When I was growing up, I learned to play Street Fighter without the high-punch button. Why? Because every damn machine in the world has a broken high punch button.
I don't see a thin plastic guitar boding any better.
That's it? I thought it would be some horrid photo that would boil the blood and cause the world to end. It's a naked girl. Pshaw. All I can say to the opponents when they wonder what they should do about it is, buddy, nevermind.
Although... if we know when that light was emitted, then we know the distance to the supernova already. There's four pieces of information that could be known. If we know two of them, we can map out the Earth/Supernova/Cloud system:
The distance from Earth to the Supernova at the time of the supernova event (equal to the time it took for light from the supernova to reach Earth)
The distance from the supernova to the reflecting cloud (equal to the time it took for the light from the supernova to reach the cloud)
The distance from the reflecting cloud to Earth (equal to the time it took for the reflected light to travel from the cloud to Earth)
The angle between the cloud and the supernova, with earth at the origin (projected onto two dimensions of your choice, for convenience)
We know 1 is about 7500 light years. I can only presume that the smart brains behind the telescopes can tell determine 3 from looking at the cloud. However, if they can already position the cloud, then you don't need to know 2, you can work it out even without the reflected light
The hard part, I would assume, would be doing the math on not where everything is, but where everything was when the light hit, and adjusting accordingly.
2. Only 10,000? Do they feel that the Internet is really so small?
Nah, let them think this. Then every Australian can kick in a couple bucks, and run a domain-name registration script:
australiaFilterSucks-1.au
australiaFilterSucks-2.au
australiaFilterSucks-3.au
...
australiaFilterSucks-10000.au
Adjust domain name to whatever is needed to get it added to the list. For additional fun, use each domain as a free, open proxy that Australians on a filter ISP can use to pass through the wall. So either they get banned and clog up the list to the point of inoperability, or they bust the system wide open. Problem solved.
What you appear to be referring to is what is sometimes referred to as Dods Law (or something like that?) that says that mentioning the nazi's or hitler is an automatic forfeit of your argument.
Nitpick much? God, stop being such a Godwin's Law nazi!
The problem is that once you purchase the game, you cannot return it, you cannot sell it, and you cannot give it away/transfer it to another party.
Agreed with that, though in theory you could sell someone your Steam account (unless that's against the EULA. I haven't read it)
As well, despite the fact that the steam version has no packaging costs, no printing costs, no warehousing costs, no stocking, shipping, or handling costs, you are still paying the same for the game as everyone else who bought it in the store.
Finally, the Steam store does not answer to market concerns, and operates arbitrarily...
They do have bandwidth, hosting, electricity and administrative costs, though. If those are on the same level as brick'n'mortar overhead, who knows.
And I would argue that they are responding to market demands. If they offered all the games for $2, it would murder their retail division. The market says people will pay $X for a boxed version. They won't pay $Y for a digital version, and wouldn't buy the boxed version if the digital was priced at $Z. So the market has demanded a digital copy for somewhere between $Y and $Z. B&M stores drop prices and clear out inventory due to limitations of physical space. The market dictates that newer games sell better, so the profit:space ratio is higher for those products. As you pointed out, Steam has no shelf/warehouse/stocking requirements, so they don't have the same physical pressure to lower the price of product. In fact, as a popular game goes out of stock at EB, you'd think the price at Steam would RISE-- as per market demands. If the product is popular, and demand is high, price goes up. The set price just comes down to market demands. 10 copies with $10 profit, or 70 copies with $1 profit? (Ignoring, of course, the intangibles such as market share, brand loyalty, install base, PR, etc).
So while I think you're right that there's more that Steam can do to be The Awesomest, they are far from ignoring market demands. It's just that their market, while it has some unique benefits, doesn't live in isolation from other markets-- and those have an impact
I think it would also conclude that getting an fMRI while talking on the cellphone is bad for the cellphone. And the fMRI machine. And probably the patient.
The other day I saw this browser on a friend's machine. I think it was called Internet Explorer, but I'm not sure. I've never used it before. Is it any good?
All games have to be played online. There won't be single player games anymore, there'll just be web based games or virtual worlds you can play single player-style or massively multiplayer style, but in either case the data for the game world will only be on the server.
Plausible, but allow me to offer a more optimistic outcome: A time when the single-player/offline client is given away for free, and only online access is paid for. The publishers concede that they can't prevent from copying the client, and that they have no control over what someone does with it once they have it. They concede that the boxed discs are just a convenience for someone who doesn't want to download it, as well as a mild form of advertisement. The game is distributed through word of mouth, and other people's bandwidth via bittorrent. They bump up the price of online access by $5 a month to cover the retail loss (or to make some more money, and more power to them). They also follow the existing trend of instore cards that can be used to pay for monthly fees, for those who don't have a credit card.
If you don't play online, or if/when the company dies, you have a perfectly playable game. Many more people have the client, which will translate into many more paying customers if the game is good. Distribution costs go down. Advertisement costs go down, since it's effectively free. You don't lose potential customers to DRM.
And yes I realize games are "expensive" to make. Some numbers I've read claim a major-studio release can be upwards of $20,000,000. Maybe that's not a feasible number and will have to change in the future. Maybe some studio will do release-by-pledge. Open a bank account in trust. Players can pledge/donate to the account. If the balance reaches $X, the company is committed to making the sequel. If they can't, or if too much time goes by, the players
I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. A bit louder please?
Get a vmrs smmmr
It sounds like 'get a...' One more time, please, for everyone to hear.
..... get a virus scanner...
'Get a virus scanner'. So all this time you convinced us to use you bareback because you were 'safe' was just a lie?
Not always...
Oh that's right, I forgot. You invited Windows into our boot. You said we'd all be safe together. But didn't I warn you that when you boot with Windows, you boot with everyone Windows has ever had contact with? And that's a lot of people. So when did it happen, hmm? When I was taking care of all the little iPods we have together? Who mounter whose file system, hmm? No, don't touch me. I can't look at you right now.
I'd recommend "The Age Of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence" by Ray Kurzweil. The first chapter is a bit dense, but it really picks up from there. It touches on a lot of highly technical issues, such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, without being overtly technical itself. It would be a good launch-point into some heavier reading, is it contains a very extensive bibliography and recommended reading list.
I don't need another bookmark. That's more clutter. I already had a perfectly good clickable link to my comment section built right into the page. It was called "the goddamn design".
Even if I did bookmark, it still has lost functionality. The layout is crammed. It's jammed up with Idle-layout crap. And it doesn't report the same information it used to.
Even if I overlooked all that, the link you provided isn't to my comments, so it wouldn't work.
WTF is up with the userpage! It was bad I get slapped with the dumbass firehose-with-Idle's-stylesheet, but now I don't even have a tab for my comments.
If I want Firehose, I'll go to to Firehose. (I don't, and wont)
If I want Idle, I'll go to Idle. (I don't, and wont)
If I want my userpage to be a clean, simple and informative interface, I'll click on my username in the upper right. Oh wait, I can't!
If you want to dick around with the userpage, fine. Just give me a checkbox that says "opt out of this crapfest" like you did with the index and comments.
I've switch service providers several time because of network outages and performance issues. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to be on the phone with tech support, insisting that I need to reboot windows one more time (though it's funny as hell to tell them it's a linux box) and after 45 minutes holding and 4 or 5 technical support reps I finally talk to a tech that admits network issues. It will be nice to see how my current provider compares against the local competition.
While this is an excellent point and a fucking annoyance, I don't think this plug-in will help you. You'll get the first level tech, you'll tell them "There's a network outage at points X, Y, Z because of A, B, C". You'll still get back the same canned response. "Thank you for calling support, sir. Today we will need being to reset your computer. Click the Start, then the Shutdown, then the Restart, which is the button that looks like...."
If you really want to get a hold of the second level tech, you can try the bullheaded rush. Just respond to every question with "I appreciate your help, but this is really matter for a second level support. Can I speak to a second level technician please. Second level tech, please." Most times you'll get through.
Because i don't want yet another bookmark cluttering up my bookmark folder/bar, when there already is (was) a perfectly good link right there on the page that had long since been committed to muscle memory.
Agreed about Vuze, but in all fairness, you can run it with the "classic" interface. The Vuze UI blows shared balls. You can also turn off auto-updates, or reduce the frequency of their checks. I personally have auto-updates turned off because some *ahem* sites I frequent disallow Azurues above a certain version number until that version's been vetted by the community.
Before leaving the company, delete all the existing code, smash the servers, shred the backups, bomb the offsite storage, and slaughter any employee or customer who doesn't follow you. That way when you do release your product, there will be no one left to try sue you-- and even if there is, they don't have a product to use as evidence anymore.
(Suggested because this advise is just about as good as anything else you'll get on the thread. Get a lawyer. Seriously, why to people insist on asking Slashdot "How do I do this legally questionable thing without getting caught?". Do you really thing that when you do get sued, you can go to court and use as an excuse "because halcyon1234 told me it was ok"?)
Visit any site with ads that seep through from doubleclick or burstnet or any of those others
You now have a non-zero chance of one of those ads containing something that will exploit something in IE and autodownload&run some malware
Repeat from steps 2, and it's just a matter of time until the law of averages catches up to you
Alternatively, take that XP machine of yours and plug it directly into your DSL/Cable modem (not via a router). Go get a sandwich. Millions of random port-scanners will do the rest for you
It's the result of either a virus, or some wiseass CSS "programmer" who thinks that I want to see Firehose by default-- and we're all out of viruses today.
Slashdot Mirror
When I was growing up, I learned to play Street Fighter without the high-punch button. Why? Because every damn machine in the world has a broken high punch button.
I don't see a thin plastic guitar boding any better.
RIAA sues entire universe over ever-expanding light-shell of radio broadcasted music.
That's it? I thought it would be some horrid photo that would boil the blood and cause the world to end. It's a naked girl. Pshaw. All I can say to the opponents when they wonder what they should do about it is, buddy, nevermind.
Although... if we know when that light was emitted, then we know the distance to the supernova already. There's four pieces of information that could be known. If we know two of them, we can map out the Earth/Supernova/Cloud system:
We know 1 is about 7500 light years. I can only presume that the smart brains behind the telescopes can tell determine 3 from looking at the cloud. However, if they can already position the cloud, then you don't need to know 2, you can work it out even without the reflected light
The hard part, I would assume, would be doing the math on not where everything is, but where everything was when the light hit, and adjusting accordingly.
Nah, let them think this. Then every Australian can kick in a couple bucks, and run a domain-name registration script:
australiaFilterSucks-1.au
australiaFilterSucks-2.au
australiaFilterSucks-3.au
...
australiaFilterSucks-10000.au
Adjust domain name to whatever is needed to get it added to the list. For additional fun, use each domain as a free, open proxy that Australians on a filter ISP can use to pass through the wall. So either they get banned and clog up the list to the point of inoperability, or they bust the system wide open. Problem solved.
Nitpick much? God, stop being such a Godwin's Law nazi!
Agreed with that, though in theory you could sell someone your Steam account (unless that's against the EULA. I haven't read it)
They do have bandwidth, hosting, electricity and administrative costs, though. If those are on the same level as brick'n'mortar overhead, who knows.
And I would argue that they are responding to market demands. If they offered all the games for $2, it would murder their retail division. The market says people will pay $X for a boxed version. They won't pay $Y for a digital version, and wouldn't buy the boxed version if the digital was priced at $Z. So the market has demanded a digital copy for somewhere between $Y and $Z. B&M stores drop prices and clear out inventory due to limitations of physical space. The market dictates that newer games sell better, so the profit:space ratio is higher for those products. As you pointed out, Steam has no shelf/warehouse/stocking requirements, so they don't have the same physical pressure to lower the price of product. In fact, as a popular game goes out of stock at EB, you'd think the price at Steam would RISE-- as per market demands. If the product is popular, and demand is high, price goes up. The set price just comes down to market demands. 10 copies with $10 profit, or 70 copies with $1 profit? (Ignoring, of course, the intangibles such as market share, brand loyalty, install base, PR, etc).
So while I think you're right that there's more that Steam can do to be The Awesomest, they are far from ignoring market demands. It's just that their market, while it has some unique benefits, doesn't live in isolation from other markets-- and those have an impact
I think it would also conclude that getting an fMRI while talking on the cellphone is bad for the cellphone. And the fMRI machine. And probably the patient.
The other day I saw this browser on a friend's machine. I think it was called Internet Explorer, but I'm not sure. I've never used it before. Is it any good?
Plausible, but allow me to offer a more optimistic outcome: A time when the single-player/offline client is given away for free, and only online access is paid for. The publishers concede that they can't prevent from copying the client, and that they have no control over what someone does with it once they have it. They concede that the boxed discs are just a convenience for someone who doesn't want to download it, as well as a mild form of advertisement. The game is distributed through word of mouth, and other people's bandwidth via bittorrent. They bump up the price of online access by $5 a month to cover the retail loss (or to make some more money, and more power to them). They also follow the existing trend of instore cards that can be used to pay for monthly fees, for those who don't have a credit card.
If you don't play online, or if/when the company dies, you have a perfectly playable game. Many more people have the client, which will translate into many more paying customers if the game is good. Distribution costs go down. Advertisement costs go down, since it's effectively free. You don't lose potential customers to DRM.
And yes I realize games are "expensive" to make. Some numbers I've read claim a major-studio release can be upwards of $20,000,000. Maybe that's not a feasible number and will have to change in the future. Maybe some studio will do release-by-pledge. Open a bank account in trust. Players can pledge/donate to the account. If the balance reaches $X, the company is committed to making the sequel. If they can't, or if too much time goes by, the players
So, Apple, you have something to tell us?
geh ammprpmp sm
I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. A bit louder please?
Get a vmrs smmmr
It sounds like 'get a...' One more time, please, for everyone to hear.
'Get a virus scanner'. So all this time you convinced us to use you bareback because you were 'safe' was just a lie?
Not always...
Oh that's right, I forgot. You invited Windows into our boot. You said we'd all be safe together. But didn't I warn you that when you boot with Windows, you boot with everyone Windows has ever had contact with? And that's a lot of people. So when did it happen, hmm? When I was taking care of all the little iPods we have together? Who mounter whose file system, hmm? No, don't touch me. I can't look at you right now.
I'd recommend "The Age Of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence" by Ray Kurzweil. The first chapter is a bit dense, but it really picks up from there. It touches on a lot of highly technical issues, such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, without being overtly technical itself. It would be a good launch-point into some heavier reading, is it contains a very extensive bibliography and recommended reading list.
Penguin has an excerpt from Chapter 6: Building New Brains
WTF is up with the userpage! It was bad I get slapped with the dumbass firehose-with-Idle's-stylesheet, but now I don't even have a tab for my comments.
If I want Firehose, I'll go to to Firehose. (I don't, and wont)
If I want Idle, I'll go to Idle. (I don't, and wont)
If I want my userpage to be a clean, simple and informative interface, I'll click on my username in the upper right. Oh wait, I can't!
If you want to dick around with the userpage, fine. Just give me a checkbox that says "opt out of this crapfest" like you did with the index and comments.
Liberally stolen from all over the Internet:
Or Comcast will just send a RST when you hit Submit, forcing you to start your post all over again...
Are you sure you didn't pull it out of you head? 60% of people can't tell the difference, so I've heard.
While this is an excellent point and a fucking annoyance, I don't think this plug-in will help you. You'll get the first level tech, you'll tell them "There's a network outage at points X, Y, Z because of A, B, C". You'll still get back the same canned response. "Thank you for calling support, sir. Today we will need being to reset your computer. Click the Start, then the Shutdown, then the Restart, which is the button that looks like...."
If you really want to get a hold of the second level tech, you can try the bullheaded rush. Just respond to every question with "I appreciate your help, but this is really matter for a second level support. Can I speak to a second level technician please. Second level tech, please." Most times you'll get through.
Because i don't want yet another bookmark cluttering up my bookmark folder/bar, when there already is (was) a perfectly good link right there on the page that had long since been committed to muscle memory.
Agreed about Vuze, but in all fairness, you can run it with the "classic" interface. The Vuze UI blows shared balls. You can also turn off auto-updates, or reduce the frequency of their checks. I personally have auto-updates turned off because some *ahem* sites I frequent disallow Azurues above a certain version number until that version's been vetted by the community.
Before leaving the company, delete all the existing code, smash the servers, shred the backups, bomb the offsite storage, and slaughter any employee or customer who doesn't follow you. That way when you do release your product, there will be no one left to try sue you-- and even if there is, they don't have a product to use as evidence anymore.
(Suggested because this advise is just about as good as anything else you'll get on the thread. Get a lawyer. Seriously, why to people insist on asking Slashdot "How do I do this legally questionable thing without getting caught?". Do you really thing that when you do get sued, you can go to court and use as an excuse "because halcyon1234 told me it was ok"?)
How secure is IE Tab? If I visit a site with IE tab that would exploit IE to drive-by drop some spyware, would it be able to exploit an IE-Tab Tab?
Yeah, well I patented food. And chains. You violated two of my patents. I'll see you in court. Twice.
Alternatively, take that XP machine of yours and plug it directly into your DSL/Cable modem (not via a router). Go get a sandwich. Millions of random port-scanners will do the rest for you
It's the result of either a virus, or some wiseass CSS "programmer" who thinks that I want to see Firehose by default-- and we're all out of viruses today.