Disclaimer about this history: We talked about in class once, a couple years ago. It's a general outline of how things shifted, and I may have gotten details incorrect.
They originally used only the Chinese characters, basically imported via cultural exchange (i.e. a mix of trade and war). They gained more each time contact occurred. Sometimes, they also began using the Chinese words attached to the character. That's the origin of the OnYomi (lit. "sound reading"). Sometimes, they used the characters to represent words that were already used in Japanese. That's the origin of the KunYomi (lit. something like "Japanese reading").
For some things, especially grammar markers, conjugation markers, and such, they started abbreviating the Chinese characters. The abbreviated characters used in legal and government documents became today's katakana. The abbreviated characters used more in art became the hiragana. Those uses have shifted. Now, it can be generalized that hiragana represent grammar marks and words not commonly written in kanji while katakana became used to represent foreign words, sound effects, etc. I've even seen katakana used to represent the sounds for complex kanji that the intended audience wasn't expected to know.
This is not the case if you were to write Japanese without kanji... they can be damn confusing.
Confusing, but not impossible (and not even unusual!) You do an equivalent operation when listening to Japanese speech anyhow (granted, there's an element of tone to pronunciation that gives some hints about which version of the word you mean). As an example, "Kau" is either a verb "to buy" or "to own or keep" (as in a pet). I've had the difference in pronunciation demonstrated to me, but as a native English speaker, I mostly rely on context rather than the actual sound. (note: those two words have completely different kanji, of course)
Kami meaning "god" is the same as the first character of JinJa (Shinto shrine). Without the second character providing differentiation, the first character defaults to the Kunyomi "Kami" reading rather than the Onyomi "Jin" reading. I think that's what the GP was referring to.
There's also a word "KaiSha"(company), where the second character is the same as the one in JinJa....and a word "ShaKai" (society) that is made of the same characters in reverse order.
I have a DS and a flash card for it. I only own three games, but then again, I never really play the DS. Most of my pirated games are Japanese versions of weird things I hear about on the internet. 2 of the 3 I own I had pirated copies of before buying the real copy.
I have about 15 games for the 360. They're all legally purchased (although about half were bought used, which many publishers would consider piracy anyhow...)
I've also got a PSP, unmodified, with about 10 games. Every one of them was bought at the recommendation of several friends who had pirated them.
OK, so I'm a outlier on the graph of video game players...but you can't say no one buys any games. At the very least, there's myself and my friends.
The iPad is designed as a mass consumer device. The summary says that they're branding this thing as a kind of hacker/developer toy. For that market, sacrificing some features may be worth it for the openness of the platform...I guess their sales numbers will tell us if that's true or not.
This *is* DRM. It's more than inputting a CD-key or something, or even copy protection on the CD. I'm sure there were games and software in the 80s where you had to call the manufacturer to get a key or something...that would be DRM too, we just didn't call it that then.
From a theoretical perspective, there may be a time that you install it on a computer when you don't have internet access. From a practical perspective, whatever computer you put it on will have an internet connection *sometime* soon after you install it (for most people...I assume you've got somewhat frequent access, since you're able to post here).
I don't think that there's a single Blizzard game (that supports single player) that they haven't removed the CD or online requirement after a few years. While "past performance is no indication of future behavior", I think Blizzard's past stance makes it likely that this game will be DRM-free a long time before their servers go down.
In short, I agree with your definition of "good", I just think that this game fits that definition for the VAST majority of Blizzard's market. So, I guess I'd say you're "depriving" yourself. But if you're happy with that, cool. Have fun!
iPhones are a bit of a different beast. The older iPod varieties can be mounted like external drives (even in Windows, if they happen to be formatted as FAT32). The last time I tried, my iPod Touch didn't work that way, although the communication protocol may have been worked out since then.
Something with the aim of user friendliness (like Ubuntu) shouldn't require an in-depth knowledge of the Linux/x86 boot methods. It ought to "just work". If it doesn't, then the upgrade routine isn't reading for release, and that section of the upgrade should never have been attempted. There should be a way for a power-user to force the upgrade, but it shouldn't be presented to a regular user during the "easy" upgrade process.
Ultima Underworld 1, Wing Commander 2, and Monkey Island were the first 3 CD-ROM games I remember owning (I think they actually came with the CD/Sound Card combo that I got at the time). UW always freaked me out as a kid...it took me *years* before I was willing to play by myself, haha
I would pay...but not as much as I would for indie cross-platform games with a bundled charity donation. I paid a good deal above the average payment, but I think if I say a similar package from [major developer], I might pay something around the $10-ish average from this sale.
If I understand it correctly, then in the example of a more efficient solar collector, this material could act as a lens that bends light in ways that it wouldn't normally go. For instance, taking light from all angles and focusing it onto the cell. It's basically a lens that can internally act like a mirror, turning a light beam to a degree that is physically impossible for a normal lens.
You are an asshat, if only for the style of your post.
Viacom (and other media companies) are being unreasonable because they issue DMCA takedown notices for things they don't even own, as well as parodies and other protected speech. Youtube is already going above and beyond what they're legally required to do (which is obey DMCA notices), and they've got various pieces of software to help automate looking for copyright infringements. The media is damn lucky Google has chosen to do what it has. Doing more would just be ridiculous for Google/Youtube.
Blow in them? With that dust protector? You need like a pen or a screwdriver to trip the mechanism to let you push the guard in, and when you've gone that far, you might as well use alcohol and cotton swabs!
Ah. I see you're talking about selling disc-based games online instead, not just the current WiiWare and Virtual Console online offerings. That might fly in Europe, but I wonder if US infrastructure is really up for that?
Hmmm....I live in California, so maybe I've had an unusual experience or something, but I've never had trouble downloading DVD-size files on my consoles. You can get 360 games in pure digital form. Ditto for PS2 games on the PS3...so I don't see why the Wii wouldn't be capable of providing that (unless Nintendo's infrastructure wasn't up to it).
As much as I dislike what it will mean for the used game market, All the console makers (Nintendo included) are embracing downloads, so I don't see Nintendo pulling away from that. I think they'll continue to cater to the non-hardcore gamer demographic, since that seems to have worked for them so far. My guess is that they'll find some new gimmick to work with (maybe like a touchpad on the controller? I don't know, I'm sure they're playing with all sorts of ideas).
Last time I played, if you died, you got sent to this underworld maze, and you had to find the way out. It took me about an hour to do, then I died again....screw that. If a game's gonna make things so hard, I'm not going to bother with it!
Ummmm....the point isn't that you can disable it. It's that it's extra advertising that's automatically inserted by default. If I buy a product, the company should be happy enough about that, not make strong suggestions that I continue advertising their product. Most consumers leave their gadgets at default settings, and Apple is relying on that tendency.
Slashdot Mirror
An epic troll, sir. "Good job".
Either way, you've got to have a heater in there that gets hot enough to melt lead, when left to its own devices.
Disclaimer about this history: We talked about in class once, a couple years ago. It's a general outline of how things shifted, and I may have gotten details incorrect.
They originally used only the Chinese characters, basically imported via cultural exchange (i.e. a mix of trade and war). They gained more each time contact occurred. Sometimes, they also began using the Chinese words attached to the character. That's the origin of the OnYomi (lit. "sound reading"). Sometimes, they used the characters to represent words that were already used in Japanese. That's the origin of the KunYomi (lit. something like "Japanese reading").
For some things, especially grammar markers, conjugation markers, and such, they started abbreviating the Chinese characters. The abbreviated characters used in legal and government documents became today's katakana. The abbreviated characters used more in art became the hiragana. Those uses have shifted. Now, it can be generalized that hiragana represent grammar marks and words not commonly written in kanji while katakana became used to represent foreign words, sound effects, etc. I've even seen katakana used to represent the sounds for complex kanji that the intended audience wasn't expected to know.
Dictionaries are meant to represent the most common usages of words as currently used in a language. They're the "dependent variable" in the system.
This is not the case if you were to write Japanese without kanji... they can be damn confusing.
Confusing, but not impossible (and not even unusual!) You do an equivalent operation when listening to Japanese speech anyhow (granted, there's an element of tone to pronunciation that gives some hints about which version of the word you mean). As an example, "Kau" is either a verb "to buy" or "to own or keep" (as in a pet). I've had the difference in pronunciation demonstrated to me, but as a native English speaker, I mostly rely on context rather than the actual sound. (note: those two words have completely different kanji, of course)
Kami meaning "god" is the same as the first character of JinJa (Shinto shrine). Without the second character providing differentiation, the first character defaults to the Kunyomi "Kami" reading rather than the Onyomi "Jin" reading. I think that's what the GP was referring to.
There's also a word "KaiSha"(company), where the second character is the same as the one in JinJa....and a word "ShaKai" (society) that is made of the same characters in reverse order.
I have a DS and a flash card for it. I only own three games, but then again, I never really play the DS. Most of my pirated games are Japanese versions of weird things I hear about on the internet. 2 of the 3 I own I had pirated copies of before buying the real copy.
I have about 15 games for the 360. They're all legally purchased (although about half were bought used, which many publishers would consider piracy anyhow...)
I've also got a PSP, unmodified, with about 10 games. Every one of them was bought at the recommendation of several friends who had pirated them.
OK, so I'm a outlier on the graph of video game players...but you can't say no one buys any games. At the very least, there's myself and my friends.
The iPad is designed as a mass consumer device. The summary says that they're branding this thing as a kind of hacker/developer toy. For that market, sacrificing some features may be worth it for the openness of the platform...I guess their sales numbers will tell us if that's true or not.
This *is* DRM. It's more than inputting a CD-key or something, or even copy protection on the CD. I'm sure there were games and software in the 80s where you had to call the manufacturer to get a key or something...that would be DRM too, we just didn't call it that then.
From a theoretical perspective, there may be a time that you install it on a computer when you don't have internet access. From a practical perspective, whatever computer you put it on will have an internet connection *sometime* soon after you install it (for most people...I assume you've got somewhat frequent access, since you're able to post here).
I don't think that there's a single Blizzard game (that supports single player) that they haven't removed the CD or online requirement after a few years. While "past performance is no indication of future behavior", I think Blizzard's past stance makes it likely that this game will be DRM-free a long time before their servers go down.
In short, I agree with your definition of "good", I just think that this game fits that definition for the VAST majority of Blizzard's market. So, I guess I'd say you're "depriving" yourself. But if you're happy with that, cool. Have fun!
iPhones are a bit of a different beast. The older iPod varieties can be mounted like external drives (even in Windows, if they happen to be formatted as FAT32). The last time I tried, my iPod Touch didn't work that way, although the communication protocol may have been worked out since then.
Can you set up a PO Box anonymously? Or have it delivered to a business with which you have an arrangement?
Something with the aim of user friendliness (like Ubuntu) shouldn't require an in-depth knowledge of the Linux/x86 boot methods. It ought to "just work". If it doesn't, then the upgrade routine isn't reading for release, and that section of the upgrade should never have been attempted. There should be a way for a power-user to force the upgrade, but it shouldn't be presented to a regular user during the "easy" upgrade process.
For #2, don't you mean 1992? I got this game along with my first CD-ROM and sound card, in 1994 at the latest.
Ultima Underworld 1, Wing Commander 2, and Monkey Island were the first 3 CD-ROM games I remember owning (I think they actually came with the CD/Sound Card combo that I got at the time). UW always freaked me out as a kid...it took me *years* before I was willing to play by myself, haha
I would pay...but not as much as I would for indie cross-platform games with a bundled charity donation. I paid a good deal above the average payment, but I think if I say a similar package from [major developer], I might pay something around the $10-ish average from this sale.
You're thinking emacsMRI. And it's called "meta", not "alt"!
If I understand it correctly, then in the example of a more efficient solar collector, this material could act as a lens that bends light in ways that it wouldn't normally go. For instance, taking light from all angles and focusing it onto the cell. It's basically a lens that can internally act like a mirror, turning a light beam to a degree that is physically impossible for a normal lens.
You are an asshat, if only for the style of your post.
Viacom (and other media companies) are being unreasonable because they issue DMCA takedown notices for things they don't even own, as well as parodies and other protected speech. Youtube is already going above and beyond what they're legally required to do (which is obey DMCA notices), and they've got various pieces of software to help automate looking for copyright infringements. The media is damn lucky Google has chosen to do what it has. Doing more would just be ridiculous for Google/Youtube.
Blow in them? With that dust protector? You need like a pen or a screwdriver to trip the mechanism to let you push the guard in, and when you've gone that far, you might as well use alcohol and cotton swabs!
Ah. I see you're talking about selling disc-based games online instead, not just the current WiiWare and Virtual Console online offerings. That might fly in Europe, but I wonder if US infrastructure is really up for that?
Hmmm....I live in California, so maybe I've had an unusual experience or something, but I've never had trouble downloading DVD-size files on my consoles. You can get 360 games in pure digital form. Ditto for PS2 games on the PS3...so I don't see why the Wii wouldn't be capable of providing that (unless Nintendo's infrastructure wasn't up to it).
As much as I dislike what it will mean for the used game market, All the console makers (Nintendo included) are embracing downloads, so I don't see Nintendo pulling away from that. I think they'll continue to cater to the non-hardcore gamer demographic, since that seems to have worked for them so far. My guess is that they'll find some new gimmick to work with (maybe like a touchpad on the controller? I don't know, I'm sure they're playing with all sorts of ideas).
Last time I played, if you died, you got sent to this underworld maze, and you had to find the way out. It took me about an hour to do, then I died again....screw that. If a game's gonna make things so hard, I'm not going to bother with it!
But not everyone has support for the character sets in question. I think that might be what the gp was talking about.
Ummmm....the point isn't that you can disable it. It's that it's extra advertising that's automatically inserted by default. If I buy a product, the company should be happy enough about that, not make strong suggestions that I continue advertising their product. Most consumers leave their gadgets at default settings, and Apple is relying on that tendency.
If you're talking about the sunglasses thing, here are some examples.