Rent control didn't stop three corporations in as many years to buy the apartment complex I lived in for over a decade, repaint the exterior walls in a different color scheme and redo the landscaping, and charge "luxury" rental rates. The third corporation is actually renovating the apartments to justify the "luxury" rental rates. Rent control in San Jose prevents them for raising the rent more than 8% each year, so no doubling or tripling of the rents during a hot real estate market. For three years after the Great Recession, there was no rent increases at all.
San Jose's only applies to apartments built before 1978 IIRC (I think there is a separate one for mobile home parks). That accounts for only 33% of the apartment rental stock according to a recent study commissioned by the city.
Was going to mod you down, but had to ask.
In the first section, you say you RTFA'd, and he's going after those who say they are cops online (or spreading libel). If they are not cops, shouldn't they be pursued? It's a crime to do so IRL, why not online?
Then you say the folks in Austin should have him bounced out of office. Why? Isn't he doing what a police chief should? I agree that civil court is the place to pursue libel, but what about people (possibly) misrepresenting themselves as law enforcement? At a minimum, doing so can cause harm, and is illegal correct?
I was once a HOE, Hosting Operations Engineer (a NOC Engineer, basically).
Then I got promoted to Lead HOE. Actually had that put on my business cards somehow.
As I recall, it's an 8 year service commitment for doctors, or at least that's what it used to be for the USAF. Pilots used to be 8 years as well, but I think they upped it to 10 a lil while back.
Among office workers 26% aren't sure what a firewall does and therefore have been tempted to turn it off. A firewall is a form of computer security that prevents unauthorised access from the internet and turning it off is the worst thing you can do.
A dying game?
It may not be WoW, but Netcraft ain't confirming that it's dead, or on the way there.
There's currently almost 10,000 people logged in, which may seem small, but in Eve there's only one server.
Still, a very good game, with a mostly mature community of players (more so than most).
Spent all my mod points earlier today, but another vote for Eve-Online as best MMO.
The other MMOs can't even hold a candle to the complexity of Eve. In terms of economy and PVP they are well ahead the others in their genre. They've come the closest to emulating real life, and still having it be rewarding and fun without the traditional level grind.
When we switched data providers during an office move, we got a new netblock from our new ISP. Turns out our netblock was being blacklisted by AOL. Imagine my chagrin when my Sales people are trying to get a deal signed for our product and they can't get email into AOL after the office move.
They did, however, have a nice section on their policies and what not. The non-standard error messages they threw back at the emails weren't as fun however. You shouldn't need a website devoted to explaining how to send email to your domain. That's what standards are for...
Morphix, which is what I've been basically using as "Knoppix-Lite," and it does the trick for me. I use the Light-GUI iso, which is about 200MB. It's basically a modular Knoppix (it is, in fact, based on Knoppix). You can also roll your own. Say, if you don't need the GUI module, you can opt for other modules. Pretty neat.
I'd say the graphics are pretty good (c'mon space is mostly empty). Plus, they did get a nice revamp with the new expansion.
As far as things to do (replayability as well), skills being based on learning times (instead of an XP grind, and they do train while you're offline) and an economy that blows every other MMORPG out of the water, Eve is where it's at.
Couple that with a mature, diverse community (my corporation alone as players from all over the US, Europe and Asia), and developers who do pretty damned good (and care!), it's makes for an excellent universe. Not to mention there isn't an 'expansion pack' system in Eve. New content is released in the form of patches, so they're not trying to get more and more money from you.
Mining outfits, Pirate (PvP) corps, Pirate Hunter corps, manufacturing corps, traders and haulers, etc etc, you're bound to fit in somewhere. Couple that with something like an average of over 10,000 people on-line during peak times (on one server), and you have (IMHO) the most underrated MMORPG in existence. While it's true I have yet to pick up WoW, as long as I'm playing Eve I'll want for nothing more. It may not be new and pretty like WoW, but what it lacks in graphics and being from CCP instead of Blizzard, it more than makes up for in style, sophistication and substance.
EVE-Online always releases new content in the form of patches. They just had their massive update go live about two weeks ago (the Shiva/Exodus expansion).
I quit playing DAoC around the time the first expansion came out, not because of the expansion but more because I got bored of it. Frankly, it's kinda bull that they try to get you to buy an expansion, especially when it's a PVP game and you're trying to remain competitive with other players.
EVE-Online is fairly popular, and it must be easier on the developers to have one single client/codebase/install to maintain, as opposed to different expansions. I already pay $15/mo for the game, and if they would start charging for expansions I'd prolly tire of that quickly, even tho I haven't tired of the game.
On most days, he toils before a glowing terminal, playing his keyboard like a baby grand, not much different from his early days conceiving the kernel in Helsinki back in 1991. But now Torvalds orchestrates thousands of Linux developers distributed around the globe, synthesizing and arranging the bits into the masterpiece that disrupted the software establishment, crippling Sun, reviving IBM and giving Microsoft a taste of mortality.
Certianly a great number of supporting applications helped, but I wonder where the OSS movement would be today with the Linux kernel.
Part of the problem is staffing, especially for corporate IT.
When I worked in operations, we always seemed to have enough people to get the job done. This was prolly cause everyone knew that if the systems weren't maintained, the company wouldn't make money.
Now I'm a SysAdmin in corporate IT, and my boss bitches at me every now and then for getting things done too quickly. We have an SLA with the management team that basically allows me three weeks to fix any non urgent request. It's a good thing to have, but if you start fixing every little helpdesk ticket ASAP, the users tend to expect the same response time over and over again. This wouldn't be a problem if we had adequate staffing.
The problem they had with the previous IT guys was lack of a strong IT manager. So these guys were getting run around and burnt out, and they weren't maintaining the environment. Fast foward to when me and my boss started here (he hired me a month after he started himself), and we're looking at the set up wondering who was smoking what when they did this. Turns out it's just a lack of maintenance, and things switching hands too many times.
Worst part is, all of our users understand how overworked we are (they too are overworked). So when engineering has a machine die, they know it's going to be a little time before we get a chance to look at it. Nevermind that they do have the knowledge to fix the blasted thing. We're currently in a squabble with them, since they want us maintaining their machines for them (200+ machines), but it's impossible to do with 2.5 guys , and still maintain everything else.
All depends on the size of the company and the size of the IT dept.
My boss keeps complaining that he's the highest paid laptop administrator in the Silicon Valley. Technically it's only me and him (and a part time contractor), and does more than his share of grunt work.
Overtime? I haven't seen overtime since I worked during the summer in college!
And, my boss is right beside me fixing stuff. That's what happens when you have one IT Manager, one Sys/Network Admin, and one part timer for a company of 80 people and well over 400 machines.
What kind of VPN?
A Cisco VPN client? A MS style PPTP VPN client? Freeswan? That web based client for Nortel Convtivity?
It drives me nuts, and I'm the Network Admin at my company!
No, seriously.
I speak as someone who put together a Myth box. Used a Via Nehamiah chipset, 120GB HDD, CD ROM, Hauppauge 350 PVR card, all in a box the size of one of my programming texts. And running Gentoo (found some really nice Gentoo specific kernel patches and ebuilds).
Total cost was over $700. Biggest problem I had was that the Hauppage 350 drivers were literally months old. Yes, my Myth box kicks much arse. The web interface is slick, there's plug ins to do MP3 and video (and soon DVD IIRC), but for the amount of $$$ and time invested, a TiVo would have been so much easier.
I agree, some games do not need PvP. But others would benefit from it immensly.
We're talking about a game with superheros. It's the whole "Need evil to define good" thing. Especially when it's superheros.
And making the villians PCs as opposed to NPCs makes it that much sweeter. For every one hundred "run around and kill people" PCs you'll have maybe 5 PCs who are truly roleplaying evil (and trying to kill you) that will make it worthwhile.
There's a few more out there running that I can't remember (like the 3056 Sim site), but 3030 is still very much alive, and the people there should be able to expand this list.
"Dan Leach, group product manager for the Microsoft Office System, was asked at the time whether Microsoft would have publicized the results if they hadn't been positive. He answered that he had been so confident in the software's benefits that it "was never going to be a question."
Is MS smoking the same stuff that SCO is??!?
Slashdot Mirror
Rent control didn't stop three corporations in as many years to buy the apartment complex I lived in for over a decade, repaint the exterior walls in a different color scheme and redo the landscaping, and charge "luxury" rental rates. The third corporation is actually renovating the apartments to justify the "luxury" rental rates. Rent control in San Jose prevents them for raising the rent more than 8% each year, so no doubling or tripling of the rents during a hot real estate market. For three years after the Great Recession, there was no rent increases at all.
San Jose's only applies to apartments built before 1978 IIRC (I think there is a separate one for mobile home parks). That accounts for only 33% of the apartment rental stock according to a recent study commissioned by the city.
Was going to mod you down, but had to ask. In the first section, you say you RTFA'd, and he's going after those who say they are cops online (or spreading libel). If they are not cops, shouldn't they be pursued? It's a crime to do so IRL, why not online? Then you say the folks in Austin should have him bounced out of office. Why? Isn't he doing what a police chief should? I agree that civil court is the place to pursue libel, but what about people (possibly) misrepresenting themselves as law enforcement? At a minimum, doing so can cause harm, and is illegal correct?
Ed Harris' character from the Abyss.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0096754/
Redneck rampage
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redneck_rampage
I was once a HOE, Hosting Operations Engineer (a NOC Engineer, basically). Then I got promoted to Lead HOE. Actually had that put on my business cards somehow.
http://www.opm.gov/oca/06tables/indexGS.asp
Kinda fun to look at, and then realize the government doesn't pay that well (yes, I know it's all about the benefits, but still).
As I recall, it's an 8 year service commitment for doctors, or at least that's what it used to be for the USAF. Pilots used to be 8 years as well, but I think they upped it to 10 a lil while back.
They explained it in the first page.
Among office workers 26% aren't sure what a firewall does and therefore have been tempted to turn it off. A firewall is a form of computer security that prevents unauthorised access from the internet and turning it off is the worst thing you can do.
A dying game?
It may not be WoW, but Netcraft ain't confirming that it's dead, or on the way there.
There's currently almost 10,000 people logged in, which may seem small, but in Eve there's only one server.
Still, a very good game, with a mostly mature community of players (more so than most).
Spent all my mod points earlier today, but another vote for Eve-Online as best MMO.
The other MMOs can't even hold a candle to the complexity of Eve. In terms of economy and PVP they are well ahead the others in their genre. They've come the closest to emulating real life, and still having it be rewarding and fun without the traditional level grind.
When we switched data providers during an office move, we got a new netblock from our new ISP. Turns out our netblock was being blacklisted by AOL. Imagine my chagrin when my Sales people are trying to get a deal signed for our product and they can't get email into AOL after the office move. They did, however, have a nice section on their policies and what not. The non-standard error messages they threw back at the emails weren't as fun however. You shouldn't need a website devoted to explaining how to send email to your domain. That's what standards are for...
Morphix, which is what I've been basically using as "Knoppix-Lite," and it does the trick for me. I use the Light-GUI iso, which is about 200MB. It's basically a modular Knoppix (it is, in fact, based on Knoppix). You can also roll your own. Say, if you don't need the GUI module, you can opt for other modules. Pretty neat.
I'd say the graphics are pretty good (c'mon space is mostly empty). Plus, they did get a nice revamp with the new expansion.
As far as things to do (replayability as well), skills being based on learning times (instead of an XP grind, and they do train while you're offline) and an economy that blows every other MMORPG out of the water, Eve is where it's at.
Couple that with a mature, diverse community (my corporation alone as players from all over the US, Europe and Asia), and developers who do pretty damned good (and care!), it's makes for an excellent universe. Not to mention there isn't an 'expansion pack' system in Eve. New content is released in the form of patches, so they're not trying to get more and more money from you.
Mining outfits, Pirate (PvP) corps, Pirate Hunter corps, manufacturing corps, traders and haulers, etc etc, you're bound to fit in somewhere. Couple that with something like an average of over 10,000 people on-line during peak times (on one server), and you have (IMHO) the most underrated MMORPG in existence. While it's true I have yet to pick up WoW, as long as I'm playing Eve I'll want for nothing more. It may not be new and pretty like WoW, but what it lacks in graphics and being from CCP instead of Blizzard, it more than makes up for in style, sophistication and substance.
EVE-Online always releases new content in the form of patches. They just had their massive update go live about two weeks ago (the Shiva/Exodus expansion).
I quit playing DAoC around the time the first expansion came out, not because of the expansion but more because I got bored of it. Frankly, it's kinda bull that they try to get you to buy an expansion, especially when it's a PVP game and you're trying to remain competitive with other players.
EVE-Online is fairly popular, and it must be easier on the developers to have one single client/codebase/install to maintain, as opposed to different expansions. I already pay $15/mo for the game, and if they would start charging for expansions I'd prolly tire of that quickly, even tho I haven't tired of the game.
On most days, he toils before a glowing terminal, playing his keyboard like a baby grand, not much different from his early days conceiving the kernel in Helsinki back in 1991. But now Torvalds orchestrates thousands of Linux developers distributed around the globe, synthesizing and arranging the bits into the masterpiece that disrupted the software establishment, crippling Sun, reviving IBM and giving Microsoft a taste of mortality.
Certianly a great number of supporting applications helped, but I wonder where the OSS movement would be today with the Linux kernel.
It shouldn't be expected for a SINGLE PLAYER GAME.
If I buy the game in the store, install it at home, that's all I should need to do for a single player game.
Part of the problem is staffing, especially for corporate IT.
When I worked in operations, we always seemed to have enough people to get the job done. This was prolly cause everyone knew that if the systems weren't maintained, the company wouldn't make money.
Now I'm a SysAdmin in corporate IT, and my boss bitches at me every now and then for getting things done too quickly. We have an SLA with the management team that basically allows me three weeks to fix any non urgent request. It's a good thing to have, but if you start fixing every little helpdesk ticket ASAP, the users tend to expect the same response time over and over again. This wouldn't be a problem if we had adequate staffing.
The problem they had with the previous IT guys was lack of a strong IT manager. So these guys were getting run around and burnt out, and they weren't maintaining the environment. Fast foward to when me and my boss started here (he hired me a month after he started himself), and we're looking at the set up wondering who was smoking what when they did this. Turns out it's just a lack of maintenance, and things switching hands too many times.
Worst part is, all of our users understand how overworked we are (they too are overworked). So when engineering has a machine die, they know it's going to be a little time before we get a chance to look at it. Nevermind that they do have the knowledge to fix the blasted thing. We're currently in a squabble with them, since they want us maintaining their machines for them (200+ machines), but it's impossible to do with 2.5 guys , and still maintain everything else.
All depends on the size of the company and the size of the IT dept.
My boss keeps complaining that he's the highest paid laptop administrator in the Silicon Valley. Technically it's only me and him (and a part time contractor), and does more than his share of grunt work.
Overtime? I haven't seen overtime since I worked during the summer in college!
And, my boss is right beside me fixing stuff. That's what happens when you have one IT Manager, one Sys/Network Admin, and one part timer for a company of 80 people and well over 400 machines.
What kind of VPN?
A Cisco VPN client? A MS style PPTP VPN client? Freeswan? That web based client for Nortel Convtivity?
It drives me nuts, and I'm the Network Admin at my company!
No, seriously.
I speak as someone who put together a Myth box. Used a Via Nehamiah chipset, 120GB HDD, CD ROM, Hauppauge 350 PVR card, all in a box the size of one of my programming texts. And running Gentoo (found some really nice Gentoo specific kernel patches and ebuilds).
Total cost was over $700. Biggest problem I had was that the Hauppage 350 drivers were literally months old. Yes, my Myth box kicks much arse. The web interface is slick, there's plug ins to do MP3 and video (and soon DVD IIRC), but for the amount of $$$ and time invested, a TiVo would have been so much easier.
I agree, some games do not need PvP. But others would benefit from it immensly.
We're talking about a game with superheros. It's the whole "Need evil to define good" thing. Especially when it's superheros.
And making the villians PCs as opposed to NPCs makes it that much sweeter. For every one hundred "run around and kill people" PCs you'll have maybe 5 PCs who are truly roleplaying evil (and trying to kill you) that will make it worthwhile.
From someone who once RP'd a slightly evil thief.
btech.no-ip.com 3049
btech.dhs.org 3030
http://btech.sourceforge.net/ The main Source Forge site.
Here's a historical archive of Battletech MUSE info:
http://hpgx.net/btmuse/
There's a few more out there running that I can't remember (like the 3056 Sim site), but 3030 is still very much alive, and the people there should be able to expand this list.
Next to browsing on ESPN.com, Solitaire is the only thing my father uses the computer for. A 1.2Ghz Athlon rig, that only does MSIE and Solitaire....
"Dan Leach, group product manager for the Microsoft Office System, was asked at the time whether Microsoft would have publicized the results if they hadn't been positive. He answered that he had been so confident in the software's benefits that it "was never going to be a question." Is MS smoking the same stuff that SCO is??!?