Although I don't game much anymore, and if I do it's normally RPGs on older console systems, I did play some Project Entropia this year. I'm not sure if it went beta->public in late 2002 or early 2003, but close enough I guess. It's a MMORPG run by a Swedish company that is free to download and play. The catch is that you need ingame money, which can be deposited or withdrawn using various methods, to buy items like guns, ammo, bombs, ore detectors, clothing, or even a place to live in "Calypso," the PE world. You can earn money ingame by hunting, mining, crafting items, trading items for profit, begging (annnnoyyyyying), etc. Although I'm sure most people don't make money off the game, as the company running the game needs to make a profit. In my time playing, I managed to make about $30US ingame (~300PED, Project Entropia Dollars), while starting with nothing, so it is certainly possible. I've not played since the latest update, but I've heard it is a vast improvement, and that lag and disconnects are virtually eliminated. Overall, if you're bored and/or broke, or interested by the whole idea, it's certainly worth checking out.
Well, I'm a student so I have access to Photoshop at the University (just not now, as I'm not enrolled this quarter, too poor hehe). I'm quite accustomed to Photoshop, and prefer it over PSP a great deal. I'm fairly sure I can use PSP at the university as well, but ideally I'd like to buy a copy of Photoshop to use at home, and I'd rather not have to pay for PSP too (because I'll be poor enough after buying Photoshop). Regardless, this functionality is really needed in Photoshop. I wonder if it's included in CE (is that the new version?) or if there is some 3rd party plugin to add it.
This site linked by the video primer, says that "Until the advent of version 8 of JASC Paint Shop Pro, Adobe Photoshop was capable of producing better quality JPG's for web and on-screen use, because Photoshop disabled chroma subsampling at highest quality settings. As of version 8, Paint Shop Pro moved ahead, offering the user full control of chroma subsampling. Especially for web use where file size is crucial and images are generally low resolution, Paint Shop Pro's greater flexibility is a considerable asset."
But... PSP is no Photoshop, and this is a considerable asset indeed, so what to do? Buy both, and use PSP only to compress images? What a waste. Does the newest version of Photoshop give more control? The latest I've used is 7.0 and it does not AFAIK.
"The survey only covers 15 companies. That doesn't seem very reassuring to me."
I work for an opinion research company, and although most of our work is done over the telephone, I think this applies here: alot of people have similar questions when we survey 300 people and say that their opinions are representative of those of hundreds of thousands. My boss, the founder of the company, has a famous reply. He says that if you are making chicken soup, and you want to know if you've added enough salt, you don't eat the entire pot of soup, you stir it up (this is important), and take a spoonful off the top, then if you need to add more salt, you can. The same principle applies to sampling people to determine public opinion, and you'd be suprised how accurate it can be.
The first computer I actually had in my house was a Tomy Tutor The game "Traffic Jam" and a port of "Jungler" kept me entertained for many hours of my young life =p
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Although I don't game much anymore, and if I do it's normally RPGs on older console systems, I did play some Project Entropia this year. I'm not sure if it went beta->public in late 2002 or early 2003, but close enough I guess. It's a MMORPG run by a Swedish company that is free to download and play. The catch is that you need ingame money, which can be deposited or withdrawn using various methods, to buy items like guns, ammo, bombs, ore detectors, clothing, or even a place to live in "Calypso," the PE world. You can earn money ingame by hunting, mining, crafting items, trading items for profit, begging (annnnoyyyyying), etc. Although I'm sure most people don't make money off the game, as the company running the game needs to make a profit. In my time playing, I managed to make about $30US ingame (~300PED, Project Entropia Dollars), while starting with nothing, so it is certainly possible. I've not played since the latest update, but I've heard it is a vast improvement, and that lag and disconnects are virtually eliminated. Overall, if you're bored and/or broke, or interested by the whole idea, it's certainly worth checking out.
I couldn't help but think of a silly movie called "Cypher"
Well, I'm a student so I have access to Photoshop at the University (just not now, as I'm not enrolled this quarter, too poor hehe). I'm quite accustomed to Photoshop, and prefer it over PSP a great deal. I'm fairly sure I can use PSP at the university as well, but ideally I'd like to buy a copy of Photoshop to use at home, and I'd rather not have to pay for PSP too (because I'll be poor enough after buying Photoshop). Regardless, this functionality is really needed in Photoshop. I wonder if it's included in CE (is that the new version?) or if there is some 3rd party plugin to add it.
This site linked by the video primer, says that "Until the advent of version 8 of JASC Paint Shop Pro, Adobe Photoshop was capable of producing better quality JPG's for web and on-screen use, because Photoshop disabled chroma subsampling at highest quality settings. As of version 8, Paint Shop Pro moved ahead, offering the user full control of chroma subsampling. Especially for web use where file size is crucial and images are generally low resolution, Paint Shop Pro's greater flexibility is a considerable asset." But... PSP is no Photoshop, and this is a considerable asset indeed, so what to do? Buy both, and use PSP only to compress images? What a waste. Does the newest version of Photoshop give more control? The latest I've used is 7.0 and it does not AFAIK.
"The survey only covers 15 companies. That doesn't seem very reassuring to me." I work for an opinion research company, and although most of our work is done over the telephone, I think this applies here: alot of people have similar questions when we survey 300 people and say that their opinions are representative of those of hundreds of thousands. My boss, the founder of the company, has a famous reply. He says that if you are making chicken soup, and you want to know if you've added enough salt, you don't eat the entire pot of soup, you stir it up (this is important), and take a spoonful off the top, then if you need to add more salt, you can. The same principle applies to sampling people to determine public opinion, and you'd be suprised how accurate it can be.
The first computer I actually had in my house was a Tomy Tutor The game "Traffic Jam" and a port of "Jungler" kept me entertained for many hours of my young life =p