I'm just the opposite. If a game is heavily involved in story then it had better tell me what I need to know on-screen instead of making me flip through stupid manual pages just to know what's happening. On the other hand, EA's yearly sports games usually change at least some aspect of the control system every year (this year's Madden added QB vision and changed the default QB running system). I always read the book beforehand to familiarize myself with the changes.
Starting my somphomore year of college, I became a hired note taker for many of my college classes. I took notes for those with learning disabilities to be used in addition to their own notes (yeah right) and for cash from places that sold notes to students. My grades shot up dramatically that year because I was forced to attend class regularly and to take good notes while I was there. Personally, I prefer paper and pen but mainly because Word doesn't take kindly to mathematic equations and pseudo-code. I've never cared for the Powerpoint approach. Maybe it's because too many of the great professors I've had enjoy using the chalk board but I get a lot more from the lecture when there are no slides to look at.
My favorite lecturer at my university was the Parallel Processing professor from my upper-level grad course. Our lectures were mainly on important research papers in the topic. Randomly our professor would decided to turn the lecture over to one of us and we had to pick up where he left off running the lecture. He did jump in one or twice to make sure we covered the points he'd like us to and to question us to make sure we really understood the material but other than that we were on our own. This happened about twice a week. It forced us to prepare for every lecture as if we would be presenting it because 4 times during the semester, we would be presenting it.
Releasing Mac versions of games so long after the Windows release and the often higher prices of Mac games vs. their Windows counterpart has done more to kill the Mac gaming market than merely letting you play a Windows game on the Mac box ever could.
To further flesh out the gaming argument, even if you're considering a game that exists on both platforms, the Windows version usually comes out sooner and costs less than its Mac counterpart. Why spend $50 for the Mac version of a year old game when you can spend $20 for the Windows version (or even spend $50 but get it a year earlier)?
"paper-thin plot, lots and lots of little in-jokes that attack social morays, pop culture, etc."
The difference between then and now is that then they managed to at least put some of the in-jokes and pop culture references into the scenes themselves instead of needing to do a remember when and flash back for every single reference. Between that and Stewie getting less and less homicidal (and somehow more and more absurd to make up for it), I have felt very free to not watch it since around episode 5 or 6 of Season 5.
Anyone who buys a complex product that's not in very wide circulation runs the risk of getting more bugs in the system. Take kitchen appliances for example. That $6000 refridgerator that's even been in production for a few years is a lot more likely to have bugs in its operation than the $1200 one that's been around for the same amount of time. Why? Because hundreds of thousands of people buy the $1200 compared to the few thousand who bought the $6000 one. That $1200 unit has been in a lot more homes so the company has had time to better refine the product. Granted if you buy the top shelf item I imagine the manufacturer will jump through as many hoops as possible to keep your business since they did make a tidy profit off of you and want to keep you around as a future sucker... I mean customer.
While only an RPG in the FF meets Zelda kind of way, I thoroughly enjoyed Legend of Oasis. Unfortunately, since it was a Saturn-only title, only like 4 people have ever played it. It was a pretty good mix of puzle and battle and had a decent magic system involving having an elemental figure do your bidding kind of like a genie would. A close second would be Dragon Warrior II for the NES. What was really cool is that I got DWII and a year of GamePro magazine for $15. (In other words, I got DWII and a slew of adverts posing as reviews.)
Also don't underestimate the return policies of some big box retailers who have a lot of push over the manufacturer. I know that both Wal-Mart and Sams Club will take back a laptop for any reason but you'd be buying an off-the-shelf model instead of a custom built Alienware. In fact, Sams Club has a 6 month return policy on laptops and desktops. That's not a typo. 6 months! Few questions asked. I'm not sure about the other big boxen since I haven't bought laptops or dekstops anywhere else. I wouldn't advise buying anything as expensive as a laptop somewhere where they won't at least offer replacement with a new item (not a refurb) if I'm not 100% happy.
Sounds to me like Sony shot themselves in the foot by muffing a Christmas release of the PS3 so they're gearing up the speculation by promising the kitchen sink like they did with the PS2 to try and keep anybody from buying something else in the meantime.
I did read your post. That's a nice way to divert attention from your losing argument though. One of the pillars of your argument is that Shakespeare requires footnotes to explain some of the sayings and meanings that are written. I'm merely arguing that just because something has footnotes, doesn't mean it's not 90% of our current language. I gave Beowulf as an example of something that is certainly NOT 90% of our current language even though it is also written in English (albeit Old English). We know the annotated meanings of well over 90% of what Shakespeare wrote and use those words in their annotated menaings today. Their connotations can be quite different but are generally easy to pick up in context. I'd consider the GGGP's statement to be correct given this.
Also, if your argument is correct, then scientific and even education journals are not written using 90% of our current language because they typically have more footnotes describing words and phrases than I've ever seen in a Shakespearean text.
Go read a real untranslated copy of Beowulf (we had to in my Old English class I took in college) and tell me that Shakespeare doesn't write in modern English. The dialect maybe different, but it's still very recognizable. Besides, most of the footnotes refer to words and phrases that have fallen out of use. Just like Shakespeare won't go around talking about flipping someone off, we don't go around saying we bite our thumb at people. If performed properly, those footnotes become unneccessary due to the context of the lines' delivery, which is probably one reason why there is so much respect for Shakespearean actors.
"Now it is quite well possible that during that time people contacted me in-game without me replying." (from TFA)
This probably didn't help either. I'd think he was a bot.
I wonder how they determine if the player is using a programmable keyboard? As popular as WoW is, I can imagine that some prog. keyboard manufacturers will find a way to avoid detection. Maybe a random pause between key presses?
Look way, way up in the air. That's my point sailing over your head. I'm sure Nintendo will have copy protection and Microsoft certainly has it. However, they're not going around muffing system launches over it. If Sony is going to delay their entire launch over some copy protection concerns, I hope they lose a lot of customers over it. That copy protection is not doing one thing for me as a gamer and I don't plan on waiting one day to get a new system over a company's inability to get something like that working on their system. At least the 360 muffed their launch over chip shortages since the processor is something I need as a gamer.
I hope they pay the price for their copy protection scheme. They're most likely going to miss Christmas in the US where presumably Nintendo will have a new console and Microsoft will have a fully stocked lineup of 360s ready to roll.
I'm sure they had the Internet back then but I doubt they knew how to get such information or even that such information was out there to be gotten. Downloading TV shows wasn't as common then as it is today.
"all the media firms have to do is go to a torrent site or download the relevant software, and they'll see whats happening."
Yeah, I know BitTorrent is popular and all, but it's not the only P2P system in town and it didn't have nearly the presence back then (after FG's 1st cancelling, between seasons 2 and 3) as it does today. If it was out back then, I certainly didn't hear about it. Ironically, Family Guy is what got me started on BitTorrent but only after finding it all over the place on Gnutella and Kaaza (which were not the same network at the time if I remember correctly). Doing what you suggest will give an incomplete picture now and would've given a horribly incomplete picture back then. Besides, even if they Fox does this themselves, they still have to hire employees to track this sort of thing. Why not use this company to do it for them?
Though I see your point, I could understand wanting to see what people are downloading illegally. For example, something like this may have given Fox a little more of a clue that people were still interested in Family Guy before its Seasons 1 and 2 DVD release. FG was all over the P2P networks ever since it was canned the first time around. If I worked at Fox and got an inkling of how popular that show was on P2P, I might've done something to speed along its revival.
But what if I've already downloaded Milli Vanilli? Maybe we could use the New Kids... oops, have that one too. I mean Vanilla Ice... or maybe Paula... nevermind, I'll just redownload Milli Vanilli.
"It's like using cash, without the need to plan ahead."
That's the part that I think makes you irresponsible.
I've had my fair share of $100 bar tabs (and those aren't even the strip joints) and have even made some large impulse purchases, but I always keep track of my money. Just like walking and chewing gum, I can manage having fun while keeping to a budget.
Coming from the opposite end of the spectrum (as I use credit cards whenever possible and cash when I have to), I also deplore the idea of a debit card. If you are responsible with money, there's nothing you need a debit card for. If you want to act like you're pulling money directly from checking, then record the amount in your balance book as if it were a debit card transaction. (You are carrying a balance book, aren't you?) As long as your paying off the card monthly, you'll pay no fees for charging the purchases but the credit card company will still go to bat for you if you need to dispute a charge. Even if you carry a balance regularly, I guess you could always carry at least one card you pay off in full monthly to void interest on the items you are purchasing. Debit cards are for people with poor money management skills, plain and simple.
He must build in a different Athens, GA. The Ahtens, GA I lived in for 5 years and have been working in for 4 years (commuting from 30 minutes north) doesn't have any new construction homes I've seen on lots that haven't been almost completely cleared. The reason behind this is that grass lawns sell and trees don't. Sure there are folks who prefer a heavily wooded lawn (maybe a few more folks in college town Athens than elsewhere in the area), but they are a minority. This builder on NPR might cater to that minority and in Athens that might give him a good market niche but there aren't near as many people concerned about the environment or keeping trees on their lawn to make such a plan feasible elsewhere in the area.
Star Trek showed Kirk on more than one occasion physically signing his captain's log. In fact, sometimes it kind of makes it look like Kirk is really writing his captain's log and it's just being read to us so we know what he's writing. While writing and typing are not the same thing, he was certainly using a tablet (held by a girl in a short skirt) to input information.
Well Mr. Millbarge, I was going to set up the Disney Channel for you for free but now I'm not going to. If you're looking to learn.NET programming, I'd go with C#. It has a C-style syntax which is makes it easier to pick up other C-style syntax languages like C, C++, Java, etc. VB's OO aspects feel to me like they were bolted onto the language as an afterthought. You can experiment with both on Visual Studio. If you want, it might be a good idea to build a few sample projects each way to see which one you feel more comfortable with. You'll learn programming with either one, but you'll learn more you can use elsewhere from C#.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm just the opposite. If a game is heavily involved in story then it had better tell me what I need to know on-screen instead of making me flip through stupid manual pages just to know what's happening. On the other hand, EA's yearly sports games usually change at least some aspect of the control system every year (this year's Madden added QB vision and changed the default QB running system). I always read the book beforehand to familiarize myself with the changes.
Starting my somphomore year of college, I became a hired note taker for many of my college classes. I took notes for those with learning disabilities to be used in addition to their own notes (yeah right) and for cash from places that sold notes to students. My grades shot up dramatically that year because I was forced to attend class regularly and to take good notes while I was there. Personally, I prefer paper and pen but mainly because Word doesn't take kindly to mathematic equations and pseudo-code. I've never cared for the Powerpoint approach. Maybe it's because too many of the great professors I've had enjoy using the chalk board but I get a lot more from the lecture when there are no slides to look at. My favorite lecturer at my university was the Parallel Processing professor from my upper-level grad course. Our lectures were mainly on important research papers in the topic. Randomly our professor would decided to turn the lecture over to one of us and we had to pick up where he left off running the lecture. He did jump in one or twice to make sure we covered the points he'd like us to and to question us to make sure we really understood the material but other than that we were on our own. This happened about twice a week. It forced us to prepare for every lecture as if we would be presenting it because 4 times during the semester, we would be presenting it.
Releasing Mac versions of games so long after the Windows release and the often higher prices of Mac games vs. their Windows counterpart has done more to kill the Mac gaming market than merely letting you play a Windows game on the Mac box ever could.
To further flesh out the gaming argument, even if you're considering a game that exists on both platforms, the Windows version usually comes out sooner and costs less than its Mac counterpart. Why spend $50 for the Mac version of a year old game when you can spend $20 for the Windows version (or even spend $50 but get it a year earlier)?
"paper-thin plot, lots and lots of little in-jokes that attack social morays, pop culture, etc."
The difference between then and now is that then they managed to at least put some of the in-jokes and pop culture references into the scenes themselves instead of needing to do a remember when and flash back for every single reference. Between that and Stewie getting less and less homicidal (and somehow more and more absurd to make up for it), I have felt very free to not watch it since around episode 5 or 6 of Season 5.
Anyone who buys a complex product that's not in very wide circulation runs the risk of getting more bugs in the system. Take kitchen appliances for example. That $6000 refridgerator that's even been in production for a few years is a lot more likely to have bugs in its operation than the $1200 one that's been around for the same amount of time. Why? Because hundreds of thousands of people buy the $1200 compared to the few thousand who bought the $6000 one. That $1200 unit has been in a lot more homes so the company has had time to better refine the product. Granted if you buy the top shelf item I imagine the manufacturer will jump through as many hoops as possible to keep your business since they did make a tidy profit off of you and want to keep you around as a future sucker... I mean customer.
While only an RPG in the FF meets Zelda kind of way, I thoroughly enjoyed Legend of Oasis. Unfortunately, since it was a Saturn-only title, only like 4 people have ever played it. It was a pretty good mix of puzle and battle and had a decent magic system involving having an elemental figure do your bidding kind of like a genie would. A close second would be Dragon Warrior II for the NES. What was really cool is that I got DWII and a year of GamePro magazine for $15. (In other words, I got DWII and a slew of adverts posing as reviews.)
Also don't underestimate the return policies of some big box retailers who have a lot of push over the manufacturer. I know that both Wal-Mart and Sams Club will take back a laptop for any reason but you'd be buying an off-the-shelf model instead of a custom built Alienware. In fact, Sams Club has a 6 month return policy on laptops and desktops. That's not a typo. 6 months! Few questions asked. I'm not sure about the other big boxen since I haven't bought laptops or dekstops anywhere else. I wouldn't advise buying anything as expensive as a laptop somewhere where they won't at least offer replacement with a new item (not a refurb) if I'm not 100% happy.
Sounds to me like Sony shot themselves in the foot by muffing a Christmas release of the PS3 so they're gearing up the speculation by promising the kitchen sink like they did with the PS2 to try and keep anybody from buying something else in the meantime.
I did read your post. That's a nice way to divert attention from your losing argument though. One of the pillars of your argument is that Shakespeare requires footnotes to explain some of the sayings and meanings that are written. I'm merely arguing that just because something has footnotes, doesn't mean it's not 90% of our current language. I gave Beowulf as an example of something that is certainly NOT 90% of our current language even though it is also written in English (albeit Old English). We know the annotated meanings of well over 90% of what Shakespeare wrote and use those words in their annotated menaings today. Their connotations can be quite different but are generally easy to pick up in context. I'd consider the GGGP's statement to be correct given this.
Also, if your argument is correct, then scientific and even education journals are not written using 90% of our current language because they typically have more footnotes describing words and phrases than I've ever seen in a Shakespearean text.
Go read a real untranslated copy of Beowulf (we had to in my Old English class I took in college) and tell me that Shakespeare doesn't write in modern English. The dialect maybe different, but it's still very recognizable. Besides, most of the footnotes refer to words and phrases that have fallen out of use. Just like Shakespeare won't go around talking about flipping someone off, we don't go around saying we bite our thumb at people. If performed properly, those footnotes become unneccessary due to the context of the lines' delivery, which is probably one reason why there is so much respect for Shakespearean actors.
"Now it is quite well possible that during that time people contacted me in-game without me replying." (from TFA)
This probably didn't help either. I'd think he was a bot.
I wonder how they determine if the player is using a programmable keyboard? As popular as WoW is, I can imagine that some prog. keyboard manufacturers will find a way to avoid detection. Maybe a random pause between key presses?
Look way, way up in the air. That's my point sailing over your head. I'm sure Nintendo will have copy protection and Microsoft certainly has it. However, they're not going around muffing system launches over it. If Sony is going to delay their entire launch over some copy protection concerns, I hope they lose a lot of customers over it. That copy protection is not doing one thing for me as a gamer and I don't plan on waiting one day to get a new system over a company's inability to get something like that working on their system. At least the 360 muffed their launch over chip shortages since the processor is something I need as a gamer.
I hope they pay the price for their copy protection scheme. They're most likely going to miss Christmas in the US where presumably Nintendo will have a new console and Microsoft will have a fully stocked lineup of 360s ready to roll.
I'm sure they had the Internet back then but I doubt they knew how to get such information or even that such information was out there to be gotten. Downloading TV shows wasn't as common then as it is today.
"all the media firms have to do is go to a torrent site or download the relevant software, and they'll see whats happening."
Yeah, I know BitTorrent is popular and all, but it's not the only P2P system in town and it didn't have nearly the presence back then (after FG's 1st cancelling, between seasons 2 and 3) as it does today. If it was out back then, I certainly didn't hear about it. Ironically, Family Guy is what got me started on BitTorrent but only after finding it all over the place on Gnutella and Kaaza (which were not the same network at the time if I remember correctly). Doing what you suggest will give an incomplete picture now and would've given a horribly incomplete picture back then. Besides, even if they Fox does this themselves, they still have to hire employees to track this sort of thing. Why not use this company to do it for them?
Though I see your point, I could understand wanting to see what people are downloading illegally. For example, something like this may have given Fox a little more of a clue that people were still interested in Family Guy before its Seasons 1 and 2 DVD release. FG was all over the P2P networks ever since it was canned the first time around. If I worked at Fox and got an inkling of how popular that show was on P2P, I might've done something to speed along its revival.
But what if I've already downloaded Milli Vanilli? Maybe we could use the New Kids... oops, have that one too. I mean Vanilla Ice... or maybe Paula... nevermind, I'll just redownload Milli Vanilli.
Who is going to watch a program about people who do something so boring that many players pay them to do it for them?
Somebody is taking his advice.
"It's like using cash, without the need to plan ahead."
That's the part that I think makes you irresponsible.
I've had my fair share of $100 bar tabs (and those aren't even the strip joints) and have even made some large impulse purchases, but I always keep track of my money. Just like walking and chewing gum, I can manage having fun while keeping to a budget.
Coming from the opposite end of the spectrum (as I use credit cards whenever possible and cash when I have to), I also deplore the idea of a debit card. If you are responsible with money, there's nothing you need a debit card for. If you want to act like you're pulling money directly from checking, then record the amount in your balance book as if it were a debit card transaction. (You are carrying a balance book, aren't you?) As long as your paying off the card monthly, you'll pay no fees for charging the purchases but the credit card company will still go to bat for you if you need to dispute a charge. Even if you carry a balance regularly, I guess you could always carry at least one card you pay off in full monthly to void interest on the items you are purchasing. Debit cards are for people with poor money management skills, plain and simple.
He must build in a different Athens, GA. The Ahtens, GA I lived in for 5 years and have been working in for 4 years (commuting from 30 minutes north) doesn't have any new construction homes I've seen on lots that haven't been almost completely cleared. The reason behind this is that grass lawns sell and trees don't. Sure there are folks who prefer a heavily wooded lawn (maybe a few more folks in college town Athens than elsewhere in the area), but they are a minority. This builder on NPR might cater to that minority and in Athens that might give him a good market niche but there aren't near as many people concerned about the environment or keeping trees on their lawn to make such a plan feasible elsewhere in the area.
Star Trek showed Kirk on more than one occasion physically signing his captain's log. In fact, sometimes it kind of makes it look like Kirk is really writing his captain's log and it's just being read to us so we know what he's writing. While writing and typing are not the same thing, he was certainly using a tablet (held by a girl in a short skirt) to input information.
Just like the real Oscars that were dominated this year by big budget films from major studios. Oh wait a minute... nevermind.
I'm not a big fan of the idea but they did say Oscars, not People's Choice.
Well Mr. Millbarge, I was going to set up the Disney Channel for you for free but now I'm not going to. If you're looking to learn .NET programming, I'd go with C#. It has a C-style syntax which is makes it easier to pick up other C-style syntax languages like C, C++, Java, etc. VB's OO aspects feel to me like they were bolted onto the language as an afterthought. You can experiment with both on Visual Studio. If you want, it might be a good idea to build a few sample projects each way to see which one you feel more comfortable with. You'll learn programming with either one, but you'll learn more you can use elsewhere from C#.