Hmm, I am not sure about that. I haven't played it in a while, but I am almost certain I use my S-Video cable with the newer, smaller unit. I will have to check when I get home...
Umm, yeah. Because people at the turn of the LAST century were like apes to us... However I do agree more with the second portion of your statement (Millions of years ahead, not thousands).
I have always thought I would be a good voice actor. (games, anime, animated movies) I have a clear voice (enunciate and inflect well) and people also compliment me on my singing. Unfortunately I live in BFE (SD) and probably wouldn't have a chance. Any ideas?
Re:I may screw this up...
on
P2P Bits
·
· Score: 1
8 point surround? Oh, crap - I just bought my 7 point surround system and it's obsolete already?
This prevented me from opening a hotmail account for the longest time, however, when I graduated from college and needed a "permanent" email so my friends and relatives could email me I chose hotmail because it was the easist for non-techies to remember. I have had the account for about a year now and no spam even though my email is _@hotmail. Maybe they improved their spamfilters.
Let me tell you what that commercial REALLY means. "Can you hear me now" is what you say as you wander around the house/yard trying to get the feeble signal to actually carry your conversation. 8*) (Verizon customer in SmallTown, USA)
The only problem with blogs is that people THINK that they are factual without any research. Same as every other newspaper / magazine / television / radio / etc. People think because it's "on the Internet" it has some kind of credibility.
Same as postings on Slashdot - including this one 8*)
What happened to PC audio? Creative Labs. When Aureal introduced their 3D audio spec the games made that supported it (Unreal, and Half-Life I believe) were incredible. I remember playing Unreal and knowing were a monster/enemy was by the sound! Then Creative had to f#$k everything up by putting them out of business (and eventually buying all the IP, but NOT USING THE TECHNOLOGY). I have not bought any Creative products since then, but since Aureal isn't coming back, I may give the new Audigy2 card a try. 8*( Anyone care to comment on audio quality in games with the Audigy2 ZS? Specifically is there any 3d sound features yet?
Oh, and you nay-sayers that say that 3d audio cannot be simulated using 2 speakers (headphones) might want to do a google search on HRTF's (Head Related Transfer Functions)
I thought about modding this up, but I wanted to address this issue more... While I was in school for my CS degree I also did systems work for the schools IT department. When I graduated (a year ago) I would be able to find systems work easier than programming work (since I had more "experience" in systems). Boy, was I wrong. When I did finally get that Admin job, I realized that it is a horrible , unrewarding job (granted, my boss was unusually cruel - why do I have to shovel snow as a sysadmin again?). I decided to start programming, and I am glad, I am still not too happy - I am trying to find a "real" programming job, not HTML, but even HTML is better than the situation I was in before.
Man - I hate to be the one to break this to you, but the Patriot act allowed for just that. There was an article in our local paper (no link, sorry) about several companies that were working on a scheme to store telephone calls for up to (I believe) 7 years. The idea would be to retreive them with a retroactive court order. Disturbing to say the least.
Now - that is not IMPOSSIBLE, just DIFFICULT. They obviously saw a market for this and were actively working on it. I wouldn't be suprised if there wasn't a system such as this in place in various areas of the country - since I read about it in our Backwater, South Dakota newspaper (Rapid City, if you must know).
I see a lot of people slamming this guy - yeah, his website is cheezy, but I use his optimization (the "gaming" version + DNS) and my XP computer is just as fast as if I installed 2000 (with the "pretty" interface no less!).
BTW - the reason I have XP instead of 2000 is because some older games just don't run in 2000 out of the box, and I am lazy...
Ok - I totally agree with you here, but I am afraid that may not be possible (I don't know, but it seems to be the case). The idea behind blocking the spam is less of it gets through and less people buy this crap, so you are effectively "hitting their bank account" by not giving them any money. Same result - spammer quits.
Heh - I always play a "metagame" with the game designers. "What in the hell were they thinking when they decided you need to do X to continue"? (See above post on Sega "X-men game" - boy I am glad I didn't play THAT one!)
Ok - maybe I didn't explain my "same benefits" idea very well - Nothing ever comes out right the first time... 8*)
All I really meant that a US company shouldn't be able to exploit foreign workers - I didn't want to focus on "how much health care they get" so much as "how healthy the working environment is" - sweatshop conditions, child labor, lax environmental laws, etc.
I would like to REALLY know why we are outsourcing and the reasoning behind it.
Is it because of the high cost of labor here? Is it because of the lack of skilled labor here? Is it just the latest "management trend"? I would like to see some numbers on each of these topics. For example the cost of hiring cheaper foreign workers - there has to be some overhead involved there. Also, I find it hard to believe there is a lack of skilled labor in this country, but I do believe that there may be a some unrealistic wage expectations (on both sides) for IT work. What is being done to compensate skilled workers (which we value)?
Also, on a related note, am I the only one that thinks that if a local (US) company decides to outsource they should provide the same benefits/working conditions to their outsourced workers and comply with local (US) regulations so as to not take advantage of other labour?
I realize that may be precisely one of the reasons we use outsourcing, but it would be nice to get that question answered.
Not to sound too negative, but did you check hard enough? The Vibe has a Toyota motor and the Vibe GT has the same one as a Celica GT-S - which has quite a few aftermarket parts for it. Sure, you won't find any of those parts in a "GM" catalog.
Well, you just shuffle through the copies until you find the one with your house on the cover! It might take you a while (and a few newsstands) though.
I would usually agree with you on these points, but it seems that gaming laptops are truly "there". I go to a small lan party quite often and a friend of mine uses a "desktop replacement" laptop that works very well. It's a 3GHz P4 w/the ATI 9600 pro. He plays BF:Vietnam at VERY playable framerates - while being the server. No small task.
I also have to take issue with the "no gaming on LCD's" stance. I am one of those "framerate is king" guys and don't like playing at less than 40FPS minimum - usually like my FPS be in the 60-100 range. I have played on a few newer LCD's and have not had problems with ghosting or poor image quality. Give a newer LCD a try (oh, yeah, run it at its native resolution). With a 25ms refresh that works out to be 40 refreshes per second (a reasonable number - this should be equivalent to your MINIMUM FPS - not "average" FPS). If I am running at a higher framerate (doesn't drop below 100 or so) I usually just crank up the detail until I get an acceptably smooth framerate
I totally agree - I have couched the computer interface arguments in much the same way (comparing them to a car). I would love to get involved in a HCI project as well.
I would message you, but Suprise, Suprise, I could not find the "send message" option! Send me an email at: chadg at rapidnet dot com
FYI - If you are using Firefox you can download tabbrowser extensions that allow you to reorder your tabs. The extension site seems to be broken right now, but here is the link...
This is an interesting commentary. In light of the "Craigslist wh0r3s" story (people were literally renting their bodies to get an iPod in NY) we see that having an iPod is a status symbol. So, what's to prevent people from just wearing the white earbuds? It's not any different than any other "poseur".
This is so true. In many discussions with friends about open-source I bring up what I call the "Direct-X" factor (groan). To which they reply "What about Open GL?"
The problem is that Direct X != Open GL. Direct X is a whole group of "libraries" that game developers can use - need a graphics interface? Sound? Input? Networking? All taken care of by DirectX. Ok, there is Open GL and AL, but where is the rest of the stuff? Without sounding trollish, this is one of the strengths of the Windows platform WRT games. Developers do not have to write to specific hardware (remember the "sound blaster compatible" fiasco in the dos days?), Hardware manufacturers have a "spec" to target. MS doesn't have to support individual developers requests for "feature X".
Maybe I am mistaken, but there is no Direct X equivalent in the Open Source world. Maybe this is what we should focus on first?
This sounds like a good idea, but, it too has its failures. What happens when a relatively good player comes in and totally destroys a few beginners? Or when a player quits because they are being beaten (or worse yet - turns on his own teammates) and totally screws up the ranking system? Where is the "system of trust"? My brother plays Age of Empires on The Zone all the time and often tells me of experiences like this (and worse). These are just as bad IMHO as people who cheat!
Slashdot Mirror
Hmm, I am not sure about that. I haven't played it in a while, but I am almost certain I use my S-Video cable with the newer, smaller unit. I will have to check when I get home...
Umm, yeah. Because people at the turn of the LAST century were like apes to us...
However I do agree more with the second portion of your statement (Millions of years ahead, not thousands).
I have always thought I would be a good voice actor. (games, anime, animated movies) I have a clear voice (enunciate and inflect well) and people also compliment me on my singing. Unfortunately I live in BFE (SD) and probably wouldn't have a chance. Any ideas?
8 point surround? Oh, crap - I just bought my 7 point surround system and it's obsolete already?
Someone needs to explain to me why this continues to be passed on as a "bad thing". See my (only) journal entry.
This prevented me from opening a hotmail account for the longest time, however, when I graduated from college and needed a "permanent" email so my friends and relatives could email me I chose hotmail because it was the easist for non-techies to remember. I have had the account for about a year now and no spam even though my email is _@hotmail. Maybe they improved their spamfilters.
Let me tell you what that commercial REALLY means. "Can you hear me now" is what you say as you wander around the house/yard trying to get the feeble signal to actually carry your conversation. 8*) (Verizon customer in SmallTown, USA)
Umm, No.
The only problem with blogs is that people THINK that they are factual without any research. Same as every other newspaper / magazine / television / radio / etc. People think because it's "on the Internet" it has some kind of credibility.
Same as postings on Slashdot - including this one 8*)
What happened to PC audio? Creative Labs. When Aureal introduced their 3D audio spec the games made that supported it (Unreal, and Half-Life I believe) were incredible. I remember playing Unreal and knowing were a monster/enemy was by the sound! Then Creative had to f#$k everything up by putting them out of business (and eventually buying all the IP, but NOT USING THE TECHNOLOGY). I have not bought any Creative products since then, but since Aureal isn't coming back, I may give the new Audigy2 card a try. 8*( Anyone care to comment on audio quality in games with the Audigy2 ZS? Specifically is there any 3d sound features yet?
Oh, and you nay-sayers that say that 3d audio cannot be simulated using 2 speakers (headphones) might want to do a google search on HRTF's (Head Related Transfer Functions)
I thought about modding this up, but I wanted to address this issue more... While I was in school for my CS degree I also did systems work for the schools IT department. When I graduated (a year ago) I would be able to find systems work easier than programming work (since I had more "experience" in systems). Boy, was I wrong. When I did finally get that Admin job, I realized that it is a horrible , unrewarding job (granted, my boss was unusually cruel - why do I have to shovel snow as a sysadmin again?). I decided to start programming, and I am glad, I am still not too happy - I am trying to find a "real" programming job, not HTML, but even HTML is better than the situation I was in before.
Man - I hate to be the one to break this to you, but the Patriot act allowed for just that. There was an article in our local paper (no link, sorry) about several companies that were working on a scheme to store telephone calls for up to (I believe) 7 years. The idea would be to retreive them with a retroactive court order. Disturbing to say the least.
Now - that is not IMPOSSIBLE, just DIFFICULT. They obviously saw a market for this and were actively working on it. I wouldn't be suprised if there wasn't a system such as this in place in various areas of the country - since I read about it in our Backwater, South Dakota newspaper (Rapid City, if you must know).
I see a lot of people slamming this guy - yeah, his website is cheezy, but I use his optimization (the "gaming" version + DNS) and my XP computer is just as fast as if I installed 2000 (with the "pretty" interface no less!).
BTW - the reason I have XP instead of 2000 is because some older games just don't run in 2000 out of the box, and I am lazy...
But were they "feature length" films or just shorts? Seriously - I want to know.
Ok - I totally agree with you here, but I am afraid that may not be possible (I don't know, but it seems to be the case). The idea behind blocking the spam is less of it gets through and less people buy this crap, so you are effectively "hitting their bank account" by not giving them any money. Same result - spammer quits.
Heh - I always play a "metagame" with the game designers. "What in the hell were they thinking when they decided you need to do X to continue"? (See above post on Sega "X-men game" - boy I am glad I didn't play THAT one!)
Ok - maybe I didn't explain my "same benefits" idea very well - Nothing ever comes out right the first time... 8*)
All I really meant that a US company shouldn't be able to exploit foreign workers - I didn't want to focus on "how much health care they get" so much as "how healthy the working environment is" - sweatshop conditions, child labor, lax environmental laws, etc.
I would like to REALLY know why we are outsourcing and the reasoning behind it.
Is it because of the high cost of labor here? Is it because of the lack of skilled labor here? Is it just the latest "management trend"? I would like to see some numbers on each of these topics. For example the cost of hiring cheaper foreign workers - there has to be some overhead involved there. Also, I find it hard to believe there is a lack of skilled labor in this country, but I do believe that there may be a some unrealistic wage expectations (on both sides) for IT work. What is being done to compensate skilled workers (which we value)?
Also, on a related note, am I the only one that thinks that if a local (US) company decides to outsource they should provide the same benefits/working conditions to their outsourced workers and comply with local (US) regulations so as to not take advantage of other labour?
I realize that may be precisely one of the reasons we use outsourcing, but it would be nice to get that question answered.
Not to sound too negative, but did you check hard enough? The Vibe has a Toyota motor and the Vibe GT has the same one as a Celica GT-S - which has quite a few aftermarket parts for it. Sure, you won't find any of those parts in a "GM" catalog.
Well, you just shuffle through the copies until you find the one with your house on the cover! It might take you a while (and a few newsstands) though.
I would usually agree with you on these points, but it seems that gaming laptops are truly "there". I go to a small lan party quite often and a friend of mine uses a "desktop replacement" laptop that works very well. It's a 3GHz P4 w/the ATI 9600 pro. He plays BF:Vietnam at VERY playable framerates - while being the server. No small task.
I also have to take issue with the "no gaming on LCD's" stance. I am one of those "framerate is king" guys and don't like playing at less than 40FPS minimum - usually like my FPS be in the 60-100 range. I have played on a few newer LCD's and have not had problems with ghosting or poor image quality. Give a newer LCD a try (oh, yeah, run it at its native resolution). With a 25ms refresh that works out to be 40 refreshes per second (a reasonable number - this should be equivalent to your MINIMUM FPS - not "average" FPS). If I am running at a higher framerate (doesn't drop below 100 or so) I usually just crank up the detail until I get an acceptably smooth framerate
I totally agree - I have couched the computer interface arguments in much the same way (comparing them to a car). I would love to get involved in a HCI project as well.
I would message you, but Suprise, Suprise, I could not find the "send message" option! Send me an email at: chadg at rapidnet dot com
FYI - If you are using Firefox you can download tabbrowser extensions that allow you to reorder your tabs. The extension site seems to be broken right now, but here is the link...
http://texturizer.net/firefox/extensions/Scroll down and look for "Tabbrowser extensions"
This is an interesting commentary. In light of the "Craigslist wh0r3s" story (people were literally renting their bodies to get an iPod in NY) we see that having an iPod is a status symbol. So, what's to prevent people from just wearing the white earbuds? It's not any different than any other "poseur".
This is so true. In many discussions with friends about open-source I bring up what I call the "Direct-X" factor (groan). To which they reply "What about Open GL?"
The problem is that Direct X != Open GL. Direct X is a whole group of "libraries" that game developers can use - need a graphics interface? Sound? Input? Networking? All taken care of by DirectX. Ok, there is Open GL and AL, but where is the rest of the stuff? Without sounding trollish, this is one of the strengths of the Windows platform WRT games. Developers do not have to write to specific hardware (remember the "sound blaster compatible" fiasco in the dos days?), Hardware manufacturers have a "spec" to target. MS doesn't have to support individual developers requests for "feature X".
Maybe I am mistaken, but there is no Direct X equivalent in the Open Source world. Maybe this is what we should focus on first?This sounds like a good idea, but, it too has its failures. What happens when a relatively good player comes in and totally destroys a few beginners? Or when a player quits because they are being beaten (or worse yet - turns on his own teammates) and totally screws up the ranking system? Where is the "system of trust"? My brother plays Age of Empires on The Zone all the time and often tells me of experiences like this (and worse). These are just as bad IMHO as people who cheat!