When I think about video game puzzles, I'm generally thinking along the lines of Professor Layton and the Curious Village or Portal. The Roberta Williams "random series of actions" school of puzzling is more like an extended exercise in manual combinatorics. The only way to "solve" most of those games (and I speak from extensive experience) is to use every single item on every other object or person you encounter. Occasionally, there's some sort of sense to what goes where, and you really can "figure it out." Just as often, though, you're putting masking tape on the hole in the fence so that when the cat goes through some fur will stick to it which you can then combine with maple syrup to make a fake mustache to disguise yourself as a man who, incidentally, doesn't have a mustache.
As many of those games as I played as a kid, I can't really say I'm sorry to see them go.
did i say anything? why is it ringing at the door at that late time of day? what the f...AAAAAAAARGH...
BEDEVERE: What is that?
MAYNARD: He must have died while typing it.
LAUNCELOT: Oh, come on!
MAYNARD: Well, that's what it says.
ARTHUR: Look, if he was dying, he wouldn't bother to type 'AAAAAAAARGH'. He'd just say it!
MAYNARD: Well, that's what's typed in the post!
GALAHAD: Perhaps he was dictating.
...shouldn't you have the OTHER people follow his lead, rather than fire him?
Assuming that "you" are the guy in charge of a credit card telemarketing company? No, that isn't what you should do. You should, in fact, find the nearest wood chipper and jump in.
Is it a better path to focus on moving into management?
If you are even asking this question, then the answer is emphatically yes. If money is your primary motivator, management is likely to pay better. If writing software and building systems isn't your primary motivator, you're probably not as good a developer as people who do it because they love it. If you would even consider seeking a job in management instead of engineering, then you'd probably be happier and better paid there.
To put it another way, right up until that last sentence my answer was going to be, "Find something you love, get really good at it, and odds are you can find somebody who will pay you to do it," but if there's nothing in IT that you love, you're better off doing something else.
But if you're going to program in Groovy then you should know Java and perhaps JVM IL. If you're going to program in C then you should know assembly. If you're programming in assembly then you should know about how CPUs will reorder your instructions etc. If you're building a CPU, then you'd better know physics.
And if you're going to do physics, then you should know... theology?
65 percent of consumers are spending more time with a computer than with their significant other
With a computer? Gee, how many of them work with computers at their day job? How many don't have SOs?
The average consumer has experienced computer troubles eight times - about every four months - over the last three years.
They only have computer trouble once every four months? That seems pretty low, if anything, though I suppose it depends on how you define "trouble." If they mean, "this website won't load," I bet it happens on a weekly freakin' basis for most people (especially if they read Slashdot). If they mean, "do you smell something burning?" then probably less often.
The average American is wasting 12 hours per month - the equivalent of half a weekend - due to problems with their home computer.
Huh? What happened to "once every four months?"
A majority of Americans (52%) describe their most recent experience with a computer problem as one of anger, sadness or alienation.
Um... as opposed to what? Are they seriously suggesting that 48% of Americans don't get grumpy when Lappy won't work? This statistic really makes me wonder what they're counting as "trouble."
"We empathize with consumers [blah blah give us money]," said Josh Pickus, CEO of SupportSoft.
Ah, right.
Come on, this is a marketing pitch for their computer support service, and it's not even a subtle one.
My first thought reading this was, "Hey... anybody could make one of those!" Just sit there with a microphone while you watch the movie (with the sound in headphones to avoid bleed in to the commentary track), and you too can explain why Matrix Reloaded was the best movie of the trilogy, scene by scene.
Ok, not so exciting. But, it might be more interesting to hear extra commentary from the actors or crew after the DVD release, or from other interesting people (like, say, Kevin Smith or Joss Whedon's take on the Star Wars prequels). Alternatively, if you gave several people microphones, and especially if you did multiple takes and spliced the best bits together later, you could probably get some pretty good MST3K style tracks (again, the Star Wars prequels seem ripe for this).
In whose hands will the tool be? The "Protect & Serve" type of police or the "Shoot first and ask questions later" kind?
Oh, we get to choose? Awesome! I think they should definitely mandate that only "Protect & Serve" cops get the BigBrotherBots then! Hey, can we extend this sort of legislation to other areas, like the Patriot Act or the DMCA?
Speaking as a former Mathematics/Philosophy double-major and a current software engineer, I have to say: "Meh."
I think a basic study of philosophy would probably widen most people's perspectives on life and be a generally worthwhile experience. Also, the study of different types of logic and numerical systems has been useful professionally, which could be considered branches of philosophy, though they're probably more commonly found in mathematics curriculums (in my experience, anyway). However, interesting as they may be in their own right, I've never found that Hegelian dialectics or the basics of epistemology have really helped me build distributed data models or network traffic prediction algorithms.
On the other hand, if I were working in, say, AI research, I can see where a working knowledge of epistemology might be useful, so YMMV.
"Morgellan's Syndrome?" Dude, that still sounds like the plot of a bad sci-fi movie. Do they cure it by reversing the polarity of Jordie's visor and routing a graviton particle beam through Data's knee?
Well, I think you're half right. I doubt they assume that terrorists are so stupid they couldn't do any of the things you listed. On the other hand, I don't think they pass most of these laws to actually stop terrorists, and to quote H. L. Mencken, "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people."
Currently, it looks like you can only see the last couple episodes to have aired. While I can understand where there might be technical reasons not to put the full up immediately (bandwidth being the most obvious one - I'd hate to be the network admin dealing with hundreds of geeks downloading all 220 episodes back to back), it seems like this would only be useful for people who are already following the show. It might be nice for current viewers who missed an episode to be able to go back and download it, but for a show like, eg, Lost, where the ongoing plot and sequence of episodes are very important, it's not a good way to attract new viewers.
I realize that it's nominally better than the online solution they've already got (ie, nothing), but I don't think they're going to see much increase in viewership until they release more of the back library of episodes. The technical issues are (obviously) not insurmountable - if legions of anime-watchers can make high-quality fansubs widely available, then an organization with the deep pockets of a national TV network should be able to develop a workable file swarming application (ie, BitTorrent-esque) that still allows them to insert current commercials in to the downloads (swarm the episode content, direct download the commercials, and re-assemble on the other end, maybe?).
Slashdot Mirror
When I think about video game puzzles, I'm generally thinking along the lines of Professor Layton and the Curious Village or Portal. The Roberta Williams "random series of actions" school of puzzling is more like an extended exercise in manual combinatorics. The only way to "solve" most of those games (and I speak from extensive experience) is to use every single item on every other object or person you encounter. Occasionally, there's some sort of sense to what goes where, and you really can "figure it out." Just as often, though, you're putting masking tape on the hole in the fence so that when the cat goes through some fur will stick to it which you can then combine with maple syrup to make a fake mustache to disguise yourself as a man who, incidentally, doesn't have a mustache.
As many of those games as I played as a kid, I can't really say I'm sorry to see them go.
Does God count as a friend? Well, how is he on guitar?
Wow! That is insightful!
BEDEVERE: What is that?
MAYNARD: He must have died while typing it.
LAUNCELOT: Oh, come on!
MAYNARD: Well, that's what it says.
ARTHUR: Look, if he was dying, he wouldn't bother to type 'AAAAAAAARGH'. He'd just say it!
MAYNARD: Well, that's what's typed in the post!
GALAHAD: Perhaps he was dictating.
...shouldn't you have the OTHER people follow his lead, rather than fire him?
Assuming that "you" are the guy in charge of a credit card telemarketing company? No, that isn't what you should do. You should, in fact, find the nearest wood chipper and jump in.
Is it a better path to focus on moving into management?
If you are even asking this question, then the answer is emphatically yes. If money is your primary motivator, management is likely to pay better. If writing software and building systems isn't your primary motivator, you're probably not as good a developer as people who do it because they love it. If you would even consider seeking a job in management instead of engineering, then you'd probably be happier and better paid there.
To put it another way, right up until that last sentence my answer was going to be, "Find something you love, get really good at it, and odds are you can find somebody who will pay you to do it," but if there's nothing in IT that you love, you're better off doing something else.
Does it stem from too many bugs in our code or something else? I have no idea.
:-)
You have no idea? Hm. That sort of suggests it may stem from too many bugs in your code.
And if you're going to do physics, then you should know... theology?
You are a first person shooter?
65 percent of consumers are spending more time with a computer than with their significant other
With a computer? Gee, how many of them work with computers at their day job? How many don't have SOs?
The average consumer has experienced computer troubles eight times - about every four months - over the last three years.
They only have computer trouble once every four months? That seems pretty low, if anything, though I suppose it depends on how you define "trouble." If they mean, "this website won't load," I bet it happens on a weekly freakin' basis for most people (especially if they read Slashdot). If they mean, "do you smell something burning?" then probably less often.
The average American is wasting 12 hours per month - the equivalent of half a weekend - due to problems with their home computer.
Huh? What happened to "once every four months?"
A majority of Americans (52%) describe their most recent experience with a computer problem as one of anger, sadness or alienation.
Um... as opposed to what? Are they seriously suggesting that 48% of Americans don't get grumpy when Lappy won't work? This statistic really makes me wonder what they're counting as "trouble."
"We empathize with consumers [blah blah give us money]," said Josh Pickus, CEO of SupportSoft.
Ah, right.
Come on, this is a marketing pitch for their computer support service, and it's not even a subtle one.
I agree! The PS3 is awesome! It's like drinking unicorn giggles!
Come on, just because they rejected your "Boobies" submission doesn't make them terrorists.
My first thought reading this was, "Hey... anybody could make one of those!" Just sit there with a microphone while you watch the movie (with the sound in headphones to avoid bleed in to the commentary track), and you too can explain why Matrix Reloaded was the best movie of the trilogy, scene by scene.
Ok, not so exciting. But, it might be more interesting to hear extra commentary from the actors or crew after the DVD release, or from other interesting people (like, say, Kevin Smith or Joss Whedon's take on the Star Wars prequels). Alternatively, if you gave several people microphones, and especially if you did multiple takes and spliced the best bits together later, you could probably get some pretty good MST3K style tracks (again, the Star Wars prequels seem ripe for this).
Am I the only one who read that and started thinking "Uh, Walter, Wilber, Wally... Jones, Jefferson... Ok, I give up, who's WSJ?"
Oh, we get to choose? Awesome! I think they should definitely mandate that only "Protect & Serve" cops get the BigBrotherBots then! Hey, can we extend this sort of legislation to other areas, like the Patriot Act or the DMCA?
I think a basic study of philosophy would probably widen most people's perspectives on life and be a generally worthwhile experience. Also, the study of different types of logic and numerical systems has been useful professionally, which could be considered branches of philosophy, though they're probably more commonly found in mathematics curriculums (in my experience, anyway). However, interesting as they may be in their own right, I've never found that Hegelian dialectics or the basics of epistemology have really helped me build distributed data models or network traffic prediction algorithms.
On the other hand, if I were working in, say, AI research, I can see where a working knowledge of epistemology might be useful, so YMMV.
No, no, no. The article was talking about emotional bonding.
Because the kids of 20 years ago were all about reading some Moby Dick.
"Morgellan's Syndrome?" Dude, that still sounds like the plot of a bad sci-fi movie. Do they cure it by reversing the polarity of Jordie's visor and routing a graviton particle beam through Data's knee?
That's for sure! Those engineers sure had their heads in the clouds when they came up with this one.
Well, I think you're half right. I doubt they assume that terrorists are so stupid they couldn't do any of the things you listed. On the other hand, I don't think they pass most of these laws to actually stop terrorists, and to quote H. L. Mencken, "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people."
Currently, it looks like you can only see the last couple episodes to have aired. While I can understand where there might be technical reasons not to put the full up immediately (bandwidth being the most obvious one - I'd hate to be the network admin dealing with hundreds of geeks downloading all 220 episodes back to back), it seems like this would only be useful for people who are already following the show. It might be nice for current viewers who missed an episode to be able to go back and download it, but for a show like, eg, Lost, where the ongoing plot and sequence of episodes are very important, it's not a good way to attract new viewers. I realize that it's nominally better than the online solution they've already got (ie, nothing), but I don't think they're going to see much increase in viewership until they release more of the back library of episodes. The technical issues are (obviously) not insurmountable - if legions of anime-watchers can make high-quality fansubs widely available, then an organization with the deep pockets of a national TV network should be able to develop a workable file swarming application (ie, BitTorrent-esque) that still allows them to insert current commercials in to the downloads (swarm the episode content, direct download the commercials, and re-assemble on the other end, maybe?).