Yeah, the CBC just had a very long report on this, including having their 'tech expert' give ideas as to how the media could get around the great firewall.
Oddly enough, this year the CBC has been evenly split down the middle, between covering the games' greatness, and covering their awfulness. In past years, there was nothing controversial to report on (unless you count Athens' down-to-the-wire construction schedule.)
Well, they do now. I seem to remember that this option came along a while ago, after I bought my 15" MBP. The standard matte screen got a bunch of blemishes on it, and Apple refused to fix them, so I decided to prevent further damage by adding a (glossy) screen protector. I never really noticed a difference, except more glare. The end result has been no more blemishes, which is why I'll probably stick to glossy from now on. I just like the feeling of a little more protection. Wait. Does it even work that way?
Yes, let's all blame Monsanto for the farmer suicides. After all, it couldn't be a huge, institutionalized problem created by years of government mismanagement? Nope: it's the big bad guy from the West! Wait, well, let's look it over, shall we?
The Indian government, during the "green revolution", convinced huge numbers of ordinary joes to take up farming. The government subsidized their crops, and held a monopoly over them. They then instituted rationing programs across the country. Huge, rousing success. Famines were nearly eliminated. Problem was, it created a huge number of new farmers who used to be auto mechanics, dhobi-wallahs, shopkeepers...etc These guys had never farmed in their lives, and had no experience. Their efficiency rates didn't matter back in the days of the Green Revolution, they just needed to produce anything. Fast forward to now, however, and the problem this created is apparent. The Indian government has opened the market up to international trade, and these farmers can't be competitive. They're competing with Thai and Indonesian farmers who are two to three decades ahead of them in terms of technology, and whose families have been farming for ten generations. So, big problems. What does the Indian government propose? GM seeds! They dole them out by the tonne without explaining that they can't be reseeded (it's not illegal, it's just impossible: the crops can't be replanted). The farmers plant them, get huge yields, go apeshit, take out huge loans, and then go bankrupt when they realize that the have to buy seeds for the next year.
"But ringmaster_j," you say, "isn't that proving that Monsanto is responsible?!?!" No. The crops themselves are not to blame. They have the potential to bring prosperity to the farmers of the Green Revolution, and make India competitive. No, what needs to be seen is the horrible way in which the farmers have been treated by their government. This is a very typical Indian government move: dump tonnes of grain from on high, get elected, move on to the next town. No planning, no advice on how to use the grain, no caveats; just "Apne GM grain he! Vote BJP/Congress/AIADMK/DMK/CPI(M)! Namaskar!" It's horrible. Then, when farmers start killing themselves, they blame it on "evil grain", and burn effigies.
Things are arguably worse off now between Russia and the West than they were during detente, the period of the Cold War during which there was the most East-West space co-operation. At least then there was the direct acknowledgement of the need for co-operation and peace, and that it could be attained through scientific co-operation. Nowadays, Russia and the West are back in competition mode, and Putin really seems hellbent on pursing a combative foreign policy that shuns internationalism. Say what you will about its merits, but his policies are far more anti-Western than were the policies of Brezhnev at the height of detente (Brezhnev's ulterior motives aside).
Well, even if we accept the premise that Roscosmos lacks funding (dubious), the idea that they'd co-operate with ESA/NASA on a project of this scale, in this political climate, is laughable. I mean, ESA and NASA aren't even working together anymore, at least compared to how they were five years ago, so why would Roscosmos join in? No, it just doesn't make any sense.
Kind of, but not really. The laws of space are so unclear that a lot of people assume that you can do anything you want there, and no one can stop you because it simply isn't Earth. Alas, this isn't the case. SES Americom is an American and, indeed, Earth-based company, and as such is bound by both American and international law, including those regarding patents.
If I were Boeing's lawyers, I'd argue it this way: Boeing has the patent in America. SES (presumably) operates its satellites from America. All the work being done in order to use the patent is being done in America (i.e. reading the procedure, making the calculations, sending directions to the satellite). Ergo, the patent is being used in America, even if the end result of the patent (the 'lunar flyby process') is in space.
What one has to remember is that space is actually pretty tightly bound by national laws. Because no one can say who it belongs to, the Americans just treat it like it's part of America, and the Russians like it's part of Russia. Out of convenience, American companies operating in space are subject to American law, and those of their home states. This is the de facto position, of course, and de jure there really are no laws. Your activities in space are, for legal purposes, domestic activities because you rarely actually act in space; you send orders to objects that tell them to take actions. Even if you were to somehow act illegally in space, if you returned to America you'd be subject to American law, under federal jurisdiction.
It seems to me that you're going to the ends of the earth to find a point of conflict with me. Why? Is Christianity such a horrible idea? Does my practising of it really offend you that much? It seems that the only thing that would make you content is if I simply renounced my beliefs. To me, that puts you in the same camp as those Christians who won't rest until every single soul is "saved": it's a lack of acceptance of any belief but your own.
The way you feel about idiots in your church is the same as other people feel about you. I do not say this to insult you, merely to point out that you have already experienced emotions which are perfectly analogous to those of some non-religious persons who find your core beliefs to be [insert adjective here].
Fair point, but to me that proves that, if anything, I went too hard on the idiots. Where do we draw the line in judging people on their religious beliefs? I say (and I suppose I'm a little biased, but aren't we all?) that you allow people to practice and believe in peace until they start interfering with your ability to practice your faith (or exercise your choice not to). Did I, in saying I was a Christian, impose my views on you? That's absurd, and just doesn't hold water.
It seems to me that you're arguing that choosing a religion is equivalent to choosing a brand of deodorant, and thus, in simply being religious, I am open to criticism. Religion, however, is not a normal choice. That's why it gets special protection- alongside race- in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. People talk about Christianity like it's the Nazi party, like it's this horrible machine that people are indoctrinated into. To me, however, I'm a Christian because I heard the word of God (figuratively- still, probably the most nutjob thing you'll ever hear me say). If you accept that there's a supernatural power out there (which you don't) then you also have to accept that involvement with it is an activity that merits special consideration.
I think it's also pretty interesting to note one more little tidbit from the UDHR:
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. So, TubeSteak, that's why you should respect me.
Atheists come out? Hardly! Reading all the replies to this article, I think the ratio was about 100:1 atheist to theist. On Slash, atheists rule the roost. So, actually, I'm going to come out as a theist.
Hi! I'm not scary, I swear! I don't think you're going to hell, as long as you're nice (i.e. I believe in the idea of the anonymous christian). I believe very strongly in evolution, and I think gays are perfect just the way God made them. However, I am very much a Christian. I have a calling in life, God has given me a task, and I need to follow it. Jesus died for my sins, and- I believe- yours too. He loves us, and when we sin it pisses him off. I don't feel smug, and I think of atheists as my brothers and sisters; we're all in this together. So please, please, please, you guys, don't talk about my religion like it's evil. Sure, when religion gets mixed up with politics it's a terrible mess (viz. Bush/Khameni) and it's caused a lot of problems in the past. Sure, there are a tonne of idiots in my church, and in others, who believe that you're all evil, and so are all the gays, and the Jews, and the Muslim. Sorry some of my people have tried to convert you. Sorry they don't look at science and realize the immense beauty of the way in which God has chosen to bring us into being. Sorry they've killed some of you for your beliefs.
What more can I apologize for? What can I possibly say to make you accept that I know we've done wrong? All I can say is this: when you deride religion, when you say it's "the opiate of the masses" or "the cyanide" as someone else put it, when you mock me for my beliefs, and when you brand me as some fundamentalist nutjob, it really, really hurts. It's not fair to me. It stereotypes, and it shows the same kind of logic that fundamentalists use. If you said "all blacks are criminals, they should go back to Africa", or "homosexuals are girly, they should all just be straight like me" you'd have everyone on your back, berating you for your insensitivity. It's the same thing with theists. Respect us, please, we have the right to practice our faith in peace. And if the fundy brigade comes with their wacko wagon and starts telling you that you're going to hell, and trying to shove a bible down your throat, I'll be right next to you, fighting those assholes off.
Oh man. Flying Newark-Delhi return as I do every 3 months is a nightmare. The return flight is insane. Boarding procedure at Delhi is horrible: there's only one door to the gate, in a corner of the departure hall, and everyone (450-odd people) just crowds around. None of the Continental staff speak Hindi, and they don't have a loudspeaker, so no one can hear. If you're an Elite member (like me) you literally have to push through this impenetrable wall of people to get to the door. No one listens to the staff, and everyone just yells, screams, and act like caged animals (mind you this is everyone, not just Indians: Americans just turn into animals in this situation). By the time you get to the jetway, you're held up again, because security has to search you- mind you, this is a second time, as you've already gone through security once to get into the departure hall. After experiencing all this, I've never complained about boarding procedures anywhere else.
For me, it still exists: Monopolistic Competition. It's like Monopoly, except actually based on economics. I'll spare you the details, but I'm sure if I sat at the kitchen table for a weekend, I'd have all the minutiae figured out and a game fully designed. I think we've all had ideas like this when we were this kid's age, and that he simply got lucky (parental intervention, a grant of $500, the support of some gullible VCs, media coverage). The idea is interesting, but it seems like something I'd see sitting gathering dust on the shelf of the Discovery Store, not catching on and sparking any revolution.
Linux is a great platform, no doubt about it. It's fast, secure, free (in many cases) and is the backbone of much of the web, but... It is not meant for home use. Now, some of you will say "But/I/ use Linux on my home box, and it works for/me/, so it must work for everybody!" but you will be wrong. See, we are smart. We read Slashdot. We know the difference between XML, HTML, and CSS. We build computers, write our own drivers, and contribute to open source projects. We don't run IE. WE ARE THE TECHNO ILLUMINATI. We have unlocked the secret, and we have used it to our full benefit. They (everyone elese) are not so smart. They have trouble understanding the difference between a.exe and a.zip. They haven't seen the command prompt in years. They download Bonzi Buddy and RealPlayer. They are your mom, your little brother, that idiotic little twerp in Marketing who's always phoning you because they accidently switched their keyboard to French. They are idiots. Windows, my friends, is for idiots. There is very little you have to do. To install, you click. To open a window, you click. Everything/usually/ works okay enough that you can complete a task. Windows, contrary to what you may think, works. How else do you think 90-odd percent of the world gets anything done? While Linux may be better, it is not easier. Is there a Linux distro that saves you from ever looking at a terminal? Will I have to type startx to get to a GUI? Can I install things without 'sudo make install...'? "Well, yeah, you'll have to type stuff, but it's still easy!" NO IT'S NOT! It's easy because you've done it all your life. For everybody else, it's very hard. Look out of your ivory tower and see: you are smart, other people aren't. They can't see, and will never see that Linux is the true way. Let them just wallow in their buggy, BSOD-infested swamp: they're not complaining.
Not true:
The slums are no longer full of uneducated illiterates. They contain many high school and some college grads. They have cell phones, suits and ties...etc
But the slum environment just doesn't provide the propper place to develop English skills. The middle clas who are more cosmopolitain speak English with their friends and family, the slum dwellers prefer speaking in their local language (Telegu, for instance) and never have the chance to refine their skills or accents.
I'm Canadian, but I got to school in India. Almost everyone I meet speaks amazing English, with just a little bit of an accent. These are all people who are from Bombay or Bangalore, never left the country before (at least to go as far as North America) and havde really good technical skills. Yet instead of picking the well-educated, English-speaking middle class, these call centres instead hire slum dwellers and give them names like "Frank", and attempt to teach them how to speak like us. This training costs a lot, and is really unproductive. If they made an attempt to seek out my classmates, they'd have to pay them more, but they'd have to invest practically no time in "educating" them- they'd save money and produce a better product!
GAHHHHHH!!! It's so simple, people!!!
At Bathurst subway/streetcar/bus station in Toronto, they play classical (well, baroque actually) music on the PA to keep teenagers away. It seems to work quite well, actually. It's only at that station, and since classical music is only annoying to teens (at least to the point of forcing them from the building) it doesn't trouble other patrons. One caveat: if you (like me) are one of those Classical Punks- who follow their own rules, and wear all the lead-based makeup and penny loafers they want- it doesn't work.
Woman walks up to man with Russian accent sitting in black van: "I'd like to buy an identity"
Man hops out of van, slides open side door, there's just a computer inside. He points at an Excel sheet: "Ahh, yes! I have maaaany identities for sale, veeery cheap! Look at this one, the Silkwood: Visa Classic, SI number, excellent credit rating! It fell off back of truck."
Woman points to computer screen Excel sheet: "No, I want something more powerful. Hmmm... what about that one?"
Man pushes her hand away: "That's the Commando 450, I don't sell that one. Now-"
Woman: "That's what I want! I want the Commando 450!"
Man: "Lady, that one is is too powerfull. Platinum Corporate Amex, it's used in the circus trade to buy elephants!"
Woman: "I'll pay you (takes out wad of cash) this much for it!"
(well, I posted this reply on another article whose tab was open right next to this one's... sorry for the commotion)
According to the decision (just 'cause it's dry and boring doesn't mean everyone shouldn't RTFA):
The district court dismissed the complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, reasoning that electronic bulletin boards are not "in electronic storage," and, thus, are not protected by the SCA.
So that's basically where the case ends. He couldn't sue any of them because all of them committed their actions outside the state, and can't be brought under Floridian jurisdiction because they didn't cause him any physical damage. Furthermore, the court states that since the BBS' servers were located in California, there's really no case a Floridian could argue. Ergo, this case might not hold as much sway as we thought...
According to the decision (just 'cause it's dry and boring doesn't mean everyone shouldn't RTFA):
The district court dismissed the complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6)
of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, reasoning that electronic bulletin boards
are not "in electronic storage," and, thus, are not protected by the SCA.
So that's basically where the case ends. He couldn't sue any of them because all of them committed their actions outside the state, and can't be brought under Floridian jurisdiction because they didn't cause him any physical damage. Furthermore, the court states that since the BBS' servers were located in California, there's really no case a Floridian could argue. Ergo, this case might not hold as much sway as we thought...
I hope that Nintendo won't shy away from M rated games. I believe that the whole controller scheme is so well-geared towards FPS' that it'll be hard to avoid some pretty gorry games (chainsawing zombies will be made so much more immersive...) unless Nintendo forces studios and publishers to stay within the EC-to-T rating threshold. The GC seemed to stay pretty well within that threshold, save Resident Evil and a few others, and that really made it a kids' console. For me, a teenage PC gaming fanboy, I want to want to use the Rev -esp. because of the controller -; but unless there are some games with a Half-Life 2 level of gore, blood and violence, they may just lose a customer.
Slashdot Mirror
"Gnash is not ready for prime time and last I checked, didn't currently work with youtube. Supposedly swfdec does, if you compile the latest build..."
...and that's why "freedom" hasn't caught on with the general public.
Yeah, the CBC just had a very long report on this, including having their 'tech expert' give ideas as to how the media could get around the great firewall. Oddly enough, this year the CBC has been evenly split down the middle, between covering the games' greatness, and covering their awfulness. In past years, there was nothing controversial to report on (unless you count Athens' down-to-the-wire construction schedule.)
Well, they do now. I seem to remember that this option came along a while ago, after I bought my 15" MBP. The standard matte screen got a bunch of blemishes on it, and Apple refused to fix them, so I decided to prevent further damage by adding a (glossy) screen protector. I never really noticed a difference, except more glare. The end result has been no more blemishes, which is why I'll probably stick to glossy from now on. I just like the feeling of a little more protection. Wait. Does it even work that way?
Yes, let's all blame Monsanto for the farmer suicides. After all, it couldn't be a huge, institutionalized problem created by years of government mismanagement? Nope: it's the big bad guy from the West! Wait, well, let's look it over, shall we?
The Indian government, during the "green revolution", convinced huge numbers of ordinary joes to take up farming. The government subsidized their crops, and held a monopoly over them. They then instituted rationing programs across the country. Huge, rousing success. Famines were nearly eliminated. Problem was, it created a huge number of new farmers who used to be auto mechanics, dhobi-wallahs, shopkeepers...etc These guys had never farmed in their lives, and had no experience. Their efficiency rates didn't matter back in the days of the Green Revolution, they just needed to produce anything. Fast forward to now, however, and the problem this created is apparent. The Indian government has opened the market up to international trade, and these farmers can't be competitive. They're competing with Thai and Indonesian farmers who are two to three decades ahead of them in terms of technology, and whose families have been farming for ten generations. So, big problems. What does the Indian government propose? GM seeds! They dole them out by the tonne without explaining that they can't be reseeded (it's not illegal, it's just impossible: the crops can't be replanted). The farmers plant them, get huge yields, go apeshit, take out huge loans, and then go bankrupt when they realize that the have to buy seeds for the next year.
"But ringmaster_j," you say, "isn't that proving that Monsanto is responsible?!?!" No. The crops themselves are not to blame. They have the potential to bring prosperity to the farmers of the Green Revolution, and make India competitive. No, what needs to be seen is the horrible way in which the farmers have been treated by their government. This is a very typical Indian government move: dump tonnes of grain from on high, get elected, move on to the next town. No planning, no advice on how to use the grain, no caveats; just "Apne GM grain he! Vote BJP/Congress/AIADMK/DMK/CPI(M)! Namaskar!" It's horrible. Then, when farmers start killing themselves, they blame it on "evil grain", and burn effigies.
Yours,
-A Canadian Living in India
Things are arguably worse off now between Russia and the West than they were during detente, the period of the Cold War during which there was the most East-West space co-operation. At least then there was the direct acknowledgement of the need for co-operation and peace, and that it could be attained through scientific co-operation. Nowadays, Russia and the West are back in competition mode, and Putin really seems hellbent on pursing a combative foreign policy that shuns internationalism. Say what you will about its merits, but his policies are far more anti-Western than were the policies of Brezhnev at the height of detente (Brezhnev's ulterior motives aside).
Well, even if we accept the premise that Roscosmos lacks funding (dubious), the idea that they'd co-operate with ESA/NASA on a project of this scale, in this political climate, is laughable. I mean, ESA and NASA aren't even working together anymore, at least compared to how they were five years ago, so why would Roscosmos join in? No, it just doesn't make any sense.
Kind of, but not really. The laws of space are so unclear that a lot of people assume that you can do anything you want there, and no one can stop you because it simply isn't Earth. Alas, this isn't the case. SES Americom is an American and, indeed, Earth-based company, and as such is bound by both American and international law, including those regarding patents.
If I were Boeing's lawyers, I'd argue it this way: Boeing has the patent in America. SES (presumably) operates its satellites from America. All the work being done in order to use the patent is being done in America (i.e. reading the procedure, making the calculations, sending directions to the satellite). Ergo, the patent is being used in America, even if the end result of the patent (the 'lunar flyby process') is in space.
What one has to remember is that space is actually pretty tightly bound by national laws. Because no one can say who it belongs to, the Americans just treat it like it's part of America, and the Russians like it's part of Russia. Out of convenience, American companies operating in space are subject to American law, and those of their home states. This is the de facto position, of course, and de jure there really are no laws. Your activities in space are, for legal purposes, domestic activities because you rarely actually act in space; you send orders to objects that tell them to take actions. Even if you were to somehow act illegally in space, if you returned to America you'd be subject to American law, under federal jurisdiction.
Full disclosure? I'm Canadian, not American.
It seems to me that you're going to the ends of the earth to find a point of conflict with me. Why? Is Christianity such a horrible idea? Does my practising of it really offend you that much? It seems that the only thing that would make you content is if I simply renounced my beliefs. To me, that puts you in the same camp as those Christians who won't rest until every single soul is "saved": it's a lack of acceptance of any belief but your own.
Stand by your side? I want to be out in front! I'll be the first one at the podium!
I think it's also pretty interesting to note one more little tidbit from the UDHR: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. So, TubeSteak, that's why you should respect me.
Atheists come out? Hardly! Reading all the replies to this article, I think the ratio was about 100:1 atheist to theist. On Slash, atheists rule the roost. So, actually, I'm going to come out as a theist.
Hi! I'm not scary, I swear! I don't think you're going to hell, as long as you're nice (i.e. I believe in the idea of the anonymous christian). I believe very strongly in evolution, and I think gays are perfect just the way God made them. However, I am very much a Christian. I have a calling in life, God has given me a task, and I need to follow it. Jesus died for my sins, and- I believe- yours too. He loves us, and when we sin it pisses him off. I don't feel smug, and I think of atheists as my brothers and sisters; we're all in this together. So please, please, please, you guys, don't talk about my religion like it's evil. Sure, when religion gets mixed up with politics it's a terrible mess (viz. Bush/Khameni) and it's caused a lot of problems in the past. Sure, there are a tonne of idiots in my church, and in others, who believe that you're all evil, and so are all the gays, and the Jews, and the Muslim. Sorry some of my people have tried to convert you. Sorry they don't look at science and realize the immense beauty of the way in which God has chosen to bring us into being. Sorry they've killed some of you for your beliefs.
What more can I apologize for? What can I possibly say to make you accept that I know we've done wrong? All I can say is this: when you deride religion, when you say it's "the opiate of the masses" or "the cyanide" as someone else put it, when you mock me for my beliefs, and when you brand me as some fundamentalist nutjob, it really, really hurts. It's not fair to me. It stereotypes, and it shows the same kind of logic that fundamentalists use. If you said "all blacks are criminals, they should go back to Africa", or "homosexuals are girly, they should all just be straight like me" you'd have everyone on your back, berating you for your insensitivity. It's the same thing with theists. Respect us, please, we have the right to practice our faith in peace. And if the fundy brigade comes with their wacko wagon and starts telling you that you're going to hell, and trying to shove a bible down your throat, I'll be right next to you, fighting those assholes off.
Oh man. Flying Newark-Delhi return as I do every 3 months is a nightmare. The return flight is insane. Boarding procedure at Delhi is horrible: there's only one door to the gate, in a corner of the departure hall, and everyone (450-odd people) just crowds around. None of the Continental staff speak Hindi, and they don't have a loudspeaker, so no one can hear. If you're an Elite member (like me) you literally have to push through this impenetrable wall of people to get to the door. No one listens to the staff, and everyone just yells, screams, and act like caged animals (mind you this is everyone, not just Indians: Americans just turn into animals in this situation). By the time you get to the jetway, you're held up again, because security has to search you- mind you, this is a second time, as you've already gone through security once to get into the departure hall. After experiencing all this, I've never complained about boarding procedures anywhere else.
A plume of ash covered in a thick layer of ice the size of Wales seems slightly more interesting than Wales itself.
For me, it still exists: Monopolistic Competition. It's like Monopoly, except actually based on economics. I'll spare you the details, but I'm sure if I sat at the kitchen table for a weekend, I'd have all the minutiae figured out and a game fully designed. I think we've all had ideas like this when we were this kid's age, and that he simply got lucky (parental intervention, a grant of $500, the support of some gullible VCs, media coverage). The idea is interesting, but it seems like something I'd see sitting gathering dust on the shelf of the Discovery Store, not catching on and sparking any revolution.
Linux is a great platform, no doubt about it. It's fast, secure, free (in many cases) and is the backbone of much of the web, but... It is not meant for home use. Now, some of you will say "But /I/ use Linux on my home box, and it works for /me/, so it must work for everybody!" but you will be wrong. See, we are smart. We read Slashdot. We know the difference between XML, HTML, and CSS. We build computers, write our own drivers, and contribute to open source projects. We don't run IE. WE ARE THE TECHNO ILLUMINATI. We have unlocked the secret, and we have used it to our full benefit. They (everyone elese) are not so smart. They have trouble understanding the difference between a .exe and a .zip. They haven't seen the command prompt in years. They download Bonzi Buddy and RealPlayer. They are your mom, your little brother, that idiotic little twerp in Marketing who's always phoning you because they accidently switched their keyboard to French. They are idiots. Windows, my friends, is for idiots. There is very little you have to do. To install, you click. To open a window, you click. Everything /usually/ works okay enough that you can complete a task. Windows, contrary to what you may think, works. How else do you think 90-odd percent of the world gets anything done? While Linux may be better, it is not easier. Is there a Linux distro that saves you from ever looking at a terminal? Will I have to type startx to get to a GUI? Can I install things without 'sudo make install...'? "Well, yeah, you'll have to type stuff, but it's still easy!" NO IT'S NOT! It's easy because you've done it all your life. For everybody else, it's very hard. Look out of your ivory tower and see: you are smart, other people aren't. They can't see, and will never see that Linux is the true way. Let them just wallow in their buggy, BSOD-infested swamp: they're not complaining.
Not true: The slums are no longer full of uneducated illiterates. They contain many high school and some college grads. They have cell phones, suits and ties...etc But the slum environment just doesn't provide the propper place to develop English skills. The middle clas who are more cosmopolitain speak English with their friends and family, the slum dwellers prefer speaking in their local language (Telegu, for instance) and never have the chance to refine their skills or accents.
I'm Canadian, but I got to school in India. Almost everyone I meet speaks amazing English, with just a little bit of an accent. These are all people who are from Bombay or Bangalore, never left the country before (at least to go as far as North America) and havde really good technical skills. Yet instead of picking the well-educated, English-speaking middle class, these call centres instead hire slum dwellers and give them names like "Frank", and attempt to teach them how to speak like us. This training costs a lot, and is really unproductive. If they made an attempt to seek out my classmates, they'd have to pay them more, but they'd have to invest practically no time in "educating" them- they'd save money and produce a better product! GAHHHHHH!!! It's so simple, people!!!
At Bathurst subway/streetcar/bus station in Toronto, they play classical (well, baroque actually) music on the PA to keep teenagers away. It seems to work quite well, actually. It's only at that station, and since classical music is only annoying to teens (at least to the point of forcing them from the building) it doesn't trouble other patrons. One caveat: if you (like me) are one of those Classical Punks- who follow their own rules, and wear all the lead-based makeup and penny loafers they want- it doesn't work.
Woman walks up to man with Russian accent sitting in black van: "I'd like to buy an identity" Man hops out of van, slides open side door, there's just a computer inside. He points at an Excel sheet: "Ahh, yes! I have maaaany identities for sale, veeery cheap! Look at this one, the Silkwood: Visa Classic, SI number, excellent credit rating! It fell off back of truck." Woman points to computer screen Excel sheet: "No, I want something more powerful. Hmmm... what about that one?" Man pushes her hand away: "That's the Commando 450, I don't sell that one. Now-" Woman: "That's what I want! I want the Commando 450!" Man: "Lady, that one is is too powerfull. Platinum Corporate Amex, it's used in the circus trade to buy elephants!" Woman: "I'll pay you (takes out wad of cash) this much for it!"
Brought to you by Fishy Joe's: Ride the Walrus!
I hope that Nintendo won't shy away from M rated games. I believe that the whole controller scheme is so well-geared towards FPS' that it'll be hard to avoid some pretty gorry games (chainsawing zombies will be made so much more immersive...) unless Nintendo forces studios and publishers to stay within the EC-to-T rating threshold. The GC seemed to stay pretty well within that threshold, save Resident Evil and a few others, and that really made it a kids' console. For me, a teenage PC gaming fanboy, I want to want to use the Rev -esp. because of the controller -; but unless there are some games with a Half-Life 2 level of gore, blood and violence, they may just lose a customer.
...it's called the Medusa, made by a company called Speed-Link. Tom's Hardware did a review of them a while back. They have 5.1 surround built-in (i.e. there are 3 drivers in each cup) and have a very good mic. Here's the review: http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/07/14/headsets_ga mers_can_love/page2.html
and the product page: http://www.speed-link.de/prod.php?lang=en&sys_id=8 &pb_id=8&prod_num=SL-8790
Note that THG was doing a comparison of gaming headsets, and the Medusa came out on top.