I'm cheaper than most - I don't like spending more than $20 on a game, even if I know it's one I want. So when I say that I would never impulse-buy a game I knew little to nothing about unless it was under $10, I assume that for most people it'd be at least twice that - but that still doesn't come CLOSE to what they cost new. Unless it's part of a franchise that I know I like (Zelda, for instance, or Sims), I'm going to read a ton of reviews etc before I buy just about any game.
*shrug* I downloaded an episode of Monk because it was free, and I'd heard good things about the show from a friend. I've never actually watched it myself, don't even get whatever cable channel it airs on, and would never have d/led the episode if it hadn't been the free one of the week or whatever.
Sometimes, when you make things easily accessible, people *will* just grab it for the heck of it.
(I haven't actually gotten around to watching the episode I downloaded... but I'm sure I'll be bored someday and watch it.)
You think that's bad? After I purchased a PowerPuff Girls video, they had the gall to EMAIL ME when the next one came out! It was horrible, I needed months of therapy to get over this horrible stalking.
What, like annoying people who just bought the brand-new nano by releasing the video iPod almost immediately afterward?
Obviously there's a bit less overlap in the markets than in Powerbook buyers vs Powerbook buyers, but still - I don't think Apple cares much about whether they annoy you that way after they have your money. Because by the time you're ready to upgrade again, you'll have forgotten all about it... At least, forgotten enough to buy another Mac, though you might wait til after MacWorld this time.
Wow, that would make me really happy. Not because I'm going to buy any of those. But right now I'm waiting til after Tuesday to buy a used iBook G3 - and if they were to announced a $799 iBook, that would drive down used prices even more than I'm hoping for. Unfortunately, I'm not holding my breath on that one - but I am hoping the introduction of a new laptop will lower used prices a little.
I think Cyndi Lauper (who also appeared in the live-action segments sometimes) is divorced from Captain Lou now, so I'm betting none of her songs would be on it... (I don't remember if they ever were, but since they were married at the time I assume they were.)
"Hack" at MIT means "prank," not "messing with computers". As I understand it, originally "hacking" meant, basically, leaving the established trail. At MIT, it came to mean exploring unusual parts of campus (which as a verb it still means), and then putting things in those parts of campus (like a car on the dome) and other pranks in general (usually used as a noun). At about the same time as that usage was evolving at MIT, the same word was being adopted by computer geeks (at MIT and elsewhere) to mean doing the same stuff, but in computers instead of in the physical world. So the usages are related, but the MIT one isn't really used anywhere else.
I know, I'm writing this days after the article was posted, no one will ever read it...
But I have to point out that there seems to be some evidence that people don't LIKE annoying flashing advertising everywhere they look. Moreover, their dislike is strong enough that it has strongly influenced advertising on the web - the initial tide of seizure-inducers has given way to calmer banners and the huge popularity of text-only ads.
I have a feeling that the novelty of flashing cereal boxes - even to the marketing departments - will wear off quickly when they discover that people are going out of their way to avoid walking down the cereal aisle.
Perhaps you should be looking elsewhere then. Maybe not so much at video games. The revolution may be televised, but I doubt it will be released for any of the consoles.
I have to agree - however, given that this article is basically intended as a rebuttal to all the anti-video game stuff you see in the media, you have to expect it to be one-sided. The implication is that the other side of the argument has already been presented, in countless newspaper articles and CNN interviews.
Of course, knowing some of Henry Jenkins' work (which I do really like) and having taken a class from him, I think that he does tend to be a little one-sided overall on this issue, not just in this article. But that happens a lot when people are trying to defend an unpopular view and the masses are against them.
I cannot imagine spending $50 on one video game. I just can't. $20-25 seems reasonable to me, over $30 is just not worth it. If I can't buy secondhand games, I'd probably just not buy games at all and rent everything except *maybe* my favorite couple of games. (Of course, I also can't imagine spending $10 on one freaking viewing of a movie, so maybe I'm not the norm.)
And even for people who are willing to spend $50 on a game, not everyone is able to spend that much at once all the time. If someone was going to buy a $25 used game, they now have to wait until they've got another $25... And in that time, they might decide they are just better off borrowing it from a friend or renting it.
Of course, I have no idea how I'd get SNES games, seeing as how no one rents them anymore, and you can't even get them used except on eBay.
related
One entry found for related.
Main Entry: related
Function: adjective
1 : connected by reason of an established or discoverable relation
2 : connected by common ancestry or sometimes by marriage
3 : having close harmonic connection -- used of tones, chords, or tonalities - relatedly adverb
- relatedness noun
I knew someone who started a magazine, and in the first issue half of the photos were distorted like this. It drove me CRAZY. Luckily, they got whatever kink that was worked out by the second issue. I can't believe there could actually be people who don't notice that - do they go to the carnival and wonder what the big deal is at the hall of mirrors?
I actually had the same thought when I saw it. Well, it was more like "Man, I'm glad I'm healthy again, because I'll need plenty of red blood cells to play that! And I must play that!"
Btw, for this reason, I would suggest donating stuff for consoles rather than handhelds... If you hold a DS down in your lap, you're not going to be able to see the screen very well, and holding it up to your face takes a lot of energy. I could not have used handhelds games when I was sick. The donations of handhelds have probably been so high b/c people think hey, they can hold it right there in the hospital bed with them - and some kids can, but there are some that need even less activity than that.
Sometimes, when you're sick, being constructive isn't an issue - just finding a way to not be mind-numbingly bored is your main concern.
When you're going through chemo, holding a pencil (or crayon) up to a piece of paper can take too much energy. Holding a book up, or even holding your hands up to a keyboard can be too much to do for very long.
When I was going through chemo, I found that the one thing that could keep my mind active while not taxing my body at all was sitting there in a comfy chair with a video game controller in my lap - you can keep your hands down and just move your fingers a little, which is much less tiring than any activity that requires holding your hands up. And if I was too tired even for that, my husband could play and I could watch and help him figure out the puzzles.
I think video games are an excellent idea for these sick kids.
While it sounds like very promising news, it does leave me with two questions:
1) Is there any chance of the virus mutating and becoming more difficult for normal cells to kill?
2) In patients that are also undergoing chemo or radiation, will their suppressed immune systems make the virus more dangerous?
I'm not a doctor or biologist or anything, so if someone more knowledgeable has any clue on this please post. I'm just going off of what is in the article, video and the list of clinical trials they're doing. I see that they're doing one trial of the virus + rads, so I guess the answer to #2 will be coming up soon.
While Christmas shopping this weekend, I heard a staff member ask a customer on the phone: "You're looking for Mario Kart for PSP?"
Doh! Looks like someone will be asking for a DS for Christmas... Even when Sony manages to get one sold, they still haven't truly taken the "mindshare"...
Notice that there always is something you can download for free on the iTMS. Just not in the video section - yet. Remember that 1) This is a very new thing, with very, very limited content. Whatever content they can get their hands on is very valuable to them right now. 2) Downloading a video costs them more bandwidth than a song, so free episodes are going to cut into their (probably already thin) profit margins more than free songs. I'll be once bandwidth prices fall a bit and they have the range of content they have in music, they'll have a few freebies.
Hell, forget subscribing even to individual shows... If I could pay the basic cable rate (that gives you about 10 channels - that they pick) and instead get any ten channels I want, I'd sign up in a heartbeat.
No, I don't have cable at all right now - there are maybe 3-5 channels I really, really want, and 3-5 more I'd like to have, and beyond that it's a waste of money for me. A la carte channel selection would make all the difference. In fact, I think I'd even prefer it to show selection, because if I only subscribed to a few shows I'd never find anything new.
causation
One entry found for causation.
Main Entry: causation
Pronunciation: ko-'zA-sh&n
Function: noun
1 a : the act or process of causing b : the act or agency which produces an effect
2 : CAUSALITY
"Correlation does not imply causation" is a pretty common mantra in basic research methods classes.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm cheaper than most - I don't like spending more than $20 on a game, even if I know it's one I want. So when I say that I would never impulse-buy a game I knew little to nothing about unless it was under $10, I assume that for most people it'd be at least twice that - but that still doesn't come CLOSE to what they cost new. Unless it's part of a franchise that I know I like (Zelda, for instance, or Sims), I'm going to read a ton of reviews etc before I buy just about any game.
Maybe you should try googling the content of that post.
. . . Which, in turn, funds their R&D, which allows them to develop better search technologies?
What, you thought Google's been running on the magic pixie dust of the Venture Capital Fairies all this time?
Sometimes, when you make things easily accessible, people *will* just grab it for the heck of it.
(I haven't actually gotten around to watching the episode I downloaded... but I'm sure I'll be bored someday and watch it.)
You think that's bad? After I purchased a PowerPuff Girls video, they had the gall to EMAIL ME when the next one came out! It was horrible, I needed months of therapy to get over this horrible stalking.
Obviously there's a bit less overlap in the markets than in Powerbook buyers vs Powerbook buyers, but still - I don't think Apple cares much about whether they annoy you that way after they have your money. Because by the time you're ready to upgrade again, you'll have forgotten all about it... At least, forgotten enough to buy another Mac, though you might wait til after MacWorld this time.
Wow, that would make me really happy. Not because I'm going to buy any of those. But right now I'm waiting til after Tuesday to buy a used iBook G3 - and if they were to announced a $799 iBook, that would drive down used prices even more than I'm hoping for. Unfortunately, I'm not holding my breath on that one - but I am hoping the introduction of a new laptop will lower used prices a little.
I think Cyndi Lauper (who also appeared in the live-action segments sometimes) is divorced from Captain Lou now, so I'm betting none of her songs would be on it... (I don't remember if they ever were, but since they were married at the time I assume they were.)
http://hacks.mit.edu/
But I have to point out that there seems to be some evidence that people don't LIKE annoying flashing advertising everywhere they look. Moreover, their dislike is strong enough that it has strongly influenced advertising on the web - the initial tide of seizure-inducers has given way to calmer banners and the huge popularity of text-only ads.
I have a feeling that the novelty of flashing cereal boxes - even to the marketing departments - will wear off quickly when they discover that people are going out of their way to avoid walking down the cereal aisle.
Perhaps you should be looking elsewhere then. Maybe not so much at video games. The revolution may be televised, but I doubt it will be released for any of the consoles.
Of course, knowing some of Henry Jenkins' work (which I do really like) and having taken a class from him, I think that he does tend to be a little one-sided overall on this issue, not just in this article. But that happens a lot when people are trying to defend an unpopular view and the masses are against them.
And even for people who are willing to spend $50 on a game, not everyone is able to spend that much at once all the time. If someone was going to buy a $25 used game, they now have to wait until they've got another $25... And in that time, they might decide they are just better off borrowing it from a friend or renting it.
Of course, I have no idea how I'd get SNES games, seeing as how no one rents them anymore, and you can't even get them used except on eBay.
Perhaps you should buy yourself a nice spay for Christmas.
related
One entry found for related.
Main Entry: related
Function: adjective
1 : connected by reason of an established or discoverable relation
2 : connected by common ancestry or sometimes by marriage
3 : having close harmonic connection -- used of tones, chords, or tonalities
- relatedly adverb
- relatedness noun
I knew someone who started a magazine, and in the first issue half of the photos were distorted like this. It drove me CRAZY. Luckily, they got whatever kink that was worked out by the second issue. I can't believe there could actually be people who don't notice that - do they go to the carnival and wonder what the big deal is at the hall of mirrors?
I actually had the same thought when I saw it. Well, it was more like "Man, I'm glad I'm healthy again, because I'll need plenty of red blood cells to play that! And I must play that!"
Have you looked at the wish lists? I'm sure Super Mario Sunshine is training the next leukemia-riddles serial killer as we speak.
Btw, for this reason, I would suggest donating stuff for consoles rather than handhelds... If you hold a DS down in your lap, you're not going to be able to see the screen very well, and holding it up to your face takes a lot of energy. I could not have used handhelds games when I was sick. The donations of handhelds have probably been so high b/c people think hey, they can hold it right there in the hospital bed with them - and some kids can, but there are some that need even less activity than that.
When you're going through chemo, holding a pencil (or crayon) up to a piece of paper can take too much energy. Holding a book up, or even holding your hands up to a keyboard can be too much to do for very long.
When I was going through chemo, I found that the one thing that could keep my mind active while not taxing my body at all was sitting there in a comfy chair with a video game controller in my lap - you can keep your hands down and just move your fingers a little, which is much less tiring than any activity that requires holding your hands up. And if I was too tired even for that, my husband could play and I could watch and help him figure out the puzzles.
I think video games are an excellent idea for these sick kids.
1) Is there any chance of the virus mutating and becoming more difficult for normal cells to kill?
2) In patients that are also undergoing chemo or radiation, will their suppressed immune systems make the virus more dangerous?
I'm not a doctor or biologist or anything, so if someone more knowledgeable has any clue on this please post. I'm just going off of what is in the article, video and the list of clinical trials they're doing. I see that they're doing one trial of the virus + rads, so I guess the answer to #2 will be coming up soon.
Doh! Looks like someone will be asking for a DS for Christmas... Even when Sony manages to get one sold, they still haven't truly taken the "mindshare"...
Notice that there always is something you can download for free on the iTMS. Just not in the video section - yet. Remember that 1) This is a very new thing, with very, very limited content. Whatever content they can get their hands on is very valuable to them right now. 2) Downloading a video costs them more bandwidth than a song, so free episodes are going to cut into their (probably already thin) profit margins more than free songs. I'll be once bandwidth prices fall a bit and they have the range of content they have in music, they'll have a few freebies.
No, I don't have cable at all right now - there are maybe 3-5 channels I really, really want, and 3-5 more I'd like to have, and beyond that it's a waste of money for me. A la carte channel selection would make all the difference. In fact, I think I'd even prefer it to show selection, because if I only subscribed to a few shows I'd never find anything new.
causation
One entry found for causation.
Main Entry: causation
Pronunciation: ko-'zA-sh&n
Function: noun
1 a : the act or process of causing b : the act or agency which produces an effect
2 : CAUSALITY
"Correlation does not imply causation" is a pretty common mantra in basic research methods classes.