Amen to that! I've been scrolling through the comments just waiting for this one to be mentioned. It's the only time a game has given me motion sickness, and I've played through the first 2 Decent games.
Actually I found out that even "casual" gamers are sometimes unhappy with Linux. I had to deal with a very disappointed six-year-old when I told her that she couldn't use Daddy's computer to play the games at mylittlepony.com. Maybe someday we'll have a linux Shockwave plugin.
They generally have to at least have the equivalent skills of an IT pro, otherwise they have to trust someone to set up their paranoia-indulging, privacy-at-all-costs, system.
Probably would have helped if he had spelled "bales" correctly. I'm usually not a spelling nazi but with my rural/agricultural roots, I can't help but comment on this one.
Funny how someone's background results in specific pet peeves. I haven't lived there in 15 years, but as an Illinios native, you could blow my legs off and I'd crawl 300 yards on the bloody stumps to slap someone for pronouncing the "S" at the end.
Reminds me of the way/.'s truncated posts with the "Read the rest of this comment" links always seem to truncate exactly 2 lines. Does it do this to everyone, or just me?
I admit I've never played a "manic shooter", but based on the small wikipedia article you linked, it seems to me that a mouse would be the easiest, most precise way to control a shooter like that.
Of course, with the "cast changes" that occured as a result of the movie (I am trying not to spoil it for those that have not seen it), that might change the dynamic of the eventual 2nd season a bit, though. I am not sure how the actors feel about making more.
Actually, I think it would be pretty easy to just have the hypothetical (and greatly desired) second+ season set between the end of the first season and the start of the movie. It's pretty obvious that quite a bit has happened between the two, and there's a lot of material that wasn't addressed at all in Serenity. For example, looking into Book's past with his obvious military experience, and of course further explanation of the "blue-hand" men.
The fact that there is already an established "end-point" to the storyline would give the writers something to work toward, and avoid the problem I've seen with so many serialized shows: That of "We wrapped up the major plot arcs at the end of the last season, so now what? Do we bring in more powerful enemies? Do we start focusing on previously minor characters? Do we throw in a 'Two years later-' graphic and start with the same characters in new situations and roles?" (a la BSG)
I completely missed the series when it was first on. I bought the DVD sight-unseen based solely on the recommendation of a good friend of mine and was sucked right in. Whatever happens to the series, I'll be watching the marathon. I know I could watch my DVDs any time, (could anyway, if I wasn't always loaning them out to bring in more converts) It would be great to see the resurrection of one of the martyrs of the Geek community.
My question is how much of that $100 million actually went to artists? You know - those people that the RIAA is claiming they are protecting by filing these lawsuits.
Every survey I've read from Consumer Reports and PCWorld puts apple close to the top in support, reliability, and customer satisfaction over Dell, HP, gateway, etc. IBM was the only manufacturer that ever seemed to beat them at anything, and they've now sold off their PC business.
I'd like to say that, in my experience, the sale to Lenovo hasn't affected IBM's quality of support at all. The bank where I work is an all IBM shop and we were a bit concerned that support would suffer but it hasn't.
If I have a part fail on a machine, I call their support number. Generally about 2-3 minutes with the automated system - selecting "Hardware support", punch in model number, etc... - sometimes a 1-3 minutes on hold but rarely, tell the service rep what the symptoms are and what part I need and I almost always have the part the next day. I've called at 3PM and had the part arrive with the next day's FedEx.
I don't have any experience with Apple's support, but I can say that IBM's hasn't slipped since the sale.
I go back and forth between left and right mousing
I do this too, but without a cordless. I just set up my work PC with the mouse on the left and left my home PC with the mouse on the right. It didn't take me long to get good enough at left-handed mousing to handle work just fine, but the gaming I do at home benefits from the extra speed and precision I can manage with my dominant hand.
The question is, if you don't run Linux, why you install it? Grup does not overwrite Windows MBR if you don't install Grub.
Ok, I make it a rule to never comment on anyone's grammar, but coming after the above posts on e.g. vs. i.e., this is just too funny. It reads like an old Incredible Hulk comic.
"Why you install Linux? Hulk smash puny master boot record!!"
If anything, that should give them extra flexibilty for changing market conditions.
In Sony's case, no. For example: The market wants good MP3 players. Sony's audio division wants to produce good MP3 players. But the music division doesn't like MP3 players. So Sony's audio division makes DRM crippled players that use the bundled software to re-encode MP3s to a proprietary standard when transfering to the player. Nobody buys it. Years later Sony finally releases an actual MP3 player.
I think the same thing may be happening with the PS3. One division develops BluRay. They think "Hey, we've got the most popular video game console out there. Let's put BluRay in the next version so that BluRay will become the most popular video format." Meanwhile the Playstation division is cringing at the thought of trying to sell a console and games at a huge price premium, because they know that most people don't want to pay that much.
I think TIE Fighter was unfortunately the high point in the series. XvT added the chaff/flares, but the real problem was that it was geared way too heavily toward multiplayer back in modem days. Not to mention the MSN Gaming zone. (Seriously, nobody mention it, please. Too many painful memories.)
XWing Alliance seemed promising with an actual single-player story, until you realize that half of the single-player campaign involves you sitting in the turret of your cargo ship playing "Shooting gallery" with a few dozen incoming missiles. I got mid-way through Alliance till I got stuck on a mission where you have to protect a satelite and an idiot in a space suit. At that point, I realized it just wasn't fun. I enjoyed the missions I was flying as an Alliance fighter pilot. But the "Family cargo business" missions just got worse and worse.
I remember the thrill of TIE Fighter. I remember dodging laser fire from a capital ship so I could get in close, skimming along the surface, heading for the shield protectors and taking potshots at laser batteries on the way. I remember the time I took down a Victory-class Star Destroyer using a TIE Interceptor. Heck, I remember doing the Death-Star trench run in the original X-Wing. Supposedly the last level of Alliance let you fly the Millenium Falcon to take down the second Death Star, but I never saw that level. It just wasn't worth it.
I actually thought Monkey Island 3 was the best of the series. Just yesterday I finished playing through it again. Great voice acting, great animation, great Monkey Island humor.
I mean, where else are you going to find vegetarian cannibals worshiping a lactose-intolerant volcano god?
I was very disappointed that they went 3D with MI4. I thought it worked well with Grim Fandango, but for Monkey Island they should have stuck with the 'Saturday morning cartoon' style.
I wonder if I can get one to scan book ISBNs into standard text format
It's actually very easy to do. The default CueCat will output the bar code as a value containing the CueCat's serial number and a hashed version of the bar code number. Google "Declaw cuecat" or just check some of the links in the Wikipedia article. I've got a couple - both USB and PS2 - that I've modified to output a straight barcode value. It's been awhile since I did it, but as I recall, it involved just cutting one or more pins on an IC.
The Emperor's New Groove (2000) $89
Damn. There's no justice. That film is great, and completely blows away most of their other recent films for sheer style, verve and originality
I so agree with you on this. Such a great movie - great sarcastic humor and perfect use of comic timing.
I think it was Eric Raymond who said that all the time that went into snazzy interfaces and GUI support in other programs was spent on editing text in emacs. It shows -- if you want to edit text, use a dedicated text editor.
I know Neal Stephenson said something similar in "In the Beginning Was the Command Line"
It is colossal, and yet it only edits straight ASCII text files, which is to say, no fonts, no boldface, no underlining. In other words, the engineer-hours that, in the case of Microsoft Word, were devoted to features like mail merge, and the ability to embed feature-length motion pictures in corporate memoranda, were, in the case of emacs, focused with maniacal intensity on the deceptively simple-seeming problem of editing text.
Slashdot Mirror
Also, from Decent: Freespace when the Lucifer first shows up -- Talk about a "We are SO screwed!" moment.
Amen to that! I've been scrolling through the comments just waiting for this one to be mentioned. It's the only time a game has given me motion sickness, and I've played through the first 2 Decent games.
Actually I found out that even "casual" gamers are sometimes unhappy with Linux. I had to deal with a very disappointed six-year-old when I told her that she couldn't use Daddy's computer to play the games at mylittlepony.com. Maybe someday we'll have a linux Shockwave plugin.
They generally have to at least have the equivalent skills of an IT pro, otherwise they have to trust someone to set up their paranoia-indulging, privacy-at-all-costs, system.
Funny how someone's background results in specific pet peeves. I haven't lived there in 15 years, but as an Illinios native, you could blow my legs off and I'd crawl 300 yards on the bloody stumps to slap someone for pronouncing the "S" at the end.
Reminds me of the way /.'s truncated posts with the "Read the rest of this comment" links always seem to truncate exactly 2 lines. Does it do this to everyone, or just me?
I admit I've never played a "manic shooter", but based on the small wikipedia article you linked, it seems to me that a mouse would be the easiest, most precise way to control a shooter like that.
Actually, they're replacing his phaser with a walkie-talkie.
Actually, I think it would be pretty easy to just have the hypothetical (and greatly desired) second+ season set between the end of the first season and the start of the movie. It's pretty obvious that quite a bit has happened between the two, and there's a lot of material that wasn't addressed at all in Serenity. For example, looking into Book's past with his obvious military experience, and of course further explanation of the "blue-hand" men.
The fact that there is already an established "end-point" to the storyline would give the writers something to work toward, and avoid the problem I've seen with so many serialized shows: That of "We wrapped up the major plot arcs at the end of the last season, so now what? Do we bring in more powerful enemies? Do we start focusing on previously minor characters? Do we throw in a 'Two years later-' graphic and start with the same characters in new situations and roles?" (a la BSG)
I completely missed the series when it was first on. I bought the DVD sight-unseen based solely on the recommendation of a good friend of mine and was sucked right in. Whatever happens to the series, I'll be watching the marathon. I know I could watch my DVDs any time, (could anyway, if I wasn't always loaning them out to bring in more converts) It would be great to see the resurrection of one of the martyrs of the Geek community.
My question is how much of that $100 million actually went to artists? You know - those people that the RIAA is claiming they are protecting by filing these lawsuits.
I'd like to say that, in my experience, the sale to Lenovo hasn't affected IBM's quality of support at all. The bank where I work is an all IBM shop and we were a bit concerned that support would suffer but it hasn't.
If I have a part fail on a machine, I call their support number. Generally about 2-3 minutes with the automated system - selecting "Hardware support", punch in model number, etc... - sometimes a 1-3 minutes on hold but rarely, tell the service rep what the symptoms are and what part I need and I almost always have the part the next day. I've called at 3PM and had the part arrive with the next day's FedEx.
I don't have any experience with Apple's support, but I can say that IBM's hasn't slipped since the sale.
I also really like my Precision Pro joystick - granted lately I've been using it for FlightGear and Vega Strike under Linux
Please, PLEASE let it be something involving horrible, unrelenting agony.
I'm guessing he gets tossed in the Sarlaac.
Which then gags, and spits him back out.
Think a Ford Pinto, but with Ferrari gas milage.
I do this too, but without a cordless. I just set up my work PC with the mouse on the left and left my home PC with the mouse on the right. It didn't take me long to get good enough at left-handed mousing to handle work just fine, but the gaming I do at home benefits from the extra speed and precision I can manage with my dominant hand.
Ok, I make it a rule to never comment on anyone's grammar, but coming after the above posts on e.g. vs. i.e., this is just too funny. It reads like an old Incredible Hulk comic.
"Why you install Linux? Hulk smash puny master boot record!!"
On the other hand, who knows when Vista will actually ship?
In Sony's case, no. For example: The market wants good MP3 players. Sony's audio division wants to produce good MP3 players. But the music division doesn't like MP3 players. So Sony's audio division makes DRM crippled players that use the bundled software to re-encode MP3s to a proprietary standard when transfering to the player. Nobody buys it. Years later Sony finally releases an actual MP3 player.
I think the same thing may be happening with the PS3. One division develops BluRay. They think "Hey, we've got the most popular video game console out there. Let's put BluRay in the next version so that BluRay will become the most popular video format." Meanwhile the Playstation division is cringing at the thought of trying to sell a console and games at a huge price premium, because they know that most people don't want to pay that much.
Actually, they're changing the guns to walkie-talkies.
XWing Alliance seemed promising with an actual single-player story, until you realize that half of the single-player campaign involves you sitting in the turret of your cargo ship playing "Shooting gallery" with a few dozen incoming missiles. I got mid-way through Alliance till I got stuck on a mission where you have to protect a satelite and an idiot in a space suit. At that point, I realized it just wasn't fun. I enjoyed the missions I was flying as an Alliance fighter pilot. But the "Family cargo business" missions just got worse and worse.
I remember the thrill of TIE Fighter. I remember dodging laser fire from a capital ship so I could get in close, skimming along the surface, heading for the shield protectors and taking potshots at laser batteries on the way. I remember the time I took down a Victory-class Star Destroyer using a TIE Interceptor. Heck, I remember doing the Death-Star trench run in the original X-Wing. Supposedly the last level of Alliance let you fly the Millenium Falcon to take down the second Death Star, but I never saw that level. It just wasn't worth it.
I mean, where else are you going to find vegetarian cannibals worshiping a lactose-intolerant volcano god?
I was very disappointed that they went 3D with MI4. I thought it worked well with Grim Fandango, but for Monkey Island they should have stuck with the 'Saturday morning cartoon' style.
Also, anything broadcast over Ham radio cannot be encrypted. Not exactly what you'd want for a wireless ISP.
It's actually very easy to do. The default CueCat will output the bar code as a value containing the CueCat's serial number and a hashed version of the bar code number. Google "Declaw cuecat" or just check some of the links in the Wikipedia article. I've got a couple - both USB and PS2 - that I've modified to output a straight barcode value. It's been awhile since I did it, but as I recall, it involved just cutting one or more pins on an IC.
The Emperor's New Groove (2000) $89 Damn. There's no justice. That film is great, and completely blows away most of their other recent films for sheer style, verve and originality I so agree with you on this. Such a great movie - great sarcastic humor and perfect use of comic timing.
I know Neal Stephenson said something similar in "In the Beginning Was the Command Line"
It is colossal, and yet it only edits straight ASCII text files, which is to say, no fonts, no boldface, no underlining. In other words, the engineer-hours that, in the case of Microsoft Word, were devoted to features like mail merge, and the ability to embed feature-length motion pictures in corporate memoranda, were, in the case of emacs, focused with maniacal intensity on the deceptively simple-seeming problem of editing text.