I wasn't aware that AOL by itself provides broadband access. My only options appear to be DSL from the phone company or cable internet from the cable company.
You're not just watching someone while waiting for them to finish their turn. You're watching someone who is one of the best in the world play the game. If you personally have played the game that is being played, you will be able to appreciate the level of skill the the player is demonstrating. You will be able to learn things about how a superior player would approach the same problems you face, and also realize where you reach your limitations compared to the player you are watching.
I think that it's a prerequisite to watching an event that you actually have some experience in participating in a similar event. Otherwise it can be difficult to appreciate what is going on and the level of skill required.
I've watched some pretty cool videos and demos of video game competitions. There's a video floating around of someone who beat Super Mario Brothers 3 in like 2 minutes. I'll bet that if your friend was able to do that while you were waiting for your turn, you might be intrigued! I've seen videos of top Starcraft and Quake players in competition, and it's like they are playing a completely different game.
Maybe because the idiot, abusive bosses are also the best at being abusive towards customers in order to make more money? In the school example, maybe those administrators are more adept at raising taxes and getting money from the city in which they work.
All engineers and scientists, regardless of field, speak math. If you hire a CS person with a background in mathematical methods, he will be able to translate your equations into computer language.
There was some investigative news show demonstrating the techniques that home robbers use. As an example, they had an ex-con break into the reporter's house. The reporter had dogs and all the ex-con had to do was pet the dogs and they left him alone. So unless you're going to have a trained attack dog, it's probably a waste.
Also, you must be pretty brave to draw a fake gun on a criminal who potentially has a real gun himself. Even if you get the drop on him, what's to say he isn't going to try something?
...and the great mind that you have found to do this thinking, does its physical vessel not neccesitate food, clothing, shelter, as well as desire other things such as entertainment and family? Why would this great mind settle for spending its time thinking for free when someone else would give it the means to obtain its needs and desires elsewhere (perhaps not even in the fields of math or computer science)?
Yes, thanks Google for standing up for us all. All Google had to do was refuse to give their money to someone else. Let's think this situation through before applauding Google's altruistic nature.
Stewie: "Yes, we all love 'Mr. Plow'! Oh, you've got the song memorized, do you? SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE! That is exactly the kind of idiot you see at Taco Bell at 1 in the morning!"
Seriously, just because there was a Simpsons about Homer riding in an elevator, does it necessitate quoting?
FTA: "He liked to point out that planes had been flying themselves since the 1970s. The public was clearly willing to accept being flown by autopilot, but nobody had tried the same on the ground."
Just give us our flying cars then already, damnit!
...or until we abolish winner-take-all politics. Instead of districting our states and having each district pick a winning politician, an alternative would be to have everyone in the state vote amongst the same group of politicians and pick the top-ranked politicians from each state. In other words, if a state currently has 30 districts and 100 people run for congress, you pick the top 30 from that 100. This opens the door for 3rd parties and alternative viewpoints to have representation. Once 3rd parties begin to take hold of more local offices, they will begin to have enough sway to take hold of higher offices like the Senate or the Presidency.
Although your post barely warrants the dignity of a reply, I feel that it is my duty to help stop the spread of such nonsense.
Your maniacal focus on "The (evil) Left" is quite hypocritical. If you don't believe that "The Right" doesn't have just as much influence, if not more on the education of school children, then you are sadly mistaken. Remember "Intelligent Design"? That's an idea directly attributable to "The Right". Remember the historical details about every war we ever fought in? More sugar-coating from "The Government", which consists of both "The Left" and "The Right".
Overall, you are halfway there in your assertion that the government is trying to control you and your thoughts through education and other means, you just need to come to the realization that "The Right" is also a system of control and you should be okay. How people can just so blindly trust anyone who has power over them is the true travesity of today's government propoganda.
The true genius of the McDonald's cheeseburger lies not in the repetitive process by which an individual sandwich gets made, but in the recognition of a consumer demand and the way in which resources were allocated in order to fill that demand on a global scale. The fact that you recognize the McDonald's brand as opposed to Burger King, Wendy's, or any of the several hundred hamburger restaurants that have been in existence at since McDonald's was founded, is credit enough to this genius. I wish you would not harp on them so:-P
Again, the comment you are responding to is taking a narrow view on the field of computer science (see CyricZ's response to the submitter above). Computer science is about utilizing machinery to organize information in a way such that the human mind can more readily comprehend it and being able to use that information to either entertain, inform, or simulate an actual or imagined world of the present, past, future, or extra-dimensional.
Portions of computer science will require such mundane work as managing data or following an organized set of rules. Other portions will require the ability to imagine something and turn it into something tangible. But at its core, computer science will always be about employing technology as a means to provide solutions to problems so as to alleviate the minds, bodies, and souls of humanity from the mundane tasks of every day life. As technology evolves, so does the definition of what is mundane and even the very computer scientist who invents new technology may see himself evolving out of performing the mundane roles that somewhat define him today. Technology and computer science have the ability to change the fundamental way that everyone performs at their preferred function in life from engineering, to architecture, to capentry, to artistry, to music, to making McDonald's hamburgers. It has the ability to lift people from their station in life and force them to think about the big picture and not to have to deal with the tiny minutia of day-to-day living. Picture any of the professions that you have mentioned, and tell me how any of them have not been affected by technology. It is not always for the better, and certainly musicians and artists may choose a less technological-oriented approach to their work, but they still live in a world of technology and benefit from its conveniences.
The problem is that every job, from coal miner to president of the United States, can be defined in the terms that the submitter posited. Fortunately, the submitter's definition does not cover the gamut of skills required for either computer programming or desktop role-playing games, so to state that the skillset for either is not sufficient to garner respect is to burn a strawman.
I gather that your comment has more to do with the criticism of the submitter's choice of words rather than the subject of whether the role-playing game skillset is the same as the computer programmer's, however, that subtlety may have been glossed over by some of our more time-pressed readers.
That wasn't my experience with racing games on PC vs. console.
First, there is no reason why you can't hook up a console-type controller to a PC. There are even adapters that will allow you to directly connect a PS2 controller to the USB port on your PC. I'm sure that there are similar products for the other consoles. There is most definitely racing wheels for the PC. My experience with racing wheels has been that while on the PC I can tweak all of the variables like dead zone and response, the hardware-agnostic nature of the console will only allow you to adjust some parameters (Gran Turismo does not have a controller set up utility; you have to adjust the settings with the hardware itself), and ultimately the wheel you just spent money on is inferior to the controller that comes with the console because the dead zone can't be made narrow enough, or the pedals aren't responsive enough, etc.
Second, there are some great racing games for the PC, like TOCA Race Driver 2, and more recently, GTR FIA GT Racing.
The real reason why racing games have been vastly more successful for the console is because the console controller solution is "good enough" and there are way more consoles in circulations than gaming PCs, so the racing game developers are going to focus on producing their games for the larger market. It has nothing to do with the console performing better than the PC or not having access to a PS2-style controller on the PC. If anything, the performance is better on a PC and the control options are much more varied.
Slashdot Mirror
Except in the original South Park episode where they made this joke, there were only 3 steps with step 2 being the ?
I wasn't aware that AOL by itself provides broadband access. My only options appear to be DSL from the phone company or cable internet from the cable company.
I think he meant dreams as in dreams while you sleep, not dreams of goals for yourself.
You're not just watching someone while waiting for them to finish their turn. You're watching someone who is one of the best in the world play the game. If you personally have played the game that is being played, you will be able to appreciate the level of skill the the player is demonstrating. You will be able to learn things about how a superior player would approach the same problems you face, and also realize where you reach your limitations compared to the player you are watching.
I think that it's a prerequisite to watching an event that you actually have some experience in participating in a similar event. Otherwise it can be difficult to appreciate what is going on and the level of skill required.
I've watched some pretty cool videos and demos of video game competitions. There's a video floating around of someone who beat Super Mario Brothers 3 in like 2 minutes. I'll bet that if your friend was able to do that while you were waiting for your turn, you might be intrigued! I've seen videos of top Starcraft and Quake players in competition, and it's like they are playing a completely different game.
The best of anything is worth your time.
You're going to loose at the game of life if you don't realize when to use the word "loose" and the word "lose".
I hate you.
Maybe because the idiot, abusive bosses are also the best at being abusive towards customers in order to make more money? In the school example, maybe those administrators are more adept at raising taxes and getting money from the city in which they work.
All engineers and scientists, regardless of field, speak math. If you hire a CS person with a background in mathematical methods, he will be able to translate your equations into computer language.
But c) will also half the maintenance costs of your crappy code.
I can't wait to watch Hitch in High-Def! This type of movie is the exact reason why I bought an HDTV!!!
Yeah, they can then sell that information to your ISP!
Oh, wait...
What about Google Maps/Earth? Google Image Search? Google Groups?
NINTENDISCO!!!
There was some investigative news show demonstrating the techniques that home robbers use. As an example, they had an ex-con break into the reporter's house. The reporter had dogs and all the ex-con had to do was pet the dogs and they left him alone. So unless you're going to have a trained attack dog, it's probably a waste.
Also, you must be pretty brave to draw a fake gun on a criminal who potentially has a real gun himself. Even if you get the drop on him, what's to say he isn't going to try something?
...and the great mind that you have found to do this thinking, does its physical vessel not neccesitate food, clothing, shelter, as well as desire other things such as entertainment and family? Why would this great mind settle for spending its time thinking for free when someone else would give it the means to obtain its needs and desires elsewhere (perhaps not even in the fields of math or computer science)?
Yes, thanks Google for standing up for us all. All Google had to do was refuse to give their money to someone else. Let's think this situation through before applauding Google's altruistic nature.
Stewie: "Yes, we all love 'Mr. Plow'! Oh, you've got the song memorized, do you? SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE! That is exactly the kind of idiot you see at Taco Bell at 1 in the morning!"
Seriously, just because there was a Simpsons about Homer riding in an elevator, does it necessitate quoting?
That's considered new on Slashdot? You must be new here.
FTA: "He liked to point out that planes had been flying themselves since the 1970s. The public was clearly willing to accept being flown by autopilot, but nobody had tried the same on the ground."
Just give us our flying cars then already, damnit!
In order to run, one must first learn to walk...
...or until we abolish winner-take-all politics. Instead of districting our states and having each district pick a winning politician, an alternative would be to have everyone in the state vote amongst the same group of politicians and pick the top-ranked politicians from each state. In other words, if a state currently has 30 districts and 100 people run for congress, you pick the top 30 from that 100. This opens the door for 3rd parties and alternative viewpoints to have representation. Once 3rd parties begin to take hold of more local offices, they will begin to have enough sway to take hold of higher offices like the Senate or the Presidency.
In Korea, only old people exist.
Although your post barely warrants the dignity of a reply, I feel that it is my duty to help stop the spread of such nonsense.
Your maniacal focus on "The (evil) Left" is quite hypocritical. If you don't believe that "The Right" doesn't have just as much influence, if not more on the education of school children, then you are sadly mistaken. Remember "Intelligent Design"? That's an idea directly attributable to "The Right". Remember the historical details about every war we ever fought in? More sugar-coating from "The Government", which consists of both "The Left" and "The Right".
Overall, you are halfway there in your assertion that the government is trying to control you and your thoughts through education and other means, you just need to come to the realization that "The Right" is also a system of control and you should be okay. How people can just so blindly trust anyone who has power over them is the true travesity of today's government propoganda.
The true genius of the McDonald's cheeseburger lies not in the repetitive process by which an individual sandwich gets made, but in the recognition of a consumer demand and the way in which resources were allocated in order to fill that demand on a global scale. The fact that you recognize the McDonald's brand as opposed to Burger King, Wendy's, or any of the several hundred hamburger restaurants that have been in existence at since McDonald's was founded, is credit enough to this genius. I wish you would not harp on them so :-P
Again, the comment you are responding to is taking a narrow view on the field of computer science (see CyricZ's response to the submitter above). Computer science is about utilizing machinery to organize information in a way such that the human mind can more readily comprehend it and being able to use that information to either entertain, inform, or simulate an actual or imagined world of the present, past, future, or extra-dimensional.
Portions of computer science will require such mundane work as managing data or following an organized set of rules. Other portions will require the ability to imagine something and turn it into something tangible. But at its core, computer science will always be about employing technology as a means to provide solutions to problems so as to alleviate the minds, bodies, and souls of humanity from the mundane tasks of every day life. As technology evolves, so does the definition of what is mundane and even the very computer scientist who invents new technology may see himself evolving out of performing the mundane roles that somewhat define him today. Technology and computer science have the ability to change the fundamental way that everyone performs at their preferred function in life from engineering, to architecture, to capentry, to artistry, to music, to making McDonald's hamburgers. It has the ability to lift people from their station in life and force them to think about the big picture and not to have to deal with the tiny minutia of day-to-day living. Picture any of the professions that you have mentioned, and tell me how any of them have not been affected by technology. It is not always for the better, and certainly musicians and artists may choose a less technological-oriented approach to their work, but they still live in a world of technology and benefit from its conveniences.
The problem is that every job, from coal miner to president of the United States, can be defined in the terms that the submitter posited. Fortunately, the submitter's definition does not cover the gamut of skills required for either computer programming or desktop role-playing games, so to state that the skillset for either is not sufficient to garner respect is to burn a strawman.
I gather that your comment has more to do with the criticism of the submitter's choice of words rather than the subject of whether the role-playing game skillset is the same as the computer programmer's, however, that subtlety may have been glossed over by some of our more time-pressed readers.
That wasn't my experience with racing games on PC vs. console.
First, there is no reason why you can't hook up a console-type controller to a PC. There are even adapters that will allow you to directly connect a PS2 controller to the USB port on your PC. I'm sure that there are similar products for the other consoles. There is most definitely racing wheels for the PC. My experience with racing wheels has been that while on the PC I can tweak all of the variables like dead zone and response, the hardware-agnostic nature of the console will only allow you to adjust some parameters (Gran Turismo does not have a controller set up utility; you have to adjust the settings with the hardware itself), and ultimately the wheel you just spent money on is inferior to the controller that comes with the console because the dead zone can't be made narrow enough, or the pedals aren't responsive enough, etc.
Second, there are some great racing games for the PC, like TOCA Race Driver 2, and more recently, GTR FIA GT Racing.
The real reason why racing games have been vastly more successful for the console is because the console controller solution is "good enough" and there are way more consoles in circulations than gaming PCs, so the racing game developers are going to focus on producing their games for the larger market. It has nothing to do with the console performing better than the PC or not having access to a PS2-style controller on the PC. If anything, the performance is better on a PC and the control options are much more varied.