XML was chosen because it is a very flexible system for storing data, which is important for a game like Civilization that is essentially "built" from numbers. Using an off-the-shelf XML editor, anyone from our designers to end users could modify our game data. We also have a high-level file system which allows you to override any specific art, sound, python, or XML file simply by setting a specific "mod directory" that contains only the modified files. If a specific file is not found in this directory, the game just uses the default one.
Chris Sawyer? You out there? People like it when they're trusted with changing the numbers to mod the games. Amazingly, an even stronger community develops when you try not to hide the code. More people talk about it, more people purchase your game, and heck, sometimes even the developers are surprised. Unless the ego is too high for that.
I know this sounds rantish, especially since it's his code. But a lot of potential creativity with the game engine from the first RollerCoaster Tycoon was stifled for a long time because they were trying to undo run-time RLEs and other instant-crash modifications. Somehow, I can't imagine that putting them in there benefitted him at all.
The only reason I remember that movie was because I remember it came out either directly with, or two to three weeks after, Troy, which was arguably a Hollywood success (assuming break-even to be successful).
That was not a good idea — Brad Pitt, and if I recall correctly, the currently-invicible Orlando Bloom, were in Troy. I can't recall the name of a single character in Alexander.
Maybe, maybe not. Depends what you mean by the future.
In the next few months, stores will be clearing inventories and waiting for Sony's LCD products. This should mean clearance prices on existing Sony CRTs relatively soon.
In the next few years, other CRT manufacturers may or may not ramp up production based off demand for CRTs. I'm gonna hedge that they won't, but you'll still probably be able to get CRTs from Sylvania (I thought they only made light bulbs!) or... Daewoo, I suppose... but probably not at significant discount from today's prices.
At the same time, Sony's focus on the LCD market will result in more competition and less Sony LCD suckage.
FYI, I am not an economist or dreaded market trend reporter.
Honestly, some people were created to keep order, and do it exceptionally well, and some others... well, not as much. The wants and desire of man to move material to suit his needs goes well beyond Einstein or Darwin.
1.) iPods are still easier to use in the mind of the users (even physicians!) than their equivalent firewire drives. That's hardly fair, since we can argue back and forth that firewire and iPods work exactly the same, but this is a matter of perception.
2, or 1b.) Again in the realm of perception, doctors look at an iPod and see something they can use. They see a firewire enclosure and see it at as "something the IT guy needs to teach me how to use, that I need to learn, and that's not worth my time." The fact that it happens to play their favorite songs is probably just a bonus.
Yeah, haven't really needed those feature at this company. I've temporarily inherited a MS SQL Server database, so decision time on the fate of that database is nearing (and I don't even consider myself a DBA).
At my old company, their reservation system relied on advanced database procedures, so they used... an advanced database, namely Oracle. Imagine that. MySQL not necessarily competing with Oracle. Most blogs (small blogs, and wikis) don't need Oracle.
Use a wiki. Mediawiki works fine for me, it's easy to use and should be easy for you guys to pick up. Plus I'm sure you'll find more uses for it.
Barring that, get a large 16 month calendar... either a whiteboard one that you can wipe off every month, or one of these that are a foot and a half by two and a half feet. I'm going to guess you don't need to plan ahead too far in advance.
If your needs aren't that great, there's nothing wrong with just a regular ol' 12 monthcalendar.
Absolutely... there's a lot of links over there on the left that don't belong on the main page, and the concept of sections and topics when you're submitting a story seems to be either ignored or changed during the submission anyway (in my experience). Why is there "3 more" or "2 more" under sections -- I've never seen them, nor is there an apparent way to get to them... which must mean they're unnecessary.
Seriously, the easiest step, though costly, is to switch to a Mac. In one step you can be free not only of Windows but also of hardware that relies on Windows yet is not supported by Microsoft. You have one source for support -- Apple -- and less finger-pointing when something goes wrong.
But if you can't afford to dump your PC hardware, the easiest first step is to get a Linux distribution on CD and test it on your system. You can then install it if you like how it works. If you can't see yourself getting off Windows, at least try the various open source and commercial alternatives to Outlook and the rest of Office, because these Microsoft applications make your computer system more vulnerable to attacks than if you used alternatives.
The biggest step to take, and one that everyone will most likely take in the future, is to start using Web applications such as the ones developed by Google using Ajax technology -- Google Suggest and Google Maps are two examples.
Moving to Web apps will help, but as good and idealistic as this sounds (and believe me, it really is good advice), there's still the issue of:
1.) You have to have enough money to own a Mac (for the computer and to purchase software you need), or
2.) You have to have enough time and technical experience to set up Linux.
Other than those two mountains, yes, it's perfectly fine advice. I own a Mac, so I chose the "expensive" route with a PowerBook. It's worth every penny, but it cost a lot of pennies.
In any event, those are two different groups (techies and relatively wealthy people) that he's addressing, so without reading the book I can't tell if he does so effectively.
The author compares Microsoft to the Pennsylvania Turnpike as follows...
The road map analogy came to me not long ago, as I fought the traffic on the Pennsylvania Turnpike crossing the state. It looks convenient on paper, if you're coming from New Jersey and want to bypass Philly on your way across the state. Considering the traffic in Philly, it should be convenient. But once you get on the turnpike, you can't get off unless you pay exorbitant tolls. The rest stops are overcrowded, and the service monopolies overcharge. The fast food is terrible, and the restrooms are disgusting. It's a form of highway robbery -- for most of the turnpike's length, you are stuck with two lanes and surrounded by speeding trucks, and nearly half of it seems to be always under construction.
Okay, I understand that analogies are illustrative. But a lot of people... even those who know how to read maps... the 2 hours saved is worth taking the turnpike for. Oddly enough, it's why most people that know better still use Windows.
I don't like this comparison. You can't put your own content on a 20 year old portable TV... so it's not terribly hard to see why they wouldn't do so hot. On the other hand, Sony Walkman sales soared in the 80's because consumers bought / made their own cassette tapes.
Ultimately, the reason why this has more potential than the Casio TVs are because iPod is already a well established brand, and starting now (or whenever these iPods are released), anyone with an iPod that's not a nano or a shuffle will have video capability. They might not all use it, but I'm willing to bet that people who give it a try will purchase one, two, or ten shows that they can't live without.
#2 Kids who aren't in school to learn need to be removed. Yeah, so be it, some kids don't get schooled. If they nor their parents can put forth the effort, then that's too bad. Sure, we'll hear sob stories about how some are going to get left behind.
#2 sounds great... until you get to the part that it's still ME that's going to be funding THEIR welfare checks. And as much as I would like to tell them to "get a job", we do this and they're not going to be educated enough to keep one.
Well, that's a pleasant surprise. Here I was thinking "Why would we really want to download music videos?" and Apple comes out and gets ABC in on the deal. For $10, suddenly people can have 2 1/2 hours or more of video on their hard drives to keep them occupied while waiting in line at the airport.
I wonder if those videos will have commercials? Not that you couldn't skip those either now...
I suspect Mac Mini buyers who don't get the lucky upgrade will feel the same way. They may even return their units and try again.
They can try, but it'll be a 15% bet:
Customers who purchase a new Mac mini to find they ended up with the older configuration will not be able to return the system in the hopes of getting the newer configuration without paying a restocking fee.
Most Mini customers probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two, so it's pretty much not worth mentioning for that reason.:-)
So maybe Apple wants to do video podcasts, assuming podcasts aren't a fad right now, and that at least a segment of today's "traditional" media will tacitly allow timeshifting video, on a smaller scale.
This wouldn't be easy. Where's the software for everyday end-users to record and edit video? Did Apple suddenly create a magical algorithm that cut the size of a 30 minute show to less than a gigabyte, even if only at 320 x 320 resolution? Since the bandwidth for podcasts is relatively small, who will supply the bandwidth for transferring videos?
If Apple has managed to find a way to solve all those problems... well, I'll just wait 'til after the announcement to get excited.
Maybe it's just the lack of sleep, but it seems that they could've started on page 13 and it would have the same value to kids as the full sized version. Catching "dogs" added nothing to the concept.
Oh, and we need some quality Japanese art in here... mouths inexpecably small while closed... unbelievably HUGE when open! And she needs green hair, and robot boots. And her head needs to be shaped like a bean.
...from working in the airline industry for a year and a half. Other than that, I'm 23 and pretty much a couple years out of college.
Always be aware of the writing on the wall. Generally, bankruptcy makes for a really bright red flag.
Also, they had taken away the water coolers. Another pretty good sign.
In my last few days, they told me that as a non-exempt employee, my status would have been determined by performance, not how long I'd worked there (I was the youngest). I didn't perform too badly, but honestly, I wasn't going to stick around and find out.
Also, networking is a great thing. It's how I got my current job.
If you bought CDs in the late 1990's, you were damaged by the recording companies. They were convicted of price manipulation, and if you'd bothered to save your receipts (I doubt few, if any, did) you would have gotten something like $1.67 after stamps back.
In my experience, the justice system in general is loathe to award damages based on risk, even unknown risk. No, IANAL, and I don't really want to find one, either.
Do you think Apple should start following Microsoft's model by rating vulnerabilities and patches?
That's probably the wrong question. Being such a large company, you have to assume they rate vulnerabilities and patches -- it's almost impossible to produce high-quality software like OS X without rating patches.
The question is whether or not to release the information to the public. I can't imagine that doing so would be practically useful. If you already know what the vulnerability is, without rating it, you have a better leg up on understanding its severity, and you likely have sources of alternative workarounds until the official patch.
I don't get that slant on that particular comment... if he had said, "There's a certain number of early adopters... and a certain number of Microsoft haters" I wouldn't necessarily be responding with "Did anyone really think there was an irrational number of either?"
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Chris Sawyer? You out there? People like it when they're trusted with changing the numbers to mod the games. Amazingly, an even stronger community develops when you try not to hide the code. More people talk about it, more people purchase your game, and heck, sometimes even the developers are surprised. Unless the ego is too high for that.
I know this sounds rantish, especially since it's his code. But a lot of potential creativity with the game engine from the first RollerCoaster Tycoon was stifled for a long time because they were trying to undo run-time RLEs and other instant-crash modifications. Somehow, I can't imagine that putting them in there benefitted him at all.
The only reason I remember that movie was because I remember it came out either directly with, or two to three weeks after, Troy, which was arguably a Hollywood success (assuming break-even to be successful).
That was not a good idea — Brad Pitt, and if I recall correctly, the currently-invicible Orlando Bloom, were in Troy. I can't recall the name of a single character in Alexander.
In the next few months, stores will be clearing inventories and waiting for Sony's LCD products. This should mean clearance prices on existing Sony CRTs relatively soon.
In the next few years, other CRT manufacturers may or may not ramp up production based off demand for CRTs. I'm gonna hedge that they won't, but you'll still probably be able to get CRTs from Sylvania (I thought they only made light bulbs!) or... Daewoo, I suppose... but probably not at significant discount from today's prices.
At the same time, Sony's focus on the LCD market will result in more competition and less Sony LCD suckage.
FYI, I am not an economist or dreaded market trend reporter.
Honestly, some people were created to keep order, and do it exceptionally well, and some others... well, not as much. The wants and desire of man to move material to suit his needs goes well beyond Einstein or Darwin.
2, or 1b.) Again in the realm of perception, doctors look at an iPod and see something they can use. They see a firewire enclosure and see it at as "something the IT guy needs to teach me how to use, that I need to learn, and that's not worth my time." The fact that it happens to play their favorite songs is probably just a bonus.
Best understatement for a major hurricane hitting a populated area... EVER.
At my old company, their reservation system relied on advanced database procedures, so they used... an advanced database, namely Oracle. Imagine that. MySQL not necessarily competing with Oracle. Most blogs (small blogs, and wikis) don't need Oracle.
Hell, why is the BSD section even still around?
But if you can't afford to dump your PC hardware, the easiest first step is to get a Linux distribution on CD and test it on your system. You can then install it if you like how it works. If you can't see yourself getting off Windows, at least try the various open source and commercial alternatives to Outlook and the rest of Office, because these Microsoft applications make your computer system more vulnerable to attacks than if you used alternatives.
The biggest step to take, and one that everyone will most likely take in the future, is to start using Web applications such as the ones developed by Google using Ajax technology -- Google Suggest and Google Maps are two examples .
Moving to Web apps will help, but as good and idealistic as this sounds (and believe me, it really is good advice), there's still the issue of:
1.) You have to have enough money to own a Mac (for the computer and to purchase software you need), or
2.) You have to have enough time and technical experience to set up Linux.
Other than those two mountains, yes, it's perfectly fine advice. I own a Mac, so I chose the "expensive" route with a PowerBook. It's worth every penny, but it cost a lot of pennies.
In any event, those are two different groups (techies and relatively wealthy people) that he's addressing, so without reading the book I can't tell if he does so effectively.
The road map analogy came to me not long ago, as I fought the traffic on the Pennsylvania Turnpike crossing the state. It looks convenient on paper, if you're coming from New Jersey and want to bypass Philly on your way across the state. Considering the traffic in Philly, it should be convenient. But once you get on the turnpike, you can't get off unless you pay exorbitant tolls. The rest stops are overcrowded, and the service monopolies overcharge. The fast food is terrible, and the restrooms are disgusting. It's a form of highway robbery -- for most of the turnpike's length, you are stuck with two lanes and surrounded by speeding trucks, and nearly half of it seems to be always under construction.
Okay, I understand that analogies are illustrative. But a lot of people... even those who know how to read maps... the 2 hours saved is worth taking the turnpike for. Oddly enough, it's why most people that know better still use Windows.
Ultimately, the reason why this has more potential than the Casio TVs are because iPod is already a well established brand, and starting now (or whenever these iPods are released), anyone with an iPod that's not a nano or a shuffle will have video capability. They might not all use it, but I'm willing to bet that people who give it a try will purchase one, two, or ten shows that they can't live without.
#2 sounds great... until you get to the part that it's still ME that's going to be funding THEIR welfare checks. And as much as I would like to tell them to "get a job", we do this and they're not going to be educated enough to keep one.
I wonder if those videos will have commercials? Not that you couldn't skip those either now...
Historic things were lost, yes, but still, they were only *just things*.
They can try, but it'll be a 15% bet:
Customers who purchase a new Mac mini to find they ended up with the older configuration will not be able to return the system in the hopes of getting the newer configuration without paying a restocking fee.
Most Mini customers probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two, so it's pretty much not worth mentioning for that reason. :-)
This wouldn't be easy. Where's the software for everyday end-users to record and edit video? Did Apple suddenly create a magical algorithm that cut the size of a 30 minute show to less than a gigabyte, even if only at 320 x 320 resolution? Since the bandwidth for podcasts is relatively small, who will supply the bandwidth for transferring videos?
If Apple has managed to find a way to solve all those problems... well, I'll just wait 'til after the announcement to get excited.
Oh, and we need some quality Japanese art in here... mouths inexpecably small while closed... unbelievably HUGE when open! And she needs green hair, and robot boots. And her head needs to be shaped like a bean.
(credit to Strong Bad here)
Always be aware of the writing on the wall. Generally, bankruptcy makes for a really bright red flag.
Also, they had taken away the water coolers. Another pretty good sign.
In my last few days, they told me that as a non-exempt employee, my status would have been determined by performance, not how long I'd worked there (I was the youngest). I didn't perform too badly, but honestly, I wasn't going to stick around and find out.
Also, networking is a great thing. It's how I got my current job.
...can they sort out the whole India / Pakistan / Kashmir thing too? That'd be great. Thanks.
If you bought CDs in the late 1990's, you were damaged by the recording companies. They were convicted of price manipulation, and if you'd bothered to save your receipts (I doubt few, if any, did) you would have gotten something like $1.67 after stamps back.
In my experience, the justice system in general is loathe to award damages based on risk, even unknown risk. No, IANAL, and I don't really want to find one, either.
Does that make this the oldest software to be released under an "open-sourceish" license?
That's probably the wrong question. Being such a large company, you have to assume they rate vulnerabilities and patches -- it's almost impossible to produce high-quality software like OS X without rating patches.
The question is whether or not to release the information to the public. I can't imagine that doing so would be practically useful. If you already know what the vulnerability is, without rating it, you have a better leg up on understanding its severity, and you likely have sources of alternative workarounds until the official patch.
We picked up 3.14159 users this week!
No, seriously, I don't know the answer to this. :-)