...and make $600 million. I always hated IGN and their half-hearted attempt to make a games site for each and every game that comes out. Nothing could compare to a site made by a dedicated fan, such as Shlonglor's Warcraft 2 page, which was built before this gamespy/ign/daily radar/plan revolution.
Interesting, I was about to flame you when I happened upon this. It appears that it used to be required to use the apostrophe when pluralizing acronyms, but now it is accepted to not use the apostrophe unless the acronym itself already contains punctuation.
In response to #1, I want to read books on the computer. I recently purchased the second edition of Code Complete, and would love to be able to read it while at work instead of having to wait until I get home to read it. It would be much easier to covertly be reading the book on a computer screen while programming rather than be sitting at my desk obviously reading a book. Would be much more productive than reading Slashdot.
If e-books were freely available online, it would be advantageous for the end user to purchase a PDA to load the books on and read. All the portability advantages of a normal book, only real downside is that when the batteries run down you have to charge up to continue reading. Having the ability to load almost any book in existence on the device and being able to read it would make up for the downside.
As for #2, I can argue that not all books are available for free rental from the library. For new releases, if they are bestsellers then you have to spend months on a waiting list to get your copy, and if they are obscure or specific to a particular field, like the latest edition of Code Complete, odds are your library doesn't have it and won't until you go in and request it. I'd feel bad making my library spend hundreds of dollars on overpriced computer books.
The stock market can't go poof in one day? If you think we're invulnerable now, just think what would happen if we ran out of oil, not to mention any of several other catastrophe scenarios. And at 22 years old, you know everything there is about life and finances. I'm 24, but I could see how a 30 year old might have problems saving money. Just imagine your current financial situation + supporting 2 kids; even worse: a divorce. I'm not saying that it's dumb to save for retirement, but the idea of not saving for retirement also has its supporters.
While we're bashing Real for being intrusive... does anyone know why Firefox insists on re-creating its icons whenever you install an update? I have Firefox defined to launch on a hotkey; I don't need a desktop icon, a quickbar icon, and a start menu group for it.
Why not? Speaking as someone who has recently upgraded from a Honda Civic to a Ford Escape, I gotta say, going back to the Civic is like getting in a go-kart. By "grown man", I believe the grandparent to this post was saying that thanks to cow growth hormones, many American men are getting to be well over 6 feet tall, and that cramming yourself into a Civic once you get to that height is self-induced torture. The way this country is built, you can't live and work in a city because the land and taxes are so expensive that either you can't afford to live there or your company can't afford to have a shop there, especially in a field such as computer programming where you are viewed as a resource rather than an asset. As a result, companies migrate their operations to the suburbs, and you can never really live some place where throughout the course of your career as you switch jobs you are close enough to your job that what you drive doesn't make a difference, or doesn't come into play because you have public transportation, walking, or bike riding (and try bike riding in the winter for 90% of the country). Not to mention, a lot of the malls and movie theaters are being built out where the land is cheapest, so you always will need a car for certain things.
If you are going to spend 1 to 2 hours a day sitting in a car, just to go to work for the system, you might as well treat yourself to a comfortable way of doing so. What other comforts do we allow ourselves in this world? You are saving money, but at what cost to your mental health? It's not your fault that the country is so fucked up in how it places everything. Everyone has to look out for themselves.
I realize that slashdot is an international community, so what I've said probably doesn't apply to Europe or Asia where things were designed by sane people who like to cooperate with each other and not cowboys constantly trying to dick everyone else over for money. Don't worry, our idealism will continue to spread. I also realize no one is ever going to read this because this article is so old, but whatever.
If you can afford HDTV, then $250 for a video card is probably not going to break the bank for you. If you're just recording SDTV, you can get away with a much cheaper solution.
Ha! We all know that ninjas are better and smarter than pirates. The average ninja has an IQ 50 points higher than the average pirate, plus they can flip out and kill people! They cut off people's heads all the time without even thinking about it. Therefore, ninjas are way better than pirates. QED.
I'd like to add a corrollary that it's not just through theft that technology is cutting in on entertainment industry profits (and "stabbing them in the eye"), but it is also by lowering the barriers to entry. There is no need for an RIAA when all you have to do to make a record is get $5,000 for studio time, rip the songs to MP3, and set up a web site to distribute the music (or go through iTunes, Napster, or a similar channel). It will be a while still before the independent filmmaker can do the same, although we have seen some very successful independent films in recent years.
Is it worth enforcing Draconian laws, eliminating the right to privacy of the common man, spending millions of taxpayer dollars, etc. in order to enforce an unpopular law so that film studios can make even more money on something so non-essential to life, all the while abusing their position of power to overcharge consumers?
Why does it make sense that popular athletes, actors, and musicians make hundreds of millions of dollars while scientists researching diseases and solutions to the energy crisis make far less and risk having their research sent overseas to be done for even less money? We wouldn't be in this situation if people had an alternative to the **AA conglomerates. Is a movie or music CD that costs less than $2 to print really worth $30 or $15? Is it really worth $10 a ticket to go to a movie theater? Is it worth close to $100 to go to an NFL game? We pay way too much for entertainment and I feel that thanks to technology, we can finally drive a spear through the eye of the entertainment industry.
"D) With a tiny amount of planning at the beginning of a project, and using the correct cross-platform libraries, making a game run both on linux and windows is an essentially negligible problem."
Nevermind the added testing required, the unexplicable differences in behavior between both platforms, and having to reduce design decisions to the lowest common denominator amongst all platforms.
Game development should be about making a great game, not winning some political battle.
I know I'll get modded troll for this, but I hate gamers that insist upon there being a Linux version. I can't think of a greater waste of game developer resources than providing a version of the game that runs on the same exact hardware but under a different OS. Yes, Linux is great and all, and we all want to see it become the next desktop platform, but is it too much to ask for you to either dual boot Windows or have a separate box for your Wintendo? I'd rather see the game developer focus more on making a quality game than have a lesser game that is cross-platform.
I call troll. Civilization is one of the most popular games ever, and it only makes sense that they release a Mac version. It may be slightly delayed after the PC version, but I see no reason why they wouldn't follow suit with Civ4 for Mac.
Slashdot Mirror
...and make $600 million. I always hated IGN and their half-hearted attempt to make a games site for each and every game that comes out. Nothing could compare to a site made by a dedicated fan, such as Shlonglor's Warcraft 2 page, which was built before this gamespy/ign/daily radar/plan revolution.
Interesting, I was about to flame you when I happened upon this. It appears that it used to be required to use the apostrophe when pluralizing acronyms, but now it is accepted to not use the apostrophe unless the acronym itself already contains punctuation.
When did they change that rule?
In response to #1, I want to read books on the computer. I recently purchased the second edition of Code Complete, and would love to be able to read it while at work instead of having to wait until I get home to read it. It would be much easier to covertly be reading the book on a computer screen while programming rather than be sitting at my desk obviously reading a book. Would be much more productive than reading Slashdot.
If e-books were freely available online, it would be advantageous for the end user to purchase a PDA to load the books on and read. All the portability advantages of a normal book, only real downside is that when the batteries run down you have to charge up to continue reading. Having the ability to load almost any book in existence on the device and being able to read it would make up for the downside.
As for #2, I can argue that not all books are available for free rental from the library. For new releases, if they are bestsellers then you have to spend months on a waiting list to get your copy, and if they are obscure or specific to a particular field, like the latest edition of Code Complete, odds are your library doesn't have it and won't until you go in and request it. I'd feel bad making my library spend hundreds of dollars on overpriced computer books.
No, but you CAN apply the CAN-SPAM act, which is aptly named.
How did you manage to hit submit after you got disconnected? I don't get it. :-(
The stock market can't go poof in one day? If you think we're invulnerable now, just think what would happen if we ran out of oil, not to mention any of several other catastrophe scenarios. And at 22 years old, you know everything there is about life and finances. I'm 24, but I could see how a 30 year old might have problems saving money. Just imagine your current financial situation + supporting 2 kids; even worse: a divorce. I'm not saying that it's dumb to save for retirement, but the idea of not saving for retirement also has its supporters.
While we're bashing Real for being intrusive... does anyone know why Firefox insists on re-creating its icons whenever you install an update? I have Firefox defined to launch on a hotkey; I don't need a desktop icon, a quickbar icon, and a start menu group for it.
What about the Windows developers working on Java? :-P
Care to divulge which Bach corale the song is similar to? I have some classically-trained musician friends that I would like to have some fun with...
Or, better yet, if they can correctly spell "metaphor".
...or maybe it's just all the blow they are doing.
Why not? Speaking as someone who has recently upgraded from a Honda Civic to a Ford Escape, I gotta say, going back to the Civic is like getting in a go-kart. By "grown man", I believe the grandparent to this post was saying that thanks to cow growth hormones, many American men are getting to be well over 6 feet tall, and that cramming yourself into a Civic once you get to that height is self-induced torture. The way this country is built, you can't live and work in a city because the land and taxes are so expensive that either you can't afford to live there or your company can't afford to have a shop there, especially in a field such as computer programming where you are viewed as a resource rather than an asset. As a result, companies migrate their operations to the suburbs, and you can never really live some place where throughout the course of your career as you switch jobs you are close enough to your job that what you drive doesn't make a difference, or doesn't come into play because you have public transportation, walking, or bike riding (and try bike riding in the winter for 90% of the country). Not to mention, a lot of the malls and movie theaters are being built out where the land is cheapest, so you always will need a car for certain things.
If you are going to spend 1 to 2 hours a day sitting in a car, just to go to work for the system, you might as well treat yourself to a comfortable way of doing so. What other comforts do we allow ourselves in this world? You are saving money, but at what cost to your mental health? It's not your fault that the country is so fucked up in how it places everything. Everyone has to look out for themselves.
I realize that slashdot is an international community, so what I've said probably doesn't apply to Europe or Asia where things were designed by sane people who like to cooperate with each other and not cowboys constantly trying to dick everyone else over for money. Don't worry, our idealism will continue to spread. I also realize no one is ever going to read this because this article is so old, but whatever.
If you can afford HDTV, then $250 for a video card is probably not going to break the bank for you. If you're just recording SDTV, you can get away with a much cheaper solution.
Great for home theater since it's silent.
Or you can just buy a cheap old 2D card with no 3D acceleration since all you are doing is rendering video!
Pirates may run Linux, but ninjas run OpenBSD, therefore they are even smarter!
Ha! We all know that ninjas are better and smarter than pirates. The average ninja has an IQ 50 points higher than the average pirate, plus they can flip out and kill people! They cut off people's heads all the time without even thinking about it. Therefore, ninjas are way better than pirates. QED.
I code like I'm homeless!
I'd like to add a corrollary that it's not just through theft that technology is cutting in on entertainment industry profits (and "stabbing them in the eye"), but it is also by lowering the barriers to entry. There is no need for an RIAA when all you have to do to make a record is get $5,000 for studio time, rip the songs to MP3, and set up a web site to distribute the music (or go through iTunes, Napster, or a similar channel). It will be a while still before the independent filmmaker can do the same, although we have seen some very successful independent films in recent years.
I can't do any of those things because the barrier of entry is too high due to the practices of aforementioned conglomerates.
Maybe people should stop stealing from them when they stop price fixing.
Is it worth enforcing Draconian laws, eliminating the right to privacy of the common man, spending millions of taxpayer dollars, etc. in order to enforce an unpopular law so that film studios can make even more money on something so non-essential to life, all the while abusing their position of power to overcharge consumers?
Why does it make sense that popular athletes, actors, and musicians make hundreds of millions of dollars while scientists researching diseases and solutions to the energy crisis make far less and risk having their research sent overseas to be done for even less money? We wouldn't be in this situation if people had an alternative to the **AA conglomerates. Is a movie or music CD that costs less than $2 to print really worth $30 or $15? Is it really worth $10 a ticket to go to a movie theater? Is it worth close to $100 to go to an NFL game? We pay way too much for entertainment and I feel that thanks to technology, we can finally drive a spear through the eye of the entertainment industry.
I believe the submitter was being sarcastic as $380 million is a lot of money to make in spite of the losses suffered from piracy.
"D) With a tiny amount of planning at the beginning of a project, and using the correct cross-platform libraries, making a game run both on linux and windows is an essentially negligible problem."
Nevermind the added testing required, the unexplicable differences in behavior between both platforms, and having to reduce design decisions to the lowest common denominator amongst all platforms.
Game development should be about making a great game, not winning some political battle.
I know I'll get modded troll for this, but I hate gamers that insist upon there being a Linux version. I can't think of a greater waste of game developer resources than providing a version of the game that runs on the same exact hardware but under a different OS. Yes, Linux is great and all, and we all want to see it become the next desktop platform, but is it too much to ask for you to either dual boot Windows or have a separate box for your Wintendo? I'd rather see the game developer focus more on making a quality game than have a lesser game that is cross-platform.
I call troll. Civilization is one of the most popular games ever, and it only makes sense that they release a Mac version. It may be slightly delayed after the PC version, but I see no reason why they wouldn't follow suit with Civ4 for Mac.
"it seems like you're developing AI for an RPG."
Awe, you sound like Clippy when you talk like that!