before their parents came home, such a child can easily rent the game (many 7th and 8th graders have an allowance) and play for a few hours, before hiding it under their mattress when their parents come home"
Yes, sneakiness can be a problem with kids, and I know its a hard one for parents to deal with. They've got to give the kid a fair run at stuff first to try and head-off the need to sneak around. But it is hard to do.
"That said, I think the effects of video games on people are overstated. I've played first person shooters since Castle Wolfenstein and I have yet to kill anybody. I finished GTA 3 and am halfway through GTA:VC and have yet to run over anyone or carjack anyone."
Agreed. I'm in a similar boat-- a past full of violent outside influences, from games to books to movies, and I turned out just fine. I've done tech support for 5 years and still never killed anyone (although there were a few times the court wouldnt have convicted me;) But the point remains.)
" >> You should be with your kids for that kind of stuff anyways.
If you think I can be with my children 24 hours a day 7 days a week until they are 18, you're nuts."
As the rest of my statement there was referring to when they buy video games, I think that yes, you can be with them the majority of the time for that. And if you always give them a fair run at something, they won't feel compelled to sneak out and try to buy it without you. And if they do, thats not the stores fault, at the root. Its yours.
">> Don't sue 7-11 because your kid is getting sex-ed from a magazine instead of you.
It's pornography. It's illegal to sell that to a minor. Even if it's submarined into a video game. I wouldnt sue 7-11, but I would make damn sure the clerk that sold it was arrested for distributing pornography to minors."
Yes, and if parents took more active roles in sex-ed instead of having schools do it, maybe kids would be more eduated about porn and other such nonsense? You have every right to complain to the store about selling the magazine, and you have every right to complain about stores ignoring ESRB. If more people did the latter we wouldnt be in this mess.
">> I'm a well educated graduate from high school some time ago.
I assumed otherwise from your original post.
>> Even today my mom hears updates from me now and then on my progress in the Warcraft3 ladder, and what the game is basically about, even if she has no idea how to play it. She also got a kick out of GTA Vice City and Conkers Bad Fur Day, and feels fine about my little sister playing them"
Heh. My 'little' sister goes to college this year. But she had encounters with GTA3 and Conkers Several Years ago. For me back in the day it was the (in)famous Mortal Kombat series, and she was exposed there as well, without detriment.
As for me, I enjoy playing computer games. Granted, those combined with my job leave me in front of various computers for 12+ hours a day sometimes, but thats the path I've chosen in life. And I've got to give my mother some excuse for why I never see her IMs, so I tell her about my games. Gives a good lead-in to discussing topics such as this new bill with her, as well. Segues quite naturally from one to the next. Not to mention she still maintains an interest in what I do with my life, even if she does still want me to go outside more. So I tell her about my current open source project, or the book I'm reading, or my angst at trying to breech lvl 15 on Warcraft.
So as a parent you want Congress doing your job for you, and keeping your kids in line with pointless laws instead of your participating in their lives?
"If my kids want a game, I'll have to buy it for them. They wont be able to walk into EB and buy it without my knowledge. And if it's sold to them, without my knowledge or consent, the retailer will be the one responsible."
You should be with your kids for that kind of stuff anyways. You should be there sometimes when they are playing. Its the same situation as the Internet and the variety of Bad Things (TM) out there for kids to find...taking a role in their participation there heads off trouble without Congressional mandate. If your kid somehow gets such a game, its your responsibility as a parent to complain to the retailer to follow ESRB guidelines (and to return the game).
"If your child goes to 7-11 for a slurpee, and the retailer sells him a copy of Jugs, is the parent still responsible?"
Yes. Discuss such things with your kid, and explain why its a waste (and illegal at their age). Don't sue 7-11 because your kid is getting sex-ed from a magazine instead of you.
"And people without children should shut the fuck up and stop preaching about how others should raise theirs. Espescially when said people are still in high school."
And who would you be referring to there my trollish friend? Not I, I know that:-P I mean, who am I to talk about how I was raised, right? I certainly don't know how I turned out. I definitely dont know my mother's opinions after long talks with her on the subject. And if the level of grammar and (usually) proper spelling in my post did not illustrate otherwise, I'm a well educated graduate from high school some time ago. So go spew vulgarism somewhere else.
Thats just the thing. Those angry parents should look to themselves before yelling at the gaming industry. The fault lies with them initially in how they raised their kids and the (lack of) participation in their lives. They need to take a step back and reevaluate things.
Video games already have ESRB ratings in place which are quite accurate and informative. What remains is for parents and retailers to actually *read* the ESRB and follow its recommendations. IF a parent thinks their 16 year old is mature enough to handle GTA Vice City (and if they're involved in their childs life they'll know this) then they can purchase it for them. Having Congress step in should not be needed, parents should care enough to talk to their kids about it, and stores should care enough to not piss off parents by selling their kids R rated games/movies/etc.
But I'll say it again. Congress shouldnt have any mandate here. Parents, pay some fscking attention to your kids and what they do!! Take active part in their lives, learn something about their pastimes and games. It works, I'm living proof. Lotsa violent games in my past and I've never decapitated anyone without good cause.
Even today my mom hears updates from me now and then on my progress in the Warcraft3 ladder, and what the game is basically about, even if she has no idea how to play it. She also got a kick out of GTA Vice City and Conkers Bad Fur Day, and feels fine about my little sister playing them since she has established a *firm foundation* in my sisters upbringing to the effect that you don't really maul people with chainsaws...:)
In otherwords, teenagers, talk to your parents! Show them what you play, encourage them to understand the nonsense that Congress is doing, and have them take a more active role.
"If you are simply interested in maintaining a narrow field of view, narrow interests, and avoid education, go to a tech or trade school and you will learn only programming or only business, etc, and not have to exercise your mind nor expand your horizons."
Wow, someone seems a little bitter and narrowminded or something about anything but university education. Did they not teach openmindedness about others at your school? I don't go to a tech school, but for some people its what they (want|need|can afford) versus overpriced, overpoliticized universities full of professors who are more interested in their next book or research symposium than in educating young minds:-P
"You can learn to code to your hearts content and never ever have to have your politics, mores, etc, challenged by reality, culture, and/or variety."
College did that for you? Challenged your mores, politics, and all? Wow. Usually its just recycled garbage from the 90% of the professors who dont care. *Especially* in computer science, where maybe 1 in 20 professors cares about your education rather than how you can advance their research. The 10% who do care are never in your major program as comsci people. So where did you go to get this amazing but embittering experience? I'm rather curious.
In the end though, I have to agree with your basic premise--university education is not the best for teaching to code. But then again neither is tech school. Self-education coupled with one or two code gurus as mentors is prolly the best, but only a few of us get that.
-George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series (book 4 coming soon!)
-Jack Whyte's Camulod Chronicles (Historical fiction on King Arthur's grandparents, very very good)
-Tom Clancy's Red Rabbit (been reading bits and pieces for months)
-Robert Jordan's WOT #10, Crossroads of Twilight (his slowest read ever though, and not too good IMO)
-Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series
-Orson Scott Card's Shadow Puppets, the latest book in the Bean series (Enders Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon preceeding) -Also the rest of Card's Ender series (Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the mind)
-Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon and Snow Crash
-Search for an online book, The Heretic. Got it from a friend, he said there was free downloads--very cool hacker type book, equates it to spellcasting and such
-Tolkien's LotR, Silmarillion, etc
-Anything by Robert Ludlum
-Clive Cussler novels
Some of these are oldies, but still good. Not all are fantasy or scifi. I've got a ton of others, but these are all the more recent ones (although in most cases it was re-reading them for the millionth time).
impress (from dictionary.com, defn 2)
1. To compel (a person) to serve in a military force.
2. To seize (property) by force or authority; confiscate.
Check your dictionary next time;) Sailors on US ships were impressed into service to Britain, meaning they were taken and forced to serve on British ships. Which irritated them, I'm sure.
The second poster was being sarcastic utilizing the more well-known defn of impress, "To affect strongly, often favorably"
Ah, just laughable you are. I just learned Perl actually and am far from being a guru or a Perl activist, so your accusation of 'perlist doublespeak' falls far short. Go accuse Larry Wall. If Perl/Python stole from Tcl and made it run faster, more power to them:-P And if someone actually comments their Perl instead of intentionally obfusciating it (which sadly most people do) its much easier to read.
Try a better troll next time. Dislike my post? Suck it, AC.
"And it never ocurred to you that in 5 years, Tcl might have made some progress as well?"
Useless sarcasm aside, no it did not. It was so nasty that my development lab moved completely away from it and I gave it only passing thought, being more concerned with learning a language or 3 that might be recognized on a resume at more places besides just NBC. It might have a small active following, but Perl/PHP and various cousins are much more active, and with Perl/Tk why bother dealing with Tcl syntax any more?
Slashdot Mirror
Of course, launching a plane won't provoke the same massive retaliatory strike that launching any kind of ICBM could trigger. And besides, it sounds cooler--they'll get more funding that way :)
"Well, I guess that makes a point in reading the article before commenting"
/. community doesn't bother with...
/.ing..."
;)
Well, really, we cant hold you responsible for something that 90% of the
"On the other side, it might help loadbalancing the
True, never even considered that. The Reg won't thank you though
It initially confused the crap out of me...I read it on the Reg a couple hours ago, and then reading this new article was initially sure I was losing my mind or something. Need more caffeine.
And if you look closely, and RTFA, its the same one as Security Focus. From the author's name, right down to the '©SecurityFocus.com' at the bottom of the article.
Considering they're apparently sending bounty hunters after the guy, the end might prove more permanent in the near future. I wonder what they'll do to get the money if they actually capture him? Will offshore banks pony up for people 'under extreme duress'?
Hear hear! I agree. My handwriting is also abysmal, and always has been (in elementary they graded us on handwriting...straight Cs all the way).
:)
If I need to hand-write, I'll do it in print (which i can write almost as fast as most people's cursive, and marginally more legible), but for most things typed is the way to go. No one should be forced to strain their eyes reading my chicken scratch. Cursive needs to go the way of the dodo
List of stuff I've read recently or am planning on reading soon:
-Star Wars New Jedi Order Series (if I can ever find the third book in it...)
-David Edding's Beglariad and Mallorean series (old but always fun)
-Peter F Hamilton's Nights Dawn Trilogy
-George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series (book 4 coming soon!)
-Jack Whyte's Camulod Chronicles (Historical fiction on King Arthur's grandparents, very very good)
-Tom Clancy's Red Rabbit (been reading bits and pieces for months)
-Robert Jordan's WOT #10, Crossroads of Twilight (his slowest read ever though, and not too good IMO)
-The Legacy of Herot, and Beowulf's Children. These two books had like 4 authors, Niven and Pournelle among them I believe.
-Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series
-Neal Stephenson - Cryptonomicon, Zodiac, Diamond Age
-Search for an online book, The Heretic. Got it from a friend, he said there was free downloads--very cool hacker type book, equates it to spellcasting and such.
-Anything by Robert Ludlum
-Clive Cussler novels
Some of these are oldies, but still good. Not all are fantasy or scifi. I've got a ton of others, but these are all the more recent ones (although in most cases it was re-reading them for the millionth time).
For me at least. I've sent in rebates for NICs, 2 different routes, and a Wireless Bridge, and gotten them all back. As well I've had luck with D-link (cable modem rebate) and Western Digital, but those two were Best Buy rebates I believe.
Linksys has been good when purchasing online (buy.com) and Best Buy rebates are good too.
The one rebates I've not had work out are K-byte's (RAM people). I got a lot of old PC-133 RAM for some old comps with rebates, and they said my claim was invalid for not having a street address...despite my photocopies showing it being clearly the opposite. But K-byte RAM sucks anyways, so it shouldnt be a problem as you shouldnt be buying them.
Overall, I've gotten back about $200 in rebate money in the past year, and forgotten to send in/been denied (all for invalid reasons) for about $80 worth.
I got a 19" as well when my old 17" Trinitron finally died. The 17" lasted 7 years in my possession, and before that was an office monitor at a naval base for who knows how many years (its an ancient Mac trinitron I converted to PC). The 19" Trinitrons are simply amazing, and better overall than any LCD I've ever seen (sharp, doesnt ghost, high res, and keeps a nice 75MHz refresh rate even at high res). Got mine at Newegg.com for $280, free shipping, arrived 3 days after I ordered...been 6months so far with nary a problem.
I cranked it to 1600x1200 at 32bit color...and it was unplayable with the frame limiter off (waaaaay too fast). With the limiter on, it was unplayable at any res (way too choppy). Which really bites, that I have this great new kickarse system and cant even play GTA on it :(
Anyone had any luck changing the frame limits of the limiter? Anyone even tried?
Heh, I am a big SSBM fan myself, it was loads of fun. I dont mean crap like that BMXXX game or anything by adult targetted...I simply mean games outside Nintendo's standard Pokemon/Yugioh/other small children's stuff. Metroid Prime is the perfect example. The new Zelda game is not. I dont want softcore pr0n on the console, I want games that don't treat me like a 3 year old ;)
Theres the thing, and what I really meant in my post. Sorry for being obscure. By online play, I mean online play with stuff to do in it ;) Phantasy Star is cool, but theres not much out there, and as you point out, sadly theres not any real sites for it. Compare that to the PS2 and SOCOM, and theres quite a difference. I would buy a GC for a game like SOCOM to play online.
;)
As it is now I still wont get a GameCube, simply because there arent enough games for it to interest me. I beat Metroid Prime on my friends GC, and the new Zelda game just sickens me (cell shading is *not* for Link). If Nintendo splits their product line a little more along age boundaries they can easily keep their childrens market of Pokemon stuff, but provide fun adult games as well (preferably with lots of online options). So again, sorry for being obscure, but I packaged in more games and places to play them when I originally said online play
And sorry for typos, tense differences, etc--its late and I'm too tired to proof this...
...they'll suceed, IMO.
First, Nintendo needs to learn a lesson from its portable market. Biggest reason why I'll get a GBA SP? OR why everyone got GBAs to begin with? *Backwards compatibility*
Sony has it with PS2. It made getting a PS2 much more lucrative than a GC, since I could finally play the FF games, as well as GTA series.
Nintendo should maintain bacwards compat. for Gamecube games, and move up to full sized discs like the PS2 for better soundtracks and even more graphics goodies. I'm not a tech genius but I imagine the system can differentiate between big and small legacy discs...if my $5 cdrom drive can read those funny shaped business card discs, Nintendo should be able to accomplish this.
So...bigger discs for more goodies, and backwards compatibility with Gamecube. Go Nintendo.
Oh, more adult targetted games wouldnt hurt. And maybe online play...but my first two points are the biggies.
I'm in Catonsville often...where on Rt. 40 are these places at? Wouldnt mind taking a look for curiousity's sake.
"I'm sorry, I have to point this out:
:grin: Thats what I get for editing the sentence and not rereading it. Silly disjointedness. Luckily when I type stuff for more important reasons I care enough to proof it.
And if the level of grammar and (usually) proper spelling in my post did not illustrate otherwise, I'm a well educated graduate from high school some time ago.
Yeeeeeah. You switched tense in that sentence a few times. Normally, one would let that pass, but, ironically enough, in that very sentence you're essentially stating your grammar should speak for your level of education. Ouch."
Never said I was an English major. Don't care to proofread. I was more referring to the fact that I knew how to actually write a sentence, with decent punctualization and proper use of capitalization-- traits which I'm sure you'll agree many seem to lack today.
I dislike picking apart posts for grammar and such, and usually dont care about it at all. Criticizing someone elses grammar is a sure way to have your sentence dissected in a flash. But the last 3 words in my sentence there *are* pretty out of whack with most of the rest
And the sarcasm was directed at what I perceived to be an insinuation that I had no place in this conversation, despite being a perfect case of why this law is unnecessary. So I felt the need to throw some sarcastic remarks in there.
Anywho, I'm done with this topic for the day. Heading home from work and all that. I would say its been entertaining, but somehow this bill just makes me sad, and worried.
Drinking age: yes, I disagree with it. It hasnt destroyed our neighbors across the pond to let younger folks have a touch of wine earlier than 21.
Porn to minors: Again, parental involvement could go a long way. And no kid today is gonna buy a magazine when he can get it for free on the 'net. So parents still need to be actively involved.
Ratings on movies: I dont know the law on this, but it seems no where near as restricting as the proposed video game bill. How many NC-17 movies have you seen lately? I can count on one hand the number of them released to major theatres in my own living memory.
The law should not have to mandate this junk. Its like passing a law requiring everyone to have common sense, or requiring parents to care about their kids. I have no doubt that some form of this bill will become law eventually. But fact of the matter is, it shouldnt be needed. Thats my point.
"I can see both sides of the issue. Yes, it is up to the parents to monitor their child's behavior. But have you ever heard of a child sneaking something that he shouldn't? Kids in my neighborhood who go to middle school (7th and 8th graders), walk right past Blockbuster on the way home from school. In the 3-4 hours they are home alone before their parents came home, such a child can easily rent the game (many 7th and 8th graders have an allowance) and play for a few hours, before hiding it under their mattress when their parents come home"
;) But the point remains.)
Yes, sneakiness can be a problem with kids, and I know its a hard one for parents to deal with. They've got to give the kid a fair run at stuff first to try and head-off the need to sneak around. But it is hard to do.
"That said, I think the effects of video games on people are overstated. I've played first person shooters since Castle Wolfenstein and I have yet to kill anybody. I finished GTA 3 and am halfway through GTA:VC and have yet to run over anyone or carjack anyone."
Agreed. I'm in a similar boat-- a past full of violent outside influences, from games to books to movies, and I turned out just fine. I've done tech support for 5 years and still never killed anyone (although there were a few times the court wouldnt have convicted me
" >> You should be with your kids for that kind of stuff anyways.
If you think I can be with my children 24 hours a day 7 days a week until they are 18, you're nuts."
As the rest of my statement there was referring to when they buy video games, I think that yes, you can be with them the majority of the time for that. And if you always give them a fair run at something, they won't feel compelled to sneak out and try to buy it without you. And if they do, thats not the stores fault, at the root. Its yours.
">> Don't sue 7-11 because your kid is getting sex-ed from a magazine instead of you.
It's pornography. It's illegal to sell that to a minor. Even if it's submarined into a video game.
I wouldnt sue 7-11, but I would make damn sure the clerk that sold it was arrested for distributing pornography to minors."
Yes, and if parents took more active roles in sex-ed instead of having schools do it, maybe kids would be more eduated about porn and other such nonsense? You have every right to complain to the store about selling the magazine, and you have every right to complain about stores ignoring ESRB. If more people did the latter we wouldnt be in this mess.
">> I'm a well educated graduate from high school some time ago.
I assumed otherwise from your original post.
>> Even today my mom hears updates from me now and then on my progress in the Warcraft3 ladder, and what the game is basically about, even if she has no idea how to play it. She also got a kick out of GTA Vice City and Conkers Bad Fur Day, and feels fine about my little sister playing them"
Heh. My 'little' sister goes to college this year. But she had encounters with GTA3 and Conkers Several Years ago. For me back in the day it was the (in)famous Mortal Kombat series, and she was exposed there as well, without detriment.
As for me, I enjoy playing computer games. Granted, those combined with my job leave me in front of various computers for 12+ hours a day sometimes, but thats the path I've chosen in life. And I've got to give my mother some excuse for why I never see her IMs, so I tell her about my games. Gives a good lead-in to discussing topics such as this new bill with her, as well. Segues quite naturally from one to the next. Not to mention she still maintains an interest in what I do with my life, even if she does still want me to go outside more. So I tell her about my current open source project, or the book I'm reading, or my angst at trying to breech lvl 15 on Warcraft.
"This bill is about parental responsibility."
:-P I mean, who am I to talk about how I was raised, right? I certainly don't know how I turned out. I definitely dont know my mother's opinions after long talks with her on the subject. And if the level of grammar and (usually) proper spelling in my post did not illustrate otherwise, I'm a well educated graduate from high school some time ago. So go spew vulgarism somewhere else.
So as a parent you want Congress doing your job for you, and keeping your kids in line with pointless laws instead of your participating in their lives?
"If my kids want a game, I'll have to buy it for them. They wont be able to walk into EB and buy it without my knowledge. And if it's sold to them, without my knowledge or consent, the retailer will be the one responsible."
You should be with your kids for that kind of stuff anyways. You should be there sometimes when they are playing. Its the same situation as the Internet and the variety of Bad Things (TM) out there for kids to find...taking a role in their participation there heads off trouble without Congressional mandate. If your kid somehow gets such a game, its your responsibility as a parent to complain to the retailer to follow ESRB guidelines (and to return the game).
"If your child goes to 7-11 for a slurpee, and the retailer sells him a copy of Jugs, is the parent still responsible?"
Yes. Discuss such things with your kid, and explain why its a waste (and illegal at their age). Don't sue 7-11 because your kid is getting sex-ed from a magazine instead of you.
"And people without children should shut the fuck up and stop preaching about how others should raise theirs. Espescially when said people are still in high school."
And who would you be referring to there my trollish friend? Not I, I know that
Thats just the thing. Those angry parents should look to themselves before yelling at the gaming industry. The fault lies with them initially in how they raised their kids and the (lack of) participation in their lives. They need to take a step back and reevaluate things.
Video games already have ESRB ratings in place which are quite accurate and informative. What remains is for parents and retailers to actually *read* the ESRB and follow its recommendations. IF a parent thinks their 16 year old is mature enough to handle GTA Vice City (and if they're involved in their childs life they'll know this) then they can purchase it for them. Having Congress step in should not be needed, parents should care enough to talk to their kids about it, and stores should care enough to not piss off parents by selling their kids R rated games/movies/etc.
But I'll say it again. Congress shouldnt have any mandate here. Parents, pay some fscking attention to your kids and what they do!! Take active part in their lives, learn something about their pastimes and games. It works, I'm living proof. Lotsa violent games in my past and I've never decapitated anyone without good cause.
:)
Even today my mom hears updates from me now and then on my progress in the Warcraft3 ladder, and what the game is basically about, even if she has no idea how to play it. She also got a kick out of GTA Vice City and Conkers Bad Fur Day, and feels fine about my little sister playing them since she has established a *firm foundation* in my sisters upbringing to the effect that you don't really maul people with chainsaws...
In otherwords, teenagers, talk to your parents! Show them what you play, encourage them to understand the nonsense that Congress is doing, and have them take a more active role.
"If you are simply interested in maintaining a narrow field of view, narrow interests, and avoid education, go to a tech or trade school and you will learn only programming or only business, etc, and not have to exercise your mind nor expand your horizons."
:-P
Wow, someone seems a little bitter and narrowminded or something about anything but university education. Did they not teach openmindedness about others at your school? I don't go to a tech school, but for some people its what they (want|need|can afford) versus overpriced, overpoliticized universities full of professors who are more interested in their next book or research symposium than in educating young minds
"You can learn to code to your hearts content and never ever have to have your politics, mores, etc, challenged by reality, culture, and/or variety."
College did that for you? Challenged your mores, politics, and all? Wow. Usually its just recycled garbage from the 90% of the professors who dont care. *Especially* in computer science, where maybe 1 in 20 professors cares about your education rather than how you can advance their research. The 10% who do care are never in your major program as comsci people. So where did you go to get this amazing but embittering experience? I'm rather curious.
In the end though, I have to agree with your basic premise--university education is not the best for teaching to code. But then again neither is tech school. Self-education coupled with one or two code gurus as mentors is prolly the best, but only a few of us get that.
-Peter F Hamilton's Nights Dawn Trilogy
-George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series (book 4 coming soon!)
-Jack Whyte's Camulod Chronicles (Historical fiction on King Arthur's grandparents, very very good)
-Tom Clancy's Red Rabbit (been reading bits and pieces for months)
-Robert Jordan's WOT #10, Crossroads of Twilight (his slowest read ever though, and not too good IMO)
-Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series
-Orson Scott Card's Shadow Puppets, the latest book in the Bean series (Enders Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon preceeding)
-Also the rest of Card's Ender series (Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the mind)
-Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon and Snow Crash
-Search for an online book, The Heretic. Got it from a friend, he said there was free downloads--very cool hacker type book, equates it to spellcasting and such
-Tolkien's LotR, Silmarillion, etc
-Anything by Robert Ludlum
-Clive Cussler novels
Some of these are oldies, but still good. Not all are fantasy or scifi. I've got a ton of others, but these are all the more recent ones (although in most cases it was re-reading them for the millionth time).
impress (from dictionary.com, defn 2)
;) Sailors on US ships were impressed into service to Britain, meaning they were taken and forced to serve on British ships. Which irritated them, I'm sure.
1. To compel (a person) to serve in a military force.
2. To seize (property) by force or authority; confiscate.
Check your dictionary next time
The second poster was being sarcastic utilizing the more well-known defn of impress, "To affect strongly, often favorably"
Ah, just laughable you are. I just learned Perl actually and am far from being a guru or a Perl activist, so your accusation of 'perlist doublespeak' falls far short. Go accuse Larry Wall. If Perl/Python stole from Tcl and made it run faster, more power to them :-P And if someone actually comments their Perl instead of intentionally obfusciating it (which sadly most people do) its much easier to read.
Try a better troll next time. Dislike my post? Suck it, AC.
"And it never ocurred to you that in 5 years, Tcl might have made some progress as well?"
Useless sarcasm aside, no it did not. It was so nasty that my development lab moved completely away from it and I gave it only passing thought, being more concerned with learning a language or 3 that might be recognized on a resume at more places besides just NBC. It might have a small active following, but Perl/PHP and various cousins are much more active, and with Perl/Tk why bother dealing with Tcl syntax any more?