People download MP3's because their versatile, not free.
Most people download MP3's because they are free. I totally understand your reasoning for downloading music in higher bit-rate, but the popularity of iTunes has demonstrated that most people want "the music" without regards to the quality (so long as it is acceptable). The reasons why those in a tech savvy community, like slashdot, download are different from those of the vast majority of people.
DRM is a noose around the neck of anyone who believes in freedom.
Why is that the case? DRM is merely the practice of an individual business creating a product with limitations. Freedom doesn't mean pro-consumer.
In a free market, DRM is acceptable as long as the laws aren't preferential for those who create content over those who buy content.
No DRM is acceptable in a free market so long as it is not mandatory and it is clearly communicated to the public. A big "DRM" sticker with an explaination of the restrictions is more aligned with the free market than banning the use of DRM features. Let the mega corps put all the rootkits and spyware on their CDs and DVDs, but include a clear explaination of how it limits the rights of the consumer, so that the free market can decide. If people still want to buy the latest pop CD even though they can't run it on their computer, then that is their perogative in a free market.
I'm a firm anti-copyright believer, I see no reason for copyright anymore now that information is so readily available (high supply, low demand, zero price).
You are talking about information distribution, not the generation of information. Information is actually high demand and high price for the first copy. The problem we face today is that in the digital age we have been able to seperate information from media. We are still trying to find ways to reconcile the high investment price for information creation, with the low distribution price. Copyright is not the answer as it has become outdated, but at the same time there is no good answer yet. In fact, DRM is a short term "answer" by the free market as an alternative to suing all copyright infringers. Repeal of copyright would accelerate businesses finding a solution, however, the destabilizing effect on the economy short-term would be devastating. Copyrights should be becoming more restrictive for the content creation (eg require registration, shorter protection times in line with faster distribution in the modern era, etc.), to encourage an evolutionary change to a different strategy rather than something revolutionary.
Um, no... we had the chance to test how fast large objects distort space, by watching a distant STAR as JUPITOR passed between us and it.
We're testing the effects of a large rotating object on space by placing observational satalites in space, locking them onto distant stars, and measuring rotation on different objects.
These are not "small contrived experiments" that we're applying results to the rest of the universe. We're looking out into the universe.
If you're going to argue about science, you better keep up.
These are still "small contrived experiments." We will never find truth, at best we can have a high level of confidence about something, but our level of observation is infinately small compared to the size (both physical and temporal) of the universe. Every observation is extremely limited, and all facts have a number of caveats involved. If you are going to argue about science, understand that at it is fundamentally a philosphy.
It doesn't need to be 100% conclusive evidence since that doesn't exist, but without any, you're just a man with an opinion
You don't need to have evidence to be right, since "truth" and what is "widely accepted true" are completely different. You can also give alternate explainations to existing evidence to make it less conclusive in support of the theory. And all scientists are men with opinions, as many "answers" can be derived from the same set of facts.
I agree. It's time to stop. It's like saying that 1.5 is the missing link between 1 and 2 and then someone comes along and says "no, there's a gap between 1 and 1.5".
You mean stop science itself? Science is based on data, without the missing link between 1 and 1.5 you can't fully understand what occurred during that transition.
VPN doesn't fix everything. It's difficult to put together a good plan. First you need to address internal corporate needs like how to communcate to everybody there is a problem, and have internal systems ready to handle the situation (did you make sure everybody is setup at home to use VPN?). A good disaster plan also needs to address supply and customer issues.
Does the company take into account possible quarantine restrictions/customs delays for spare parts from Asia? What about contingencies for outsourced tech support? There also needs to be an understanding of customer needs to prioritize if the company can't support business as usual.
You don't have to put together a detailed plan for every little thing that can come up, but you should at least think about them.
There are laws and/or company policies that dictate what documents need to be retained. If he is in violation of those, then yes deleting files is illegal. This is no different than illegal shredding of documents as part of a cover-up (eg Enron)
In any case, I thank you for volunteering for our breeding program (that was your intention, wasn't it ?). We shall contact you as soon as we liberate your hometown from its current administration. We look forward to working with you, or at least your Earthly remains. I will see to it personally that the experiment will also involve the remains of an elf clad in chainmail bikinis; such remains shouldn't be hard to come by, due to bikinis less than ideal coverage of vital areas. Unfortunately, I cannot guarantee that the elf will be hot, with the undead having somewhat lower body temperature than they had before being cured from their addiction to metabolism, but I shall do what I can.
Thank you. I was first interested by the glossy informational packet "Libris Mortis," i received at the acadamy job fair. I was encouraged during the interview process, you seem to have a visionary corporation and have taken into account long term market fluxations. Sorry for any confusion during the interviewing process. I tend to argue as a way to interview the interviewer and ensure they aren't just blowing smoke (ala Infinium wanting me to work on their Phantom) I look forward to dutifully fulfill my roles and resposibilities as regional director of gnomish recruitment. I have heard horror stories of the training process during the first day, but I'm sure they are way overblown, right?
In the end it works for everyone's favor. Only by using the most cost-effective available labor can a necromantic treasure retrieval effort stay competitive in todays fiercely competitive adventuring environment. This, in turn, means an economic boom for local businessess. The gnomes can find new jobs in supplying equipment for the armies of the dead, and if they can't, at least they'll starve to death while lying on streets paved with gold - and once dead they have a guaranteed job at the employment of Necromantic Might Inc.
The Necro-Industrial Complex is a self serving means for wealth redistribution, not wealth generation. This wealth redistribution also does not benifit the working class gnome displaced by cheap undead labor. While there would be a short-term boom, the long term effects of shifting to an undead economy would be catastrophic. As the number of "available" treasures from dragons and evil barons deminishes. Necromancers would have to turn their eyes towards smaller prizes, such as towns and villages. Rather than supplying war materials, townsfolk would be killed and conscripted into ever more powerful armies. Eventually only a handful of powerful necromancers would be left controlling the lower class undead armies. Your plan only serves to destroy the middle class and keep the Necromancer elite rich and powerful, trickle-down economics does not work!
Unneccessary - undead bloodroses grow perfectly fine on dead soil.
You destroy a complex and diverse ecosystem, so should there be any unforseen changes in the global climate, disease, or curses that destroy bloodroses, the entire planet is doomed.
Furthermore, as more and more of the population is converted to their new undead state, the need to grow anything lessens considerably. Finally, a zombie will typically end up inserting more nutrients to the soil than it had had it stayed buried - after all, they are likely to be covered in blood when returning from their business outings, and this blood will soak to the ground.
Once you've destroyed the ecosystem, and turned the entire population into undead wage slaves... "Braaains" are not a renewable resource!
This is simply untrue. A chill a typical corporeal undead radiates far more than compensates for any greenhouse gases it might release during its unlifetime. As proof, you might visit your local necromancer and ask him to show you some of his undead - the chances are that simply seeing them will send a chill up your spine.
This chill does not follow normal patterns of radiation... it is entirely localized. Hence you will cause severe climatic chaos surrounding large undead armies, while other regions are scorched by global warming.
Zombies have several natural enemies, namely: self-righteous paladins, overzealous clerics, ignorant barbarians, superstitious fighters, etc.
The current living adventurer population has no chance of stopping potentially generations of undead. Do you plan on having forced breeding programs? (if so sign me up for one of those hot elves in a chainmail bikini)
Unless the alcohol and/or drug is delivered in +1 bottle/needle.
Delivery method doesn't matter (at most you'd feel the pain of the needle go in but not the effect). Maybe you can snort some holy water or something... but that's so ghetto.
The worst part though, is your moronic assertion that teachers are "arrogant" for wanting to teach. How did you arrive at such a ridiculous conclusion? Perhaps you had a teacher who wasn't "arrogant", didn't teach you anything, and you're taking your cues from them.
Teachers do maintain a level of arrogance in the classroom, otherwise they lose the respect of the students. This is especially in public schools where they are forced to babysit large groups including the most difficult kids who don't care about anything. So rather than having an environment that is conducive to open communication and learning both ways, the teachers have to take an "I know everything here learn it" attitude. They are not arrogant because they are teachers, they are because they are put in a bad situation.
Really, why do necromancers take such bad PR all the time ? Using zombies and skeletons as workforce is perfectly logical and hurts no one - their souls have long since departed, after all. Would that "noble" paladin rather have me using slave labor ?
Bah, Necromancers are the CEOs of D&D. Outsourcing mindless killing jobs which could have gone to hard working gnomes.
And what does the tree-hugging hippy care - I'm not hurting any trees or small (or even large) animals, am I ? Undead are perfectly natural, or does he perhaps think that every skeleton roaming some long-forgotten tomb was rised by a necromancer ? "Nature" - bah ! Druids only accept part of nature, and declare everything else "unnatural", while using their own utterly unnatural powers without remorse - or do you think that it's natural for a human being to become a squirrel at will ?
A typical Necromancer right wing arguement. The gases and chemicals released by those decaying bodies should go into the ground to enrich the soil. When reanimated they go into the atmosphere causing global warming, further by not enriching the soil less plants are around to process these gases, casing a runaway greenhouse effect. There are a host of other issues - catastrophic mudslides due to loosening of the soil as the dead rise from their grave; ecological imbalance as zombies consume, but have no natural enemies; etc.
Hmmph. It's all baseless propaganda, malicious wrongfull accusations. They are all just jealous of the fact that if they get a tiny hole in their body they die, while if I get my head hacked off I'll simply pick it up and reattach it. It is pure bone envy, I tell you !
Hey maaaan... you'll regret becoming a lich, cuz you can't get high due to your poison immunity
Has anyone knows children learn at a far faster rate and adapt to new tech far faster than adults, they wouldnt have a problem (and prolly would help the teachers as well) adapt and learn the new systems in no time
The problem is most teachers are arrogant, so they want to spend their time in the classroom to teach, not learn. If they don't know how to use the computer, they won't learn from the kids, they will just plan around it (eg bring in their Windows home laptop and have the kids share). If you want to move to Linux you have to educate the teachers also. That's why Microsoft runs teacher programs, because through those courses teachers will learn and develop their lesson plans around Windows/Office. It's not enough to just educate teachers on how to run Linux, you have to show them how to use it for their application (eg software to use, example lesson plans, etc).
Maybe a few games have tried things like the above on a limited basis, but the point is that computer gaming and pen-and-paper will always be two wholly different things. It doesn't seem to me that either type of gaming is well-served when one tries to emulate the other.
Good point. Just as the media affects storytelling (eg books vs movies), different media are conducive to different play styles. Online lets you enjoy the thrill of complex battles and consistant pacing, at the cost of freedom. P&P offers freedom, but pacing can be lost as large battles or unexpected choices bog down the game.
XBox-Fanboys constantly claim that these evil Japanese racists only buy Japanese products.
How is that possible?
Japanese do exhibit nationalistic pride (it's not racism). It's similar to how many Americans will only buy American cars and trucks.
iPod style manages overcome the bias, because it is more stylish (which is important to teenagers) than other products. It's cool to own [and wear] an iPod so whether or not it was made in Japan doesn't matter. X-box does not share such a cool factor, it's an equivalent to PS2, so nationalism becomes the deciding factor.
No, comparative advantage may increase net wealth of a nation, but says very little or nothing about specific industries or professions
Which at the end of the day is what matters.
Our comparative advantage seems to be sales, marketing, consumer research, services and medical care for the wealthy, and consumer product distribution. Technology is not our comparative advantage because our wages and cost of education are high, but the laws of physics and math are the same in the third world. I have yet to see an argument that tech is the US's comparative advantage. Even the venture capitalists are shifting overseas.
You are talking about absolute advantage, not comparitive advantage (Also I disagree with you, while K-12 may be lacking, there are many smart Americans, and a very good infrastructure and funding for graduate studies). The point of comparitive advantage is it addresses the opportunity cost of something (best use of resources). Overall for the economy does it make more sense for people to spend $450 on a computer and keep 2000 people employed for tech support, or is it better for computers to cost $400 with outsourced tech support and spend the $50 saved on something else.
You know what would have worked, if Lucas wanted to do prequels, is, say, a movie dedicated towards the ancient history; say a movie about the first confrontations between the Jedi and the Sith. A second could deal with the rise of the Republic, and then one single movie to deal with Anakin becoming Darth Vader.
I think that would be way too much history to cover with only 3 movies. One of the things I liked about the OT was that it didn't try to tell the whole story of the rebellion, it focused on the adventures of a few key characters. The civil war served as a backdrop, with the story threads winding in and out of it. So you end up with a grand universe that allows for many interesting stories to be told in the EU in parallel with the OT events.
I agree with your description of the first 2 prequels. The problem I had with those movies, is that there was no sense of history (the OT had allusions to the republic, clone wars, etc), the universe seemed revolve around the main characters. That is what made them so shallow, Lucas tried to handhold the story of the creation of the empire entirely through a handful of characters. The thrid prequel had more of that sense of "a grand universe" that was in the OT.
I think Lucas decided to take his space opera and turn it into some sort of political parable. The problem is that Lucas isn't a very good writer, so loads of nonsense like midichlorians get loaded into the brew just so he can progress his almost-plot with as little effort as possible. He's so busy with his wannabe-political-philosophy nonsense that he forgets that a movie has to be interesting, whether it aspires to greater things or not.
If he was a good writer the prequels could have been very interesting. He does bring up several good points on the failure of democracy during crisis, liberty vs security, law vs morality, but ends up skimming over them. The prequels could have been filled with political intrigue, backstabbing, the grey of good vs evil. After watching the TV series "Rome" on HBO, I thought a similar story would have been great for the prequels. The underlying elements were similar (political disputes, assassination, self-interest, etc) just Star Wars didn't make it interesting.
Is this the first time civilians have been required to do thing type of thing?
Lots of stuff has been done to monitor civilian employees: Drug testing, email snooping, time card punching, video monitoring, background/credit checks, etc.
Two words, Katamari Damacy. Actually, thats's based on some odd drug trip
It's a lot like Super Monkey Ball (which in turn was a lot like Marble Madness), but focusing on the collection aspect rather than the maze solving. In fact the "designers must be on drugs" idea was also mentioned in SMB reviews
Simple, with our current economy and infrastructure it is more profitable to very influential energy companies this way. And since our current President and Vice President are very close to these energy companies, you will see very little in the way of change.
Actually the reason is with our current economy and infrastucture it was more profitable for EVERYBODY. Notice how people are now looking for alternatives to gas powered vehicles at the same time the oil companies are making record profits. When oil was cheap there was no incentive to look at alternatives, now that it's become more expensive there is a market demand for more efficient/alternative fuel vehicles.
Worse, its an ever escalating arms race. They keep out doing the last quest and now you have scads of level 60s running around with items that normal level 60 content can't threaten and worse, in PvP anyone not equipped on the same level is just shit out of luck.
So the solution is to create an elite hardcore few who are first to get the "Really rare" item that nobody in PvP can touch... ever.
When a MMORPG finally understand what rare means then perhaps we can get away from this incessant farming the create. Then Blizzard gets up on their high horse claim gold farmers are bad yet they continue to create the very environment which fosters them!
Gold farming becomes WORSE the more rare things are. You create an environment where for most people (the non-hardcore) the only way they can ever get some items is buying them with gold.
We are "THE PEOPLE" and when "A COUPLE OF PEOPLE" are making the rules instead of us, then why don't we just bend over for them to save some time.;(
Cuz "THE PEOPLE" don't care. If you have 50% voter turnout, that means that it only takes 25% of the people to actually make law. Out of those probably half actually have any insight into the issues (the rest just vote incumbant or party lines). So you end up with a small vocal minority that the politicians have to listen to who end up making policy.
From the court decision, by burning compilations he was in fact producing new works. This is something that already has been upheld in the courts. Basically the only thing this applies to in the sense of the music/movie industries is that the individuals produce and own the copyright to their own compilations (eg DJ's creating their own playlist).
Slashdot Mirror
People download MP3's because their versatile, not free.
Most people download MP3's because they are free. I totally understand your reasoning for downloading music in higher bit-rate, but the popularity of iTunes has demonstrated that most people want "the music" without regards to the quality (so long as it is acceptable). The reasons why those in a tech savvy community, like slashdot, download are different from those of the vast majority of people.
DRM is a noose around the neck of anyone who believes in freedom.
Why is that the case? DRM is merely the practice of an individual business creating a product with limitations. Freedom doesn't mean pro-consumer.
In a free market, DRM is acceptable as long as the laws aren't preferential for those who create content over those who buy content.
No DRM is acceptable in a free market so long as it is not mandatory and it is clearly communicated to the public. A big "DRM" sticker with an explaination of the restrictions is more aligned with the free market than banning the use of DRM features. Let the mega corps put all the rootkits and spyware on their CDs and DVDs, but include a clear explaination of how it limits the rights of the consumer, so that the free market can decide. If people still want to buy the latest pop CD even though they can't run it on their computer, then that is their perogative in a free market.
I'm a firm anti-copyright believer, I see no reason for copyright anymore now that information is so readily available (high supply, low demand, zero price).
You are talking about information distribution, not the generation of information. Information is actually high demand and high price for the first copy. The problem we face today is that in the digital age we have been able to seperate information from media. We are still trying to find ways to reconcile the high investment price for information creation, with the low distribution price.
Copyright is not the answer as it has become outdated, but at the same time there is no good answer yet. In fact, DRM is a short term "answer" by the free market as an alternative to suing all copyright infringers.
Repeal of copyright would accelerate businesses finding a solution, however, the destabilizing effect on the economy short-term would be devastating. Copyrights should be becoming more restrictive for the content creation (eg require registration, shorter protection times in line with faster distribution in the modern era, etc.), to encourage an evolutionary change to a different strategy rather than something revolutionary.
Um, no... we had the chance to test how fast large objects distort space, by watching a distant STAR as JUPITOR passed between us and it.
We're testing the effects of a large rotating object on space by placing observational satalites in space, locking them onto distant stars, and measuring rotation on different objects.
These are not "small contrived experiments" that we're applying results to the rest of the universe. We're looking out into the universe.
If you're going to argue about science, you better keep up.
These are still "small contrived experiments." We will never find truth, at best we can have a high level of confidence about something, but our level of observation is infinately small compared to the size (both physical and temporal) of the universe. Every observation is extremely limited, and all facts have a number of caveats involved. If you are going to argue about science, understand that at it is fundamentally a philosphy.
It doesn't need to be 100% conclusive evidence since that doesn't exist, but without any, you're just a man with an opinion
You don't need to have evidence to be right, since "truth" and what is "widely accepted true" are completely different. You can also give alternate explainations to existing evidence to make it less conclusive in support of the theory. And all scientists are men with opinions, as many "answers" can be derived from the same set of facts.
I agree. It's time to stop. It's like saying that 1.5 is the missing link between 1 and 2 and then someone comes along and says "no, there's a gap between 1 and 1.5".
You mean stop science itself? Science is based on data, without the missing link between 1 and 1.5 you can't fully understand what occurred during that transition.
Diversity in the game industry is dying out while the EA's and Microsoft's of the world are killing it with their boring in-bred sequels :(
When was there really a significant amount of diversity from mainstream publishers? Innovation has long been the realm of shareware/freeware.
VPN doesn't fix everything. It's difficult to put together a good plan. First you need to address internal corporate needs like how to communcate to everybody there is a problem, and have internal systems ready to handle the situation (did you make sure everybody is setup at home to use VPN?). A good disaster plan also needs to address supply and customer issues.
Does the company take into account possible quarantine restrictions/customs delays for spare parts from Asia? What about contingencies for outsourced tech support? There also needs to be an understanding of customer needs to prioritize if the company can't support business as usual.
You don't have to put together a detailed plan for every little thing that can come up, but you should at least think about them.
There are laws and/or company policies that dictate what documents need to be retained. If he is in violation of those, then yes deleting files is illegal. This is no different than illegal shredding of documents as part of a cover-up (eg Enron)
In any case, I thank you for volunteering for our breeding program (that was your intention, wasn't it ?). We shall contact you as soon as we liberate your hometown from its current administration. We look forward to working with you, or at least your Earthly remains. I will see to it personally that the experiment will also involve the remains of an elf clad in chainmail bikinis; such remains shouldn't be hard to come by, due to bikinis less than ideal coverage of vital areas. Unfortunately, I cannot guarantee that the elf will be hot, with the undead having somewhat lower body temperature than they had before being cured from their addiction to metabolism, but I shall do what I can.
Thank you. I was first interested by the glossy informational packet "Libris Mortis," i received at the acadamy job fair. I was encouraged during the interview process, you seem to have a visionary corporation and have taken into account long term market fluxations.
Sorry for any confusion during the interviewing process. I tend to argue as a way to interview the interviewer and ensure they aren't just blowing smoke (ala Infinium wanting me to work on their Phantom)
I look forward to dutifully fulfill my roles and resposibilities as regional director of gnomish recruitment.
I have heard horror stories of the training process during the first day, but I'm sure they are way overblown, right?
In the end it works for everyone's favor. Only by using the most cost-effective available labor can a necromantic treasure retrieval effort stay competitive in todays fiercely competitive adventuring environment. This, in turn, means an economic boom for local businessess. The gnomes can find new jobs in supplying equipment for the armies of the dead, and if they can't, at least they'll starve to death while lying on streets paved with gold - and once dead they have a guaranteed job at the employment of Necromantic Might Inc.
The Necro-Industrial Complex is a self serving means for wealth redistribution, not wealth generation. This wealth redistribution also does not benifit the working class gnome displaced by cheap undead labor.
While there would be a short-term boom, the long term effects of shifting to an undead economy would be catastrophic. As the number of "available" treasures from dragons and evil barons deminishes. Necromancers would have to turn their eyes towards smaller prizes, such as towns and villages. Rather than supplying war materials, townsfolk would be killed and conscripted into ever more powerful armies.
Eventually only a handful of powerful necromancers would be left controlling the lower class undead armies. Your plan only serves to destroy the middle class and keep the Necromancer elite rich and powerful, trickle-down economics does not work!
Unneccessary - undead bloodroses grow perfectly fine on dead soil.
You destroy a complex and diverse ecosystem, so should there be any unforseen changes in the global climate, disease, or curses that destroy bloodroses, the entire planet is doomed.
Furthermore, as more and more of the population is converted to their new undead state, the need to grow anything lessens considerably. Finally, a zombie will typically end up inserting more nutrients to the soil than it had had it stayed buried - after all, they are likely to be covered in blood when returning from their business outings, and this blood will soak to the ground.
Once you've destroyed the ecosystem, and turned the entire population into undead wage slaves... "Braaains" are not a renewable resource!
This is simply untrue. A chill a typical corporeal undead radiates far more than compensates for any greenhouse gases it might release during its unlifetime. As proof, you might visit your local necromancer and ask him to show you some of his undead - the chances are that simply seeing them will send a chill up your spine.
This chill does not follow normal patterns of radiation... it is entirely localized. Hence you will cause severe climatic chaos surrounding large undead armies, while other regions are scorched by global warming.
Zombies have several natural enemies, namely: self-righteous paladins, overzealous clerics, ignorant barbarians, superstitious fighters, etc.
The current living adventurer population has no chance of stopping potentially generations of undead. Do you plan on having forced breeding programs? (if so sign me up for one of those hot elves in a chainmail bikini)
Unless the alcohol and/or drug is delivered in +1 bottle/needle.
Delivery method doesn't matter (at most you'd feel the pain of the needle go in but not the effect). Maybe you can snort some holy water or something... but that's so ghetto.
The worst part though, is your moronic assertion that teachers are "arrogant" for wanting to teach. How did you arrive at such a ridiculous conclusion? Perhaps you had a teacher who wasn't "arrogant", didn't teach you anything, and you're taking your cues from them.
Teachers do maintain a level of arrogance in the classroom, otherwise they lose the respect of the students. This is especially in public schools where they are forced to babysit large groups including the most difficult kids who don't care about anything. So rather than having an environment that is conducive to open communication and learning both ways, the teachers have to take an "I know everything here learn it" attitude.
They are not arrogant because they are teachers, they are because they are put in a bad situation.
Really, why do necromancers take such bad PR all the time ? Using zombies and skeletons as workforce is perfectly logical and hurts no one - their souls have long since departed, after all. Would that "noble" paladin rather have me using slave labor ?
Bah, Necromancers are the CEOs of D&D. Outsourcing mindless killing jobs which could have gone to hard working gnomes.
And what does the tree-hugging hippy care - I'm not hurting any trees or small (or even large) animals, am I ? Undead are perfectly natural, or does he perhaps think that every skeleton roaming some long-forgotten tomb was rised by a necromancer ? "Nature" - bah ! Druids only accept part of nature, and declare everything else "unnatural", while using their own utterly unnatural powers without remorse - or do you think that it's natural for a human being to become a squirrel at will ?
A typical Necromancer right wing arguement. The gases and chemicals released by those decaying bodies should go into the ground to enrich the soil. When reanimated they go into the atmosphere causing global warming, further by not enriching the soil less plants are around to process these gases, casing a runaway greenhouse effect. There are a host of other issues - catastrophic mudslides due to loosening of the soil as the dead rise from their grave; ecological imbalance as zombies consume, but have no natural enemies; etc.
Hmmph. It's all baseless propaganda, malicious wrongfull accusations. They are all just jealous of the fact that if they get a tiny hole in their body they die, while if I get my head hacked off I'll simply pick it up and reattach it. It is pure bone envy, I tell you !
Hey maaaan... you'll regret becoming a lich, cuz you can't get high due to your poison immunity
Has anyone knows children learn at a far faster rate and adapt to new tech far faster than adults, they wouldnt have a problem (and prolly would help the teachers as well) adapt and learn the new systems in no time
The problem is most teachers are arrogant, so they want to spend their time in the classroom to teach, not learn. If they don't know how to use the computer, they won't learn from the kids, they will just plan around it (eg bring in their Windows home laptop and have the kids share).
If you want to move to Linux you have to educate the teachers also. That's why Microsoft runs teacher programs, because through those courses teachers will learn and develop their lesson plans around Windows/Office.
It's not enough to just educate teachers on how to run Linux, you have to show them how to use it for their application (eg software to use, example lesson plans, etc).
my mom took my radio off me because she thought it was a danger. Of course I was using it to beat on the side of my brother's head at the time.
That's because you left it plugged in. She was teaching you a lesson: you can beat your sibblings, but not electrocute them.
Maybe a few games have tried things like the above on a limited basis, but the point is that computer gaming and pen-and-paper will always be two wholly different things. It doesn't seem to me that either type of gaming is well-served when one tries to emulate the other.
Good point. Just as the media affects storytelling (eg books vs movies), different media are conducive to different play styles.
Online lets you enjoy the thrill of complex battles and consistant pacing, at the cost of freedom. P&P offers freedom, but pacing can be lost as large battles or unexpected choices bog down the game.
XBox-Fanboys constantly claim that these evil Japanese racists only buy Japanese products.
How is that possible?
Japanese do exhibit nationalistic pride (it's not racism). It's similar to how many Americans will only buy American cars and trucks.
iPod style manages overcome the bias, because it is more stylish (which is important to teenagers) than other products. It's cool to own [and wear] an iPod so whether or not it was made in Japan doesn't matter.
X-box does not share such a cool factor, it's an equivalent to PS2, so nationalism becomes the deciding factor.
No, comparative advantage may increase net wealth of a nation, but says very little or nothing about specific industries or professions
Which at the end of the day is what matters.
Our comparative advantage seems to be sales, marketing, consumer research, services and medical care for the wealthy, and consumer product distribution. Technology is not our comparative advantage because our wages and cost of education are high, but the laws of physics and math are the same in the third world. I have yet to see an argument that tech is the US's comparative advantage. Even the venture capitalists are shifting overseas.
You are talking about absolute advantage, not comparitive advantage (Also I disagree with you, while K-12 may be lacking, there are many smart Americans, and a very good infrastructure and funding for graduate studies). The point of comparitive advantage is it addresses the opportunity cost of something (best use of resources). Overall for the economy does it make more sense for people to spend $450 on a computer and keep 2000 people employed for tech support, or is it better for computers to cost $400 with outsourced tech support and spend the $50 saved on something else.
You know what would have worked, if Lucas wanted to do prequels, is, say, a movie dedicated towards the ancient history; say a movie about the first confrontations between the Jedi and the Sith. A second could deal with the rise of the Republic, and then one single movie to deal with Anakin becoming Darth Vader.
I think that would be way too much history to cover with only 3 movies. One of the things I liked about the OT was that it didn't try to tell the whole story of the rebellion, it focused on the adventures of a few key characters. The civil war served as a backdrop, with the story threads winding in and out of it. So you end up with a grand universe that allows for many interesting stories to be told in the EU in parallel with the OT events.
I agree with your description of the first 2 prequels. The problem I had with those movies, is that there was no sense of history (the OT had allusions to the republic, clone wars, etc), the universe seemed revolve around the main characters. That is what made them so shallow, Lucas tried to handhold the story of the creation of the empire entirely through a handful of characters. The thrid prequel had more of that sense of "a grand universe" that was in the OT.
I think Lucas decided to take his space opera and turn it into some sort of political parable. The problem is that Lucas isn't a very good writer, so loads of nonsense like midichlorians get loaded into the brew just so he can progress his almost-plot with as little effort as possible. He's so busy with his wannabe-political-philosophy nonsense that he forgets that a movie has to be interesting, whether it aspires to greater things or not.
If he was a good writer the prequels could have been very interesting. He does bring up several good points on the failure of democracy during crisis, liberty vs security, law vs morality, but ends up skimming over them. The prequels could have been filled with political intrigue, backstabbing, the grey of good vs evil. After watching the TV series "Rome" on HBO, I thought a similar story would have been great for the prequels. The underlying elements were similar (political disputes, assassination, self-interest, etc) just Star Wars didn't make it interesting.
Is this the first time civilians have been required to do thing type of thing?
Lots of stuff has been done to monitor civilian employees: Drug testing, email snooping, time card punching, video monitoring, background/credit checks, etc.
You mean the ripoff of Catacomb 3D, which was inspired by Ultima Underworld, which was similar to Bard's Tale...
Two words, Katamari Damacy. Actually, thats's based on some odd drug trip
It's a lot like Super Monkey Ball (which in turn was a lot like Marble Madness), but focusing on the collection aspect rather than the maze solving. In fact the "designers must be on drugs" idea was also mentioned in SMB reviews
Simple, with our current economy and infrastructure it is more profitable to very influential energy companies this way. And since our current President and Vice President are very close to these energy companies, you will see very little in the way of change.
Actually the reason is with our current economy and infrastucture it was more profitable for EVERYBODY. Notice how people are now looking for alternatives to gas powered vehicles at the same time the oil companies are making record profits.
When oil was cheap there was no incentive to look at alternatives, now that it's become more expensive there is a market demand for more efficient/alternative fuel vehicles.
Worse, its an ever escalating arms race. They keep out doing the last quest and now you have scads of level 60s running around with items that normal level 60 content can't threaten and worse, in PvP anyone not equipped on the same level is just shit out of luck.
So the solution is to create an elite hardcore few who are first to get the "Really rare" item that nobody in PvP can touch... ever.
When a MMORPG finally understand what rare means then perhaps we can get away from this incessant farming the create. Then Blizzard gets up on their high horse claim gold farmers are bad yet they continue to create the very environment which fosters them!
Gold farming becomes WORSE the more rare things are. You create an environment where for most people (the non-hardcore) the only way they can ever get some items is buying them with gold.
We are "THE PEOPLE" and when "A COUPLE OF PEOPLE" are making the rules instead of us, then why don't we just bend over for them to save some time. ;(
Cuz "THE PEOPLE" don't care. If you have 50% voter turnout, that means that it only takes 25% of the people to actually make law. Out of those probably half actually have any insight into the issues (the rest just vote incumbant or party lines). So you end up with a small vocal minority that the politicians have to listen to who end up making policy.
From the court decision, by burning compilations he was in fact producing new works. This is something that already has been upheld in the courts. Basically the only thing this applies to in the sense of the music/movie industries is that the individuals produce and own the copyright to their own compilations (eg DJ's creating their own playlist).