USPTO is funded almost entirely by patent fees and is run under the Department of Commerce. The DoC is run from a cabinet position, thus placing it under the Executive Branch. The USPTO is run by an appointee of the President.
Excellent. So you've finally perfected producing something from nothing? Brilliant, my man! Although with such a discovery you'd think you could do better than a spell check.
Just because you don't care doesn't mean others don't care. I found it interesting both times, as I am sure others did. Now if someone asks me or tries to use Browzar as a counter to the Firefox packages that don't leave trails, I can advise them that Browzar might not be all that it claims it is.
Believe it or not, some Slashdot users might even be using Browzar thinking they are safe.
.NET 2.0 and 3.0 can fully support standards, actually. I believe the final releases of 3.0 will enable standards by default rather than require the programmer to enable them.
Of course, there are plenty of other reasons why ASP.NET sucks. Namely the horrid support for non-JS-enabled browsers, cookie requirement even for the simplest of forms, etc...
The solution is to make movies and other things that make up significant portions of the BT traffic available on the Internet to begin with for prices people will pay, likely through BT, but from the actual providers. This way the movie makers make money from the downloads and can help offset the cost of traffic and it decreases pirate traffic.
Also, since we're all talking about traffic, has there been any statistical analysis of traffic increases from when World of Warcraft pushes out a 100 MB patch?
Sorry, I should have been a little more clear on the crafting issue. EQ2's crafting was unique because it, like other game aspects, took playing skill, not just an in-game stat number. UO's crafting system wasn't a sure thing -- your success was affected by your skill, stats, and other hidden stats such as how "full" you were. UO's crafting system was also limited by the distribution of materials. Knowing and mapping high-level ore types was something not governed by in-game stats.
And no, an equal in-game skill number should not mean equal items... if I spend time learning how to best use my 100.0 Blacksmithing skill, I should be able to produce better things than some guy that happens to have 100.0 but doesn't care if his stuff is exceptional. I would want someone that wants a high-level piece crafted to come to me with their metal bars because I can give them a better chance of not wasting 50,000 gold on a non-exceptional item.
WoW's crafting system is very flat. The only way it can currently expand is by gaining additional recipes and by knowing node spawn points. Unfortunately, WoW also shows you the spawn points... whereas UO you actually had to discover and test them yourself.
Jewelcrafting could change that a bit, of course, since it gives some customization options.
I'm convinced that a lot of WoW's appeal is the color and graphics style. There are many other MMOs out at the moment but most of them have graphics more seated in reality. Unfortunately, it seems that many game artists are not capable of working with earth tones very well and most of the graphics end up washed out and grey. EQ2 is a prime example of graphics-gone-wrong. EQ2 had a lot going for it, actually... the crafting system was pretty damn innovative and was a throwback to UO (post-T2A) where your skill directly impacted the quality of your goods. You couldn't get away with a blacksmithing mule without putting a lot of effort into it. Contrast that skill and time-based system to WoW's crafting system where any dumbass that gets 300 Alchemy can transmute Arcanite every 2 days just as well as you can. A lot of other games tend to have similar graphics problems (Note: part of this is hardware limitations. With a more cartoon graphics style, you can get away with a limited number of polygons and colors. Realistic graphics need heavy shading and heavy textures to make it look good.)
I think for a game to beat WoW they will have to trump graphics and remain simple. Let the casual user have an easy game but make it complex enough for those that want complexity. WoW has done this fairly well. Anyone can get to 60, but a true game fan can find and adventure for specific equipment items and specific stats. A fanatic fan can break the game down into math and figure out exactly how much his DPS (damage per second) would increase if he got a certain item or certain enchant. But you don't have to do that.
Customization is a big (HUGE) key that WoW has completely missed. You cannot create a community in WoW beyond a guild. Again going back to UO.. that was a great feature, albiet implemented very poorly at times and the implementation/security of it varied greatly every content update. If you wanted to, you and some friends could build a small town out of user-purchased homes, complete with NPC vendors that you controlled. Second Life has huge customization features but is lacking graphics, intuitive UI, and just doesn't have the appeal that most games do.
As much as I hate DRM, by buying the music from iTunes in the first place you are clearly stating your position that you will tolerate DRM. It's like buying a Ford and ripping the Ford emblem off the car and thinking that you're "sticking it to Ford." I have news for you: Ford (Apple) is laughing all the way to the bank.
Since when is blog commentary considered myth debunking?
I'm happy to say that with Javascript disabled I didn't give him any ad impressions for that drivel apparently deemed Slashdot-worthy. I have a vertical scrollbar for a reason -- and that reason certainly isn't to click "Next page".
A bit late in replying, and you do bring up a few good points. However, we have been doing successful organ and tissue transplants for decades now. In fact, we are even transplanting heart valves from pigs and cows into humans and have been doing so since the early 80's (1981 I believe). Growing an organ or tissue from stem cells would allow much closer genetic and blood matches than current organ donors can do.
The thing is -- we won't really know what cures are possible, if any, from embryonic stem cells until we actually try them out and complete the research.
They don't actually need to stop selling us oil or reduce production to cause problems, and every government knows it. Simply saying "We're going to reduce production" will send global oil markets into a frenzy and cause higher prices all-around. Markets are reactionary. Markets do not follow political logic.
Or for that matter, their political environment and freedoms versus ours? I'd be damn pissed if I couldn't do what I want, when I want, and spend my money how I want. Pissed off enough to be violent, likely. We, on the other hand, are still somewhat free... and we have full legal systems to handle every complaint these American terrorists have. It's called lawsuits (civil or criminal) and voting. Don't like testing on animals? Convince voters to agree with you to vote in like-minded politicians -- don't firebomb shit.
IIRC, the AMTRAK system was recently praised on CBS News as being the "most user friendly" system. There was a recent coneference/expo of voice system vendors and apparently the most-desired system was the one that AMTRAK used or ones that could copy what AMTRAK does.
Stay away from any Macromedia or Adobe product. They make fine programs but I would think such complicated and, frankly, unpredictable user interfaces would just confuse the poor students.
UN: Stop enriching uranium or face political and economic consequences. Iran: Do so and we will stop selling you oil. China will buy it if you don't. Continue your threats and we will use our position in OPEC against you. UN: Uhhh....
Slashdot Mirror
USPTO is funded almost entirely by patent fees and is run under the Department of Commerce. The DoC is run from a cabinet position, thus placing it under the Executive Branch. The USPTO is run by an appointee of the President.
Four?! Where the hell are you living? It's close to $7 here...
Since when are business models subject to patent rights? Products, yes, but business models?
Even with a 14-day trial you still must purchase the game off the shelf in the US for a valid game key.
Excellent. So you've finally perfected producing something from nothing? Brilliant, my man! Although with such a discovery you'd think you could do better than a spell check.
I sure hope it is. Whoever uses an e-mail client that displays inline Flash deserves to get spammed and malwared to death.
Just because you don't care doesn't mean others don't care. I found it interesting both times, as I am sure others did. Now if someone asks me or tries to use Browzar as a counter to the Firefox packages that don't leave trails, I can advise them that Browzar might not be all that it claims it is.
Believe it or not, some Slashdot users might even be using Browzar thinking they are safe.
Don't like it? Don't read it.
I'm not sure why this is a YRO story, though.
.NET 2.0 and 3.0 can fully support standards, actually. I believe the final releases of 3.0 will enable standards by default rather than require the programmer to enable them.
Of course, there are plenty of other reasons why ASP.NET sucks. Namely the horrid support for non-JS-enabled browsers, cookie requirement even for the simplest of forms, etc...
I wonder if his webserver was one of the 50.
One useless "I moved to Linux, HAHA!" post down, 499 to go.
The solution isn't to throttle BT traffic.
The solution is to make movies and other things that make up significant portions of the BT traffic available on the Internet to begin with for prices people will pay, likely through BT, but from the actual providers. This way the movie makers make money from the downloads and can help offset the cost of traffic and it decreases pirate traffic.
Also, since we're all talking about traffic, has there been any statistical analysis of traffic increases from when World of Warcraft pushes out a 100 MB patch?
Sorry, I should have been a little more clear on the crafting issue. EQ2's crafting was unique because it, like other game aspects, took playing skill, not just an in-game stat number. UO's crafting system wasn't a sure thing -- your success was affected by your skill, stats, and other hidden stats such as how "full" you were. UO's crafting system was also limited by the distribution of materials. Knowing and mapping high-level ore types was something not governed by in-game stats.
And no, an equal in-game skill number should not mean equal items... if I spend time learning how to best use my 100.0 Blacksmithing skill, I should be able to produce better things than some guy that happens to have 100.0 but doesn't care if his stuff is exceptional. I would want someone that wants a high-level piece crafted to come to me with their metal bars because I can give them a better chance of not wasting 50,000 gold on a non-exceptional item.
WoW's crafting system is very flat. The only way it can currently expand is by gaining additional recipes and by knowing node spawn points. Unfortunately, WoW also shows you the spawn points... whereas UO you actually had to discover and test them yourself.
Jewelcrafting could change that a bit, of course, since it gives some customization options.
I'm convinced that a lot of WoW's appeal is the color and graphics style. There are many other MMOs out at the moment but most of them have graphics more seated in reality. Unfortunately, it seems that many game artists are not capable of working with earth tones very well and most of the graphics end up washed out and grey. EQ2 is a prime example of graphics-gone-wrong. EQ2 had a lot going for it, actually... the crafting system was pretty damn innovative and was a throwback to UO (post-T2A) where your skill directly impacted the quality of your goods. You couldn't get away with a blacksmithing mule without putting a lot of effort into it. Contrast that skill and time-based system to WoW's crafting system where any dumbass that gets 300 Alchemy can transmute Arcanite every 2 days just as well as you can. A lot of other games tend to have similar graphics problems (Note: part of this is hardware limitations. With a more cartoon graphics style, you can get away with a limited number of polygons and colors. Realistic graphics need heavy shading and heavy textures to make it look good.)
I think for a game to beat WoW they will have to trump graphics and remain simple. Let the casual user have an easy game but make it complex enough for those that want complexity. WoW has done this fairly well. Anyone can get to 60, but a true game fan can find and adventure for specific equipment items and specific stats. A fanatic fan can break the game down into math and figure out exactly how much his DPS (damage per second) would increase if he got a certain item or certain enchant. But you don't have to do that.
Customization is a big (HUGE) key that WoW has completely missed. You cannot create a community in WoW beyond a guild. Again going back to UO.. that was a great feature, albiet implemented very poorly at times and the implementation/security of it varied greatly every content update. If you wanted to, you and some friends could build a small town out of user-purchased homes, complete with NPC vendors that you controlled. Second Life has huge customization features but is lacking graphics, intuitive UI, and just doesn't have the appeal that most games do.
No, the PSP and DS Lite aren't tiny per se, but the article mentions that PSP2 would be smaller and lighter.
Stop making things so fucking tiny. Not all of us have tiny hands... Smaller != Better.
Is that 16GB of porn in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
As much as I hate DRM, by buying the music from iTunes in the first place you are clearly stating your position that you will tolerate DRM. It's like buying a Ford and ripping the Ford emblem off the car and thinking that you're "sticking it to Ford." I have news for you: Ford (Apple) is laughing all the way to the bank.
Since when is blog commentary considered myth debunking?
I'm happy to say that with Javascript disabled I didn't give him any ad impressions for that drivel apparently deemed Slashdot-worthy. I have a vertical scrollbar for a reason -- and that reason certainly isn't to click "Next page".
"Less is more" - not "Small is the new Big". I want my browser to only do what I want -- and nothing more. Don't fill my browser full of crap, please.
A bit late in replying, and you do bring up a few good points. However, we have been doing successful organ and tissue transplants for decades now. In fact, we are even transplanting heart valves from pigs and cows into humans and have been doing so since the early 80's (1981 I believe). Growing an organ or tissue from stem cells would allow much closer genetic and blood matches than current organ donors can do.
The thing is -- we won't really know what cures are possible, if any, from embryonic stem cells until we actually try them out and complete the research.
They don't actually need to stop selling us oil or reduce production to cause problems, and every government knows it. Simply saying "We're going to reduce production" will send global oil markets into a frenzy and cause higher prices all-around. Markets are reactionary. Markets do not follow political logic.
Or for that matter, their political environment and freedoms versus ours? I'd be damn pissed if I couldn't do what I want, when I want, and spend my money how I want. Pissed off enough to be violent, likely. We, on the other hand, are still somewhat free... and we have full legal systems to handle every complaint these American terrorists have. It's called lawsuits (civil or criminal) and voting. Don't like testing on animals? Convince voters to agree with you to vote in like-minded politicians -- don't firebomb shit.
IIRC, the AMTRAK system was recently praised on CBS News as being the "most user friendly" system. There was a recent coneference/expo of voice system vendors and apparently the most-desired system was the one that AMTRAK used or ones that could copy what AMTRAK does.
Stay away from any Macromedia or Adobe product. They make fine programs but I would think such complicated and, frankly, unpredictable user interfaces would just confuse the poor students.
Future conversation:
UN: Stop enriching uranium or face political and economic consequences.
Iran: Do so and we will stop selling you oil. China will buy it if you don't. Continue your threats and we will use our position in OPEC against you.
UN: Uhhh....