So women face discrimation in the "Stupid Geek Culture"...does that mean that they are discriminated against because they don't like Star Wars, have a 40th level Orc in WOW, and played a Magic User with lame powers in D&D in the 80's? They don't know TSR from WOTC? They could care less how the terminator chip left in 1984 was tehn used to build the terminator itself?
Um...Is this discrimination, or simply not wanting to be part of workplace banter?
I worked in a fitness center for three years with the common conversations being about how much people bench, what their peak hart rates were, etc. Just becuase I didn't give a damn doesn't mean I was discriminated against...it meant it was the wrong group for me to try and interact socially with.
I can understand giving kids a discount for good grades...had he done that and been suspended then that would have been wrong, but refusing to sell? That's just bad business.
the laws got one right for a change. Let parents and consumers decide what's right, not overly conservative right ring politicians. I have one set of parents, I don't need the Governator as another.
Let me preface this by saying I am a die hard computer gamer. I own (have legally bought) over 300 computer games and for many years ran a web site called reviewgames.com (now off-line, so don't bother trying it) where I reviewed classic and new PC games. I was there for the introduction of those pass through Voodoo 2 3D cards. I remember when you needed the Voodoo cards for some games to run, and a different card for other games to run. I remember when Majestic broke the 4th wall of gaming in new and imaginative ways, and when the Sims ran my life for many MANY months.
But fast forward to today. I have a power gaming PC rig...but what can I play on it? I went to my local Game Stop the other day, and the PC games are down to a single rack mid store, where it used to be a full wall. The ONLY PC game I hear about any more is World of Warcraft, and I'm just not into MMORPGs (despite my unused Star Wars Galaxies account I pay for monthly).
PCs used to be the domain of great games. While I would argue consoles ALWAYS did arcade-style games like Street Fighter better, PCs had the reign of first person shooters, strategy, real-time strategy, space simulators, third person action games, and so much more. But over the past few years it seems like entire genres of games are dying (space based flight sims...have there been any since Microsoft's Allegience?) and more and more all we get on the PC are console games with hopefully slightly higher resolution.
I really cannot see why anyone would drop $1200 on a high end SLI graphics card configuration in this day and age when there's no games to justify it.
In the 80's the games were the domain of the consoles, Atari and Coleco, and of course, Nintendo offering many more titles and better graphics than most PCs. Around the age of the 486 PC games came into their own and I felt that for most of the 90's and the first part of the new millennium PC games were where it was at. I even went back to school to become a game designer, but I really only wanted to work on PC games, not console. But I felt the push in 2002-2003 that the companies weren't interested in making PC games, only console. And now...
I'm about to plunk a fair amount of change into a new system, but I keep hearing about PCI-X. When will these new items from Computerdex be available for sale? A month? Six months? A year? What is the expected launch?
And will these boards be Intel only or is AMD getting some PCI-X too?
I have held monthly poker parties since 1994, long long before the current craze (although I must admit to switching to No Limit Texas Hold 'Em recently due to the attention it gets).
I also have played chess forever and it is starting to become en vogue again as well.
I guess I'm just ahead of my time...and the world is finally catching up to me. Next thing you know overweight dorks with mismatched clothes and mussed up hair will be hot!
I actually started doing this myself for just this purpose a while back. I can't stand working out but I love video games, and the DDR in arcades looked fun but I couldn't ever try something like that in public. So I picked up a pad and DDR for X-box, and it certainly is a work out.
But not orthopedically safe, necessarily. If you're overweight and doing DDR you have to be aware to all the stress you are putting on your lower joints, specifically your ankles and knees. All that pounding on your feet is just not good for people who are very overweight. But for the more mild, it's fun.
Of course, I think I spend more time dancing around the "select" and "start" buttons to get the game started than I do in game.
I worked technical support at a start-up ISP in '96. We had 5 external USR 33.6 modems hooked up to a term server. One day my boss accidentally turned off the UPS powering all the modems, all 5 users were cut off. Worse, while the term server rebooted no one could log in for about 3 minutes.
An angry user called up, and I had to given an explanation better than "my boss pulled the plug." So I said:
"Reboot your system." He did. "Try now." He got on. "It seems your system experienced a modem feedback loop. It happens from time to time, rebooting usually fixes it."
My boss gave me a C-note for manufacturing the term "modem feedback loop".
You're right that I never tried it, I said as much in my original comment.
I had read, however, in a previous/. that there are the following restrictions on iTunes: "now tracks you purchased can be authorized to play on up to five other computers, instead of three. However, they reduced the number of times you can burn a playlist to an audio CD from ten to seven. "
I have yet to pay for a single song on-line. It's rediculous. Look at the facts:
1) It's limited to the number of times you can copy it (thus breaking the benefit of digital media). I replace my computer once per year, so that means the songs I'd buy have at best a five year experation date.
2) They cost as much as CDs (and with this price hike they cost more). So I get 5 years of a song, no cover art, no good back-up options, and I pay more?
The music lables are killing themselves and I sit back and laugh. Issue "remaster" after "remaster" and then flop like dying fish with SACD and DVD-Audio (which would be even more re-issues).
THe record labels could make MORE money by using on-line distribution at a lower price point. Make the songs cheap enough (say $0.50 each?) and people will buy them. Remove copy protection and, sure, people will share them with their friends but that is how music has been for decades. Who never dubbed a cassette in the 70's or 80's for a friend? Who never burned off a CD in the 90's? Trading music small-scale allows people to be exposed to music they would not be otherwise, and then those people may buy OTHER tracks.
By avoiding the profit-sharing distribution method of shipping CDs to Best Buy, and reducing the cost by not having to press CDs, pay photographers and artists for cover art, etc. the record labels can save butt-loads of cash. Reduce the cost per song, make even more money. But no, they'd rather do stupid crap like this.
I'm glad to see their monopolistic tactics are working about as well as shooting themselves in the foot. I, meanwhile, laugh heartily and visit my locally owned used CD store reguarly.
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So women face discrimation in the "Stupid Geek Culture"...does that mean that they are discriminated against because they don't like Star Wars, have a 40th level Orc in WOW, and played a Magic User with lame powers in D&D in the 80's? They don't know TSR from WOTC? They could care less how the terminator chip left in 1984 was tehn used to build the terminator itself? Um...Is this discrimination, or simply not wanting to be part of workplace banter? I worked in a fitness center for three years with the common conversations being about how much people bench, what their peak hart rates were, etc. Just becuase I didn't give a damn doesn't mean I was discriminated against...it meant it was the wrong group for me to try and interact socially with.
I can understand giving kids a discount for good grades...had he done that and been suspended then that would have been wrong, but refusing to sell? That's just bad business.
the laws got one right for a change. Let parents and consumers decide what's right, not overly conservative right ring politicians. I have one set of parents, I don't need the Governator as another.
But fast forward to today. I have a power gaming PC rig...but what can I play on it? I went to my local Game Stop the other day, and the PC games are down to a single rack mid store, where it used to be a full wall. The ONLY PC game I hear about any more is World of Warcraft, and I'm just not into MMORPGs (despite my unused Star Wars Galaxies account I pay for monthly).
PCs used to be the domain of great games. While I would argue consoles ALWAYS did arcade-style games like Street Fighter better, PCs had the reign of first person shooters, strategy, real-time strategy, space simulators, third person action games, and so much more. But over the past few years it seems like entire genres of games are dying (space based flight sims...have there been any since Microsoft's Allegience?) and more and more all we get on the PC are console games with hopefully slightly higher resolution.
I really cannot see why anyone would drop $1200 on a high end SLI graphics card configuration in this day and age when there's no games to justify it.
In the 80's the games were the domain of the consoles, Atari and Coleco, and of course, Nintendo offering many more titles and better graphics than most PCs. Around the age of the 486 PC games came into their own and I felt that for most of the 90's and the first part of the new millennium PC games were where it was at. I even went back to school to become a game designer, but I really only wanted to work on PC games, not console. But I felt the push in 2002-2003 that the companies weren't interested in making PC games, only console. And now...
Am I wrong? Or have consoles finally won?
I'd start by selling advertising. Then perhaps as technology became a little better, some better AI: M-M-Max He-He-He-Headrooom
I'm about to plunk a fair amount of change into a new system, but I keep hearing about PCI-X. When will these new items from Computerdex be available for sale? A month? Six months? A year? What is the expected launch?
And will these boards be Intel only or is AMD getting some PCI-X too?
I learned everything I know about geography and shooting indians from Oregon Trail on an Apple II in grade school. Should apply.
I have held monthly poker parties since 1994, long long before the current craze (although I must admit to switching to No Limit Texas Hold 'Em recently due to the attention it gets). I also have played chess forever and it is starting to become en vogue again as well. I guess I'm just ahead of my time...and the world is finally catching up to me. Next thing you know overweight dorks with mismatched clothes and mussed up hair will be hot!
I actually started doing this myself for just this purpose a while back. I can't stand working out but I love video games, and the DDR in arcades looked fun but I couldn't ever try something like that in public. So I picked up a pad and DDR for X-box, and it certainly is a work out. But not orthopedically safe, necessarily. If you're overweight and doing DDR you have to be aware to all the stress you are putting on your lower joints, specifically your ankles and knees. All that pounding on your feet is just not good for people who are very overweight. But for the more mild, it's fun. Of course, I think I spend more time dancing around the "select" and "start" buttons to get the game started than I do in game.
I worked technical support at a start-up ISP in '96. We had 5 external USR 33.6 modems hooked up to a term server. One day my boss accidentally turned off the UPS powering all the modems, all 5 users were cut off. Worse, while the term server rebooted no one could log in for about 3 minutes. An angry user called up, and I had to given an explanation better than "my boss pulled the plug." So I said: "Reboot your system." He did. "Try now." He got on. "It seems your system experienced a modem feedback loop. It happens from time to time, rebooting usually fixes it." My boss gave me a C-note for manufacturing the term "modem feedback loop".
You're right that I never tried it, I said as much in my original comment. I had read, however, in a previous /. that there are the following restrictions on iTunes: "now tracks you purchased can be authorized to play on up to five other computers, instead of three. However, they reduced the number of times you can burn a playlist to an audio CD from ten to seven. "
I have yet to pay for a single song on-line. It's rediculous. Look at the facts: 1) It's limited to the number of times you can copy it (thus breaking the benefit of digital media). I replace my computer once per year, so that means the songs I'd buy have at best a five year experation date. 2) They cost as much as CDs (and with this price hike they cost more). So I get 5 years of a song, no cover art, no good back-up options, and I pay more? The music lables are killing themselves and I sit back and laugh. Issue "remaster" after "remaster" and then flop like dying fish with SACD and DVD-Audio (which would be even more re-issues). THe record labels could make MORE money by using on-line distribution at a lower price point. Make the songs cheap enough (say $0.50 each?) and people will buy them. Remove copy protection and, sure, people will share them with their friends but that is how music has been for decades. Who never dubbed a cassette in the 70's or 80's for a friend? Who never burned off a CD in the 90's? Trading music small-scale allows people to be exposed to music they would not be otherwise, and then those people may buy OTHER tracks. By avoiding the profit-sharing distribution method of shipping CDs to Best Buy, and reducing the cost by not having to press CDs, pay photographers and artists for cover art, etc. the record labels can save butt-loads of cash. Reduce the cost per song, make even more money. But no, they'd rather do stupid crap like this. I'm glad to see their monopolistic tactics are working about as well as shooting themselves in the foot. I, meanwhile, laugh heartily and visit my locally owned used CD store reguarly.