You mean the PowerMacs? The only Mac with an upgradeable graphics card?
Yeah, the desktop Macs. The only ones with a form factor even capable of having a new video card put in. You don't usually throw a high end 3d card in your laptop or 6.5"x6.5" form factor mini PC...
Apple's computers may do well for the "Nintendo" type games, quirky games that aren't designed for the highest triangle rates but rather just being plain fun
You're portraying that as a fault, a negative item. Honestly, I'm all for fun games, rather than flashy but shitty games *cough*Doom3*cough*UT2039*cough*anythingonFileplan et'sfrontpage*cough*... Coincidentally I have been playing System Shock 2 for the past couple weeks, and I'm finding it far more enjoyable than any game I've played in the past few years other than Halo 2. Actually, most other [PC/console] gamers I talk to say the same thing when they bust out an older game - "wow, I wish new games were like this"...
And for the record, I've been using a high end gaming-oriented PC for the past 5 years, and only recently bought a Mac about 4 months ago. Two actually, first one for my band, and the second one because I thought the first one was that damn good. heh.
"DX is better than OGL." Why? Are you aware that id Software still has full OpenGL rendering options in even their most recent games? Even when they are writing for Windows, they avoid locking themselves into Microsoft's proprietary system by continuining to embrace a more open and platform-independent API.
"OGL gives you 5% of the computer market" Every single desktop computer and 3d card made in the last what, 5/6/7/8+ years supports OpenGL...
That is a really crazy comment to read when I literally just installed a copy of System Shock 2 last week, having never played it before... and it's amazing that you guys didn't get rich as hell off this game. It's awesome in every sense of the word.
However this is exactly what I wish more companies could say: "Because we had a great team that had made some great games, and we were in the process of making even better ones. Not because we were money-grubbing pigs." That very attitude produced a totally influential game that still has a very strong cult following. People are excited as hell about BioShock...
Anyway, honestly, I hope everyone there felt like it was worth it, despite the loss of the company. I hope the doors closed with everyone thinking "that was fucking awesome, I don't regret a second of it", because to me that has far greater value than any kind of commercial success.
Wow. A company interested in making money? Who knew! I don't even like corporations (or capitalism for that matter) and I understand this concept.
Heh, give me some credit man. I'm making a realistic & reasonable criticism: that companies sacrifice nearly all values that don't directly involve profit.
I am fully aware that companies need to make money, and make profits, and grow/expand.
However, this doesn't mean it's neccesary to sacrifice subtle qualities like cross-platform development, quality user experience, etc. etc. and yet it still happens. Companies just don't care unless it's a guaranteed moneymaker.
Whatever happened to companies having some founding values, like producing really cool games that are depthful, exciting and bring a new gaming experience to the table? This is the point I'm trying to make.:)
Yeah but that's because today's 3d cards are geared towards DirectX optimization because supposedly DirectX rules the world or whatever, while OpenGL is just a "standard" they keep in line with. OpenGL is considered pretty "secondary" and thus doesn't get the special treatment on video cards from ATI and Nvidia...
Well, the whole idea of "porting to Mac" is flawed to begin with.
Software should be developed to run on numerous platforms from day one.
Take a look at Halo. The port from Xbox -> PC was painful. Very painful. Then they ported PC -> Mac. So that's two layers of fitting a square peg into a round hole. Well actually, the worst part is that Halo really started out on Mac OS... but that's a whole different story...
Anyway, Mac games have a really bad rep for being slow/laggy, and it's 100% because all our games are ported from Windows versions! Essentially every time a game is released from the start for both Mac & Windows, the games run great.
It's even worse that the vast majority (95%?) of the time, the company porting the game to Mac OS is not the same company that developed the original Windows version...
Macs are 100% capable of running all the latest games, and doing it well. Hell, these days they are basically a typical x86 machine with a totally ideal OS. You can get the most recent powerful video cards no problem, so it's not like performance is an issue, especially considering that every new Mac has a cutting edge Intel CPU in it (other than the G5s).
It would be nice if, for example, developers would use OpenGL more often considering it's actually the only reasonably cross-platform 3d API that has fairly widespread acceptance. I can't understand why companies willfully lock themselves into a Fisher-Price platform just because all the kiddies use it. It's frustrating as hell to me that game development companies are so shallow that literally all they care about is what will make them money.
I guess I'm just too idealistic in imagining a world where software is written with adherence to cross-platform standards, where people can run the same pieces of software regardless of what platform they prefer.
I shouldn't have to be locked out of huge portions of the software industry because I purchase the computers that work best for me. Unfortunately, it seems that "those who make the decisions" don't agree with that sentiment at all.
'electronic bulletin boards are not "in electronic storage," and, thus, are not protected by the SCA.'
Uh, so, are they in some kind of as-yet-undiscovered electronic void, or something? What else would you call a bunch of PHP/ASP scripts sitting on a web server? That's pretty fucking "electronic", and I think a computer's hard drive is generally accepted to be "storage", too. Maybe even electronic storage.
Seriously, files/scripts/databases on a website are 100% in electronic storage. There is absolutely NOTHING about that description that doesn't apply.
In fact, even if they somehow arbitrarily didn't consider files on a website to be "in electronic storage", which appears to be what has happened, there's also the fact that essentially all forums store their posts in a database such as MySQL, MS SQL, Oracle, etc.... Oh, but I guess databases somehow don't count as "electronic storage", either..??
I have like fifteen small 1-4gb HDs I've bought from a local thrift store over the years... perfect for small gaming/linux/workstation systems and so on... You don't need an 80gb 7200rpm 8mb cache drive for ALL computers..;)
No, even selecting the actual menu item doesn't work. It selects just fine, and the menu item blinks completely normally, but the app just doesn't do anything.
When it's working properly, all windows of the app hide as expected, just as any other app behaves when you "Hide [this app]"
The only 3rd party software I have installed that is actually running is "Little Snitch", which acts as a simple firewall so apps can't get net connectivity without my explicit authorization. My Mac is an audio production workstation so Adium is actually currently the only non-audio software I've got on here. Oh and I guess I'm using a firewire audio interface, maybe the driver for that is causing Adium to intermittently not hide upon cmd-h..;) hehe
nah it's Adium, and actually the problem is intermittent, sometimes cmd-H works, sometimes it doesn't.
My system is a brand new Mac Mini x86 with essentially no 3rd party software on it at all, so I'm kinda like "wtf", especially when the guys are basically disregarding the issue. heh:\
I recently submitted a bug report for an open source IM program for Mac OS X. The "Hide this program" key-command wasn't working (the command just hides your frontmost app and brings the underneath app to the front).
A previous user had reported this exact same bug some months ago. The developers' responses?
-"Works for me, both trough shortcuts and menu. 100% sure you pressed cmd?" -"Also works for me. Mac OS X 10.4.5 PPC." -resolution set to worksforme.
No kidding. So this was a few months ago, and the issue is now "closed". The bug wasn't fixed, or even really acknowledged. Apparently the bug doesn't exist, because two of the software developers didn't experience it themselves. Honestly, I'm wondering if maybe they expect some kind of proof in the form of cryptic debugging data...
So anyways, I just entered my own report a couple nights ago when I experienced the problem and couldn't figure out how to resolve it. By the morning, my report was answered:
Even worse, Word.Docs contain huge amounts of "history" in them.
I have, many times, opened project scope documents (obviously having been based off of older docs) and seen the private/confidential project details of past clients (to the extent of specific dollar amounts etc.)... All because Word, behind the scenes, tracks your changes as some kind of "convenience"...
I'm sure you can turn off that option, but just consider the technical knowledge of the average marketing/sales person in the office...
In a small business without some strict & exact security policies, it's obviously very easy for default settings like these to exist completely unnoticed for years (no one noticed until I was like WTF when I joined the company)...
"In Civil War, hero is pitted against hero in the choice of whether or not to side with the government, [...] as Superheroes are ordered to register as human WMDs or be branded fugitives."
Of course, we all know they'll do The Right Thing(tm).
No... I'm not cynical about all my favorite comics, movies etc. being ruined by politically-correct mediocrity...;)
My bank already does this, but it's not going to prevent social engineering in any manner. All that really does is prevent a person from posing as a *customer*.
However, that's a pretty amateur (and often minimally effective) way to social engineer some information out of a company employee. Did you look at the links I posted? It's far more likely that someone would pose as an employee of another department at the same company, or even a higher-up from "the head office in New York", for example. Think about it, an employee isn't going to give out any useful info to someone they think is a "lowly customer" outside of the company. If they think it's the technical director from the head office 500 miles away, obviously it's a very different situation.
To further my point: "Social engineering is successful because the malevolent person attempting to get information (or access) preys upon the good, helpful nature of unknowing and unsuspecting employees."
"In larger organizations, an intruder may pretend to be a fellow employee who needs access because his system is down."
"One trick is for a person to pose as a network troubleshooter who needs an ID and password to verify that a problem on the network is fixed and won't recur"
Slashdot Mirror
You mean the PowerMacs? The only Mac with an upgradeable graphics card?
n et'sfrontpage*cough* ... Coincidentally I have been playing System Shock 2 for the past couple weeks, and I'm finding it far more enjoyable than any game I've played in the past few years other than Halo 2. Actually, most other [PC/console] gamers I talk to say the same thing when they bust out an older game - "wow, I wish new games were like this"...
Yeah, the desktop Macs. The only ones with a form factor even capable of having a new video card put in. You don't usually throw a high end 3d card in your laptop or 6.5"x6.5" form factor mini PC...
Apple's computers may do well for the "Nintendo" type games, quirky games that aren't designed for the highest triangle rates but rather just being plain fun
You're portraying that as a fault, a negative item. Honestly, I'm all for fun games, rather than flashy but shitty games *cough*Doom3*cough*UT2039*cough*anythingonFilepla
And for the record, I've been using a high end gaming-oriented PC for the past 5 years, and only recently bought a Mac about 4 months ago. Two actually, first one for my band, and the second one because I thought the first one was that damn good. heh.
"DX is better than OGL."
Why? Are you aware that id Software still has full OpenGL rendering options in even their most recent games? Even when they are writing for Windows, they avoid locking themselves into Microsoft's proprietary system by continuining to embrace a more open and platform-independent API.
"OGL gives you 5% of the computer market"
Every single desktop computer and 3d card made in the last what, 5/6/7/8+ years supports OpenGL...
BTW, an interesting read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct3D_vs._OpenGL
That is a really crazy comment to read when I literally just installed a copy of System Shock 2 last week, having never played it before... and it's amazing that you guys didn't get rich as hell off this game. It's awesome in every sense of the word.
However this is exactly what I wish more companies could say: "Because we had a great team that had made some great games, and we were in the process of making even better ones. Not because we were money-grubbing pigs." That very attitude produced a totally influential game that still has a very strong cult following. People are excited as hell about BioShock...
Anyway, honestly, I hope everyone there felt like it was worth it, despite the loss of the company. I hope the doors closed with everyone thinking "that was fucking awesome, I don't regret a second of it", because to me that has far greater value than any kind of commercial success.
Wow. A company interested in making money? Who knew! I don't even like corporations (or capitalism for that matter) and I understand this concept.
:)
Heh, give me some credit man. I'm making a realistic & reasonable criticism: that companies sacrifice nearly all values that don't directly involve profit.
I am fully aware that companies need to make money, and make profits, and grow/expand.
However, this doesn't mean it's neccesary to sacrifice subtle qualities like cross-platform development, quality user experience, etc. etc. and yet it still happens. Companies just don't care unless it's a guaranteed moneymaker.
Whatever happened to companies having some founding values, like producing really cool games that are depthful, exciting and bring a new gaming experience to the table? This is the point I'm trying to make.
Yeah but that's because today's 3d cards are geared towards DirectX optimization because supposedly DirectX rules the world or whatever, while OpenGL is just a "standard" they keep in line with. OpenGL is considered pretty "secondary" and thus doesn't get the special treatment on video cards from ATI and Nvidia...
Well, the whole idea of "porting to Mac" is flawed to begin with.
Software should be developed to run on numerous platforms from day one.
Take a look at Halo. The port from Xbox -> PC was painful. Very painful. Then they ported PC -> Mac. So that's two layers of fitting a square peg into a round hole. Well actually, the worst part is that Halo really started out on Mac OS... but that's a whole different story...
Anyway, Mac games have a really bad rep for being slow/laggy, and it's 100% because all our games are ported from Windows versions! Essentially every time a game is released from the start for both Mac & Windows, the games run great.
It's even worse that the vast majority (95%?) of the time, the company porting the game to Mac OS is not the same company that developed the original Windows version...
Do these iPod vending machines remind anyone else of the Replicators (vending machines) in System Shock 2? hehehe... ;)
I can relate to what this guy is saying.
Macs are 100% capable of running all the latest games, and doing it well. Hell, these days they are basically a typical x86 machine with a totally ideal OS. You can get the most recent powerful video cards no problem, so it's not like performance is an issue, especially considering that every new Mac has a cutting edge Intel CPU in it (other than the G5s).
It would be nice if, for example, developers would use OpenGL more often considering it's actually the only reasonably cross-platform 3d API that has fairly widespread acceptance. I can't understand why companies willfully lock themselves into a Fisher-Price platform just because all the kiddies use it. It's frustrating as hell to me that game development companies are so shallow that literally all they care about is what will make them money.
I guess I'm just too idealistic in imagining a world where software is written with adherence to cross-platform standards, where people can run the same pieces of software regardless of what platform they prefer.
I shouldn't have to be locked out of huge portions of the software industry because I purchase the computers that work best for me. Unfortunately, it seems that "those who make the decisions" don't agree with that sentiment at all.
'electronic bulletin boards are not "in electronic storage," and, thus, are not protected by the SCA.'
... Oh, but I guess databases somehow don't count as "electronic storage", either..??
Uh, so, are they in some kind of as-yet-undiscovered electronic void, or something? What else would you call a bunch of PHP/ASP scripts sitting on a web server? That's pretty fucking "electronic", and I think a computer's hard drive is generally accepted to be "storage", too. Maybe even electronic storage.
Seriously, files/scripts/databases on a website are 100% in electronic storage. There is absolutely NOTHING about that description that doesn't apply.
In fact, even if they somehow arbitrarily didn't consider files on a website to be "in electronic storage", which appears to be what has happened, there's also the fact that essentially all forums store their posts in a database such as MySQL, MS SQL, Oracle, etc.
"As it stands right now we have no way to defend against these lawsuits"
No shit. That's the whole point. You fucked up. You're now liable for some serious legal action. GJ HF TTYL ^_^
Is it just me, or is it getting fucking old hearing about huge corporations avoiding responsibility for anything at all costs?
Well, considering just about all Windoze apps point to My Documents by default when you choose "Save"... ;)
I have like fifteen small 1-4gb HDs I've bought from a local thrift store over the years... perfect for small gaming/linux/workstation systems and so on... You don't need an 80gb 7200rpm 8mb cache drive for ALL computers.. ;)
You're new here, aren't you? ;)
No, even selecting the actual menu item doesn't work. It selects just fine, and the menu item blinks completely normally, but the app just doesn't do anything.
When it's working properly, all windows of the app hide as expected, just as any other app behaves when you "Hide [this app]"
The only 3rd party software I have installed that is actually running is "Little Snitch", which acts as a simple firewall so apps can't get net connectivity without my explicit authorization. My Mac is an audio production workstation so Adium is actually currently the only non-audio software I've got on here. Oh and I guess I'm using a firewire audio interface, maybe the driver for that is causing Adium to intermittently not hide upon cmd-h.. ;) hehe
ROFL dude, just harsh lolled at that, got a couple stares from coworkers... hehehe
nah it's Adium, and actually the problem is intermittent, sometimes cmd-H works, sometimes it doesn't.
:\
My system is a brand new Mac Mini x86 with essentially no 3rd party software on it at all, so I'm kinda like "wtf", especially when the guys are basically disregarding the issue. heh
Dude, this is so true it's almost saddening...
I recently submitted a bug report for an open source IM program for Mac OS X. The "Hide this program" key-command wasn't working (the command just hides your frontmost app and brings the underneath app to the front).
A previous user had reported this exact same bug some months ago. The developers' responses?
-"Works for me, both trough shortcuts and menu. 100% sure you pressed cmd?"
-"Also works for me. Mac OS X 10.4.5 PPC."
-resolution set to worksforme.
No kidding. So this was a few months ago, and the issue is now "closed". The bug wasn't fixed, or even really acknowledged. Apparently the bug doesn't exist, because two of the software developers didn't experience it themselves. Honestly, I'm wondering if maybe they expect some kind of proof in the form of cryptic debugging data...
So anyways, I just entered my own report a couple nights ago when I experienced the problem and couldn't figure out how to resolve it. By the morning, my report was answered:
-"Works for me in svn"
Sweet, thanks guys. *sigh*
But will that meet the system requirements for Duke Nukem Forever?
Even worse, Word .Docs contain huge amounts of "history" in them.
I have, many times, opened project scope documents (obviously having been based off of older docs) and seen the private/confidential project details of past clients (to the extent of specific dollar amounts etc.)... All because Word, behind the scenes, tracks your changes as some kind of "convenience"...
I'm sure you can turn off that option, but just consider the technical knowledge of the average marketing/sales person in the office...
In a small business without some strict & exact security policies, it's obviously very easy for default settings like these to exist completely unnoticed for years (no one noticed until I was like WTF when I joined the company)...
heh. "Your DNS server at [xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx] has a problem and must be upgraded."
Sounds like a popup banner I would close immediately without thinking twice about...
Dude. DiaryLand.
"In Civil War, hero is pitted against hero in the choice of whether or not to side with the government, [...] as Superheroes are ordered to register as human WMDs or be branded fugitives."
;)
Of course, we all know they'll do The Right Thing(tm).
No... I'm not cynical about all my favorite comics, movies etc. being ruined by politically-correct mediocrity...
My bank already does this, but it's not going to prevent social engineering in any manner. All that really does is prevent a person from posing as a *customer*.
However, that's a pretty amateur (and often minimally effective) way to social engineer some information out of a company employee. Did you look at the links I posted? It's far more likely that someone would pose as an employee of another department at the same company, or even a higher-up from "the head office in New York", for example. Think about it, an employee isn't going to give out any useful info to someone they think is a "lowly customer" outside of the company. If they think it's the technical director from the head office 500 miles away, obviously it's a very different situation.
To further my point: "Social engineering is successful because the malevolent person attempting to get information (or access) preys upon the good, helpful nature of unknowing and unsuspecting employees."
"In larger organizations, an intruder may pretend to be a fellow employee who needs access because his system is down."
"One trick is for a person to pose as a network troubleshooter who needs an ID and password to verify that a problem on the network is fixed and won't recur"
"We know that many player's are eager for this service to be implemented"
Hmmm.. "We know that many player is are eager for this service to be implemented"?
I see... it makes perfect sense.
On a more serious note, you'd think a company as "big" as Blizzard would catch such an error...