I'm still not entirely convinced that Valve is their competitor. These are games. A business might decide they only need one accounting software package, that they will only use one office suite, or that a single OS will be supported. There are lots of applications that you would only want one of. Games don't follow that model (for the most part) because they are entertainment.
I didn't consider Spider-Man, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings competition. I considered them all to be entertaining movies. I don't consider the Beatles and the Beach Boys to be competition. They both created good music to listen to. Just like I don't consider Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 to be competitors. They are both fun games and I play both.
Now if they aren't making fun games and nobody wants to play it then that's their own fault. So I suppose in a way they do have to be at least as fun as the next game in order to compete, but that's their own darn fault if they can't do that, and having Steam be separate from Valve isn't going to amount to a hill of beans if that is their problem.
Why aren't we teaching basic skills like common Unix commands, bash, Perl, and SQL in schools?
Oh please do not teach the general masses Perl! I beg of you to keep that hideous language out of Joe Public's hands. If regular people start using Perl no person alive could begin to concieve of the awful ugliness that would take over the world.
Boy, talk about hypersensitive. If you didn't mean it as an insult I said to skip to the next part. You only replied to that part of my post, so I guess you did mean for it to be more than just a cheap shot. You have some reading comprehension problems though if you think I was putting words in your mouth. Yes I did make assumptions, but I made it clear that they were assumptions and should be taken as such.
By the way, I'm not much of a fanboy. I bought a gamecube only a year ago and still only have three games for it, two of which I got with the console itself. I have never owned a console previous to that, and don't plan on owning any more at this point.
so tell us all the advantages to being forced into overpriced hardware that dies just as fast as any compusa crap in a lot of instances? why is it a good thing to not be able to use any hardware?
I will tell you the advantages of said force, as soon as you tell me why you are being forced to buy OS X. If you don't like the restrictions that come with OS X then don't buy OS X.
Let me make an analogy. If you go to a game store where they are having a Warhammer tourney, you have to play by their rules. But you decided you liked the D&D minis better. Why should the store allow you to play with the D&D minis? Likewise, Apple says if you buy their OS (you want to play the game) then you have to use their hardware (the warhammer figures). Just because you like your homebuilt computer (D&D mini warband) doesn't mean they have to let you use OS X (the game store does not have to let you play the game).
I'm still forming an opinion on the judges interpretation, but certainly the law is stupid. I'm really tired of laws like this one. It's very similar to some patents. Sexual solicitation of a minor is wrong. This law is essentially saying "Sexual solicitation is wrong...on the internet." How many patents have we seen that were like that? "I have a patent on business process x," and then some other guy says "I have a patent on business process x...on the internet." It's stupid. Just make a law that says y is illegal. That's all you need. You don't need "y is illegal when used in conjunction with email" unless such a thing is logical, and here it makes no sense. No matter how sexual solicitation of a minor is done, it's still illegal.
That said, since you like word plays, try this one: I have two coins totalling 15 cents (this is US currency). One of them is not a nickel. What do I have?
I'm assuming here that you mean that as an insult. If not, move on to my next paragraphs. If so, it's a pretty weak one. I don't know what one would describe as a kiddie game, but I hope you don't define it as silly graphics and no blood. Otherwise Chess, Poker, Go, Tetris, Pac-Man, etc., etc., etc., would all be considered kiddie by you even though they are some of the most popular games ever. Not to mention that Resident Evil and Eternal Darkness aren't what I would call suitable for kiddies. But then you probably think Wind Waker is kiddie because it has cartoony graphics, rather than base it on its gameplay. If a game is fun (I assume that you think kiddie games are not fun) for you for any other reason than gameplay, then you're not much of a reliable source for game information.
They replaced a simple controller with one that is much more complex and will probably be more intimidating to "casual" gamers than the classic "D Pad", and say that they hope to outsell the competition by appealing to lots of "non-gamers."
Have you ever tried to get someone who is not a gamer to play with a D Pad controller? It sucks. If you are not used to D-Pads they are hardly what I would call intuitive. Tell someone to play tennis with a D-Pad and then tell them they can play Tennis with the Wii-mote by making the same movements as if they were playing it in real life and see which one they would rather use. Tell someone to point your onscreen weapon at the enemy and fire with the D-Pad and then tell them to do the same thing with the Wii-mote, only their actions onscreen will mimic the real life actions they take with the Wii-mote and see which one they would rather use. I don't know how you could NOT see that the Wii-mote is much more intuitive.
similar technologies have been attempted in video arcades for years, and "gimmick" controllers usually don't sustain all that much interest
But a console where the "gimmick" was in every box has never been tried before. Now everyone who writes a game for the console knows that the player has at least one Wii-mote so every game developer can develop for it.
So Sony creates a $900 machine and sells it for $600. They lose $300 if you buy it. If you don't buy it they lose $900. Yep, if you buy one, you will really show them who is in charge of economics.
I was talking to a Senior level CS student in an "Internet Programming" class. I mentioned that I wish we did more Internet programming and less web programming. He looked at me blankly and asked, "Is there a difference?"
I find this rather amusing in light the cherry-picking claim. First guy cherry-picks, and the next accuses him of it, and then does the same thing.
Note that I find that amusing not because it is about global warming, only that I find it amusing no matter what the topic. Also note that my sig is not an indication of my personal global warming beliefs, I just thought it was rather humorous. Please also be aware that I am aware that many of you will disagree with my humor.
I'm interested in learning how good the health care in the UK actually is. The only first-hand experience I've heard was from a Belgian friend of mine who lived there for a few years, and he thought it was awful. It's been maybe 10 years since he lived there so maybe it's better now. I don't recall which part of the UK he was in, but I'm pretty sure it was the London area.
You would have done better by never mentioning the Xbox, which has put MS over $4 billion in the red. I have no numbers to back my next statement up, but I am guessing they have not sold enough keyboards to make up for that amount.
Also, the Zune has not yet made a dime for MS, and I've seen rumors that it is also being sold at a loss.
In addition, Novell has not sold hardware for a long time. In fact, they haven't done it since they became a profitable software company.
Don't you get it? That's what this is. The big announcement is obviously going to be an announcement for when the unveiling of their next big announcement is going to be.
All a degree gives you is a piece of paper saying that you know how to learn.
That's not necessarily true. I go to school and work 30 hours per week, and have a wife and kid. Because of those things (which I would not trade for the world, btw) I usually end up with grades worse than some of my peers as I just don't have the time many of them do. So I optimize for graduation and miss some projects or homework assignments. However, after talking to them or overhearing them in the labs, I realize that many of the A students have less knowledge of the material than the B students and even some C students. What a degree really shows is that you know how to play the game.
The education systems of today have serious problems in accurately measuring what people learn. Not only that, but they don't even attempt to measure many things they claim are important. For example, I cannot tell you how often I hear from professors that we need to write maintainable and well-documented code. Except for one project, in one class, not a single time have we ever been asked to go back over old code or were graded on our documentation. They are onto the next project so fast that I don't even have time to do the previous one better, even though after doing it I realize so many ways it could be better.
So the grades game has to be played. And for the most part it works, but too many smart people end up with below A-level grades, and too many idiots end up with above C-leve grades that something needs to be fixed.
Perhaps you were thrown off by the "WTFZOMGBBQ?" line there, but I think the GP was being sarcastic.
Re:On the Topic of Not-So-Fun Design
on
Game Breakers
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· Score: 1
I noticed that too. Not a print option in sight. Plus it was really wordy. There were some where I wasn't sure which game and what the flaw was they were talking about until I read it a second time.
They also failed to mention the bad design decision of having "urban themed" games. Gah! What is wrong with people? Sure the science fiction and the fantasy and some other genres are cliched and all, but at least your fighting for a worthy cause (save the world/princess or something). But these gangster games you're playing the part of idiots and morons who think they're the schnizzle because they're pants are at the knees.
Uhm, no. Nobody is looking to replace their Windows. If they were then they have plenty of choices. They are looking for already available third-party addons which Vista is going to shut out so that only Microsoft can offer those services. Frankly, I'd rather see MS just make their OS secure. I also don't use either McAfee or Symantec. But I think this is an important fight to win against MS. This is more like Coca-Cola somehow keeping third-party straws from working in their products.
That's a great mentality. Go ahead and don't care that Microsoft is going to such lengths to crowd out competition. Then once McAfee and Symantec are dead and AVG and Trend AV go away with them, the world will be a much better place with so much less bloatware.
This is the same mentality that idiots have about someone else's free speech when they disagree with what that someone else has to say. I always defend the rights of people to have free speech even if I disagree with them, because someday they might be the ones in power and I hope they remember that I let them say what they wanted to say and give me the some respect. The same thing is true here. I don't support Symantecs and McAfees products, but I do support that either they ought to be given those APIs or that Microsoft should not be allowed to use them. This is about fair competition. If MS found some neato virus detection and removal algorithm and didn't share it that would be one thing, but for them to build into their OS an API that allows for virus detection and then keeps it secret to the other virus detection guys, then they have crossed the bounds, especially as convicted monopolists.
I don't think you understand. McAfee and Symantec aren't complaining that Vista is better and more secure. They're complaint is that Microsoft won't give them the API to low level kernel stuff so that they can detect viruses, while at the same time, Microsoft is going to use that same API for their own virus detection. This isn't Ford continuing to make defective brakes so that third-party brake manufacturers can still be in business, this is Ford some how magically making the brake design unknown to anyone else in the world so that only Ford can make brake replacements. Though in a physical world I don't know how they would do that. This is only possible in software.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm still not entirely convinced that Valve is their competitor. These are games. A business might decide they only need one accounting software package, that they will only use one office suite, or that a single OS will be supported. There are lots of applications that you would only want one of. Games don't follow that model (for the most part) because they are entertainment.
I didn't consider Spider-Man, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings competition. I considered them all to be entertaining movies. I don't consider the Beatles and the Beach Boys to be competition. They both created good music to listen to. Just like I don't consider Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 to be competitors. They are both fun games and I play both.
Now if they aren't making fun games and nobody wants to play it then that's their own fault. So I suppose in a way they do have to be at least as fun as the next game in order to compete, but that's their own darn fault if they can't do that, and having Steam be separate from Valve isn't going to amount to a hill of beans if that is their problem.
Boy, talk about hypersensitive. If you didn't mean it as an insult I said to skip to the next part. You only replied to that part of my post, so I guess you did mean for it to be more than just a cheap shot. You have some reading comprehension problems though if you think I was putting words in your mouth. Yes I did make assumptions, but I made it clear that they were assumptions and should be taken as such.
By the way, I'm not much of a fanboy. I bought a gamecube only a year ago and still only have three games for it, two of which I got with the console itself. I have never owned a console previous to that, and don't plan on owning any more at this point.
In either case, calm down.
Let me make an analogy. If you go to a game store where they are having a Warhammer tourney, you have to play by their rules. But you decided you liked the D&D minis better. Why should the store allow you to play with the D&D minis? Likewise, Apple says if you buy their OS (you want to play the game) then you have to use their hardware (the warhammer figures). Just because you like your homebuilt computer (D&D mini warband) doesn't mean they have to let you use OS X (the game store does not have to let you play the game).
I'm still forming an opinion on the judges interpretation, but certainly the law is stupid. I'm really tired of laws like this one. It's very similar to some patents. Sexual solicitation of a minor is wrong. This law is essentially saying "Sexual solicitation is wrong...on the internet." How many patents have we seen that were like that? "I have a patent on business process x," and then some other guy says "I have a patent on business process x...on the internet." It's stupid. Just make a law that says y is illegal. That's all you need. You don't need "y is illegal when used in conjunction with email" unless such a thing is logical, and here it makes no sense. No matter how sexual solicitation of a minor is done, it's still illegal.
That said, since you like word plays, try this one: I have two coins totalling 15 cents (this is US currency). One of them is not a nickel. What do I have?
Oh yes. Being able to say "I don't play kiddie games" is the new machismo.
There's enough kiddie games already
I'm assuming here that you mean that as an insult. If not, move on to my next paragraphs. If so, it's a pretty weak one. I don't know what one would describe as a kiddie game, but I hope you don't define it as silly graphics and no blood. Otherwise Chess, Poker, Go, Tetris, Pac-Man, etc., etc., etc., would all be considered kiddie by you even though they are some of the most popular games ever. Not to mention that Resident Evil and Eternal Darkness aren't what I would call suitable for kiddies. But then you probably think Wind Waker is kiddie because it has cartoony graphics, rather than base it on its gameplay. If a game is fun (I assume that you think kiddie games are not fun) for you for any other reason than gameplay, then you're not much of a reliable source for game information.
They replaced a simple controller with one that is much more complex and will probably be more intimidating to "casual" gamers than the classic "D Pad", and say that they hope to outsell the competition by appealing to lots of "non-gamers."
Have you ever tried to get someone who is not a gamer to play with a D Pad controller? It sucks. If you are not used to D-Pads they are hardly what I would call intuitive. Tell someone to play tennis with a D-Pad and then tell them they can play Tennis with the Wii-mote by making the same movements as if they were playing it in real life and see which one they would rather use. Tell someone to point your onscreen weapon at the enemy and fire with the D-Pad and then tell them to do the same thing with the Wii-mote, only their actions onscreen will mimic the real life actions they take with the Wii-mote and see which one they would rather use. I don't know how you could NOT see that the Wii-mote is much more intuitive.
similar technologies have been attempted in video arcades for years, and "gimmick" controllers usually don't sustain all that much interest
But a console where the "gimmick" was in every box has never been tried before. Now everyone who writes a game for the console knows that the player has at least one Wii-mote so every game developer can develop for it.
An environment wildly hostile to human life, and devoid of the myriad of elements necessary for a sustainable friendly eco-system
That sounds exactly like New Jersey and people seem to be living there just fine.
So Sony creates a $900 machine and sells it for $600. They lose $300 if you buy it. If you don't buy it they lose $900. Yep, if you buy one, you will really show them who is in charge of economics.
I was talking to a Senior level CS student in an "Internet Programming" class. I mentioned that I wish we did more Internet programming and less web programming. He looked at me blankly and asked, "Is there a difference?"
Sad state of affairs as far as I'm concerned.
Interesting. Now that he lives in the US I'll have to ask him what he thinks of it.
Also, what is up with that "The computer is personal again" thing following my mouse on that page? That was annoying.
The editors of the firm hired to continue the debunking after the other people had debunked, wish it to be known that they have just been debunked.
The debunking has been completed in an entirely different style at great expense and at the last minute.
I find this rather amusing in light the cherry-picking claim. First guy cherry-picks, and the next accuses him of it, and then does the same thing.
Note that I find that amusing not because it is about global warming, only that I find it amusing no matter what the topic. Also note that my sig is not an indication of my personal global warming beliefs, I just thought it was rather humorous. Please also be aware that I am aware that many of you will disagree with my humor.
I'm interested in learning how good the health care in the UK actually is. The only first-hand experience I've heard was from a Belgian friend of mine who lived there for a few years, and he thought it was awful. It's been maybe 10 years since he lived there so maybe it's better now. I don't recall which part of the UK he was in, but I'm pretty sure it was the London area.
You would have done better by never mentioning the Xbox, which has put MS over $4 billion in the red. I have no numbers to back my next statement up, but I am guessing they have not sold enough keyboards to make up for that amount.
Also, the Zune has not yet made a dime for MS, and I've seen rumors that it is also being sold at a loss.
In addition, Novell has not sold hardware for a long time. In fact, they haven't done it since they became a profitable software company.
Don't you get it? That's what this is. The big announcement is obviously going to be an announcement for when the unveiling of their next big announcement is going to be.
All a degree gives you is a piece of paper saying that you know how to learn.
That's not necessarily true. I go to school and work 30 hours per week, and have a wife and kid. Because of those things (which I would not trade for the world, btw) I usually end up with grades worse than some of my peers as I just don't have the time many of them do. So I optimize for graduation and miss some projects or homework assignments. However, after talking to them or overhearing them in the labs, I realize that many of the A students have less knowledge of the material than the B students and even some C students. What a degree really shows is that you know how to play the game.
The education systems of today have serious problems in accurately measuring what people learn. Not only that, but they don't even attempt to measure many things they claim are important. For example, I cannot tell you how often I hear from professors that we need to write maintainable and well-documented code. Except for one project, in one class, not a single time have we ever been asked to go back over old code or were graded on our documentation. They are onto the next project so fast that I don't even have time to do the previous one better, even though after doing it I realize so many ways it could be better.
So the grades game has to be played. And for the most part it works, but too many smart people end up with below A-level grades, and too many idiots end up with above C-leve grades that something needs to be fixed.
I wish I knew about that website earlier. I bet I could waste my whole day there.
Perhaps you were thrown off by the "WTFZOMGBBQ?" line there, but I think the GP was being sarcastic.
I noticed that too. Not a print option in sight. Plus it was really wordy. There were some where I wasn't sure which game and what the flaw was they were talking about until I read it a second time.
They also failed to mention the bad design decision of having "urban themed" games. Gah! What is wrong with people? Sure the science fiction and the fantasy and some other genres are cliched and all, but at least your fighting for a worthy cause (save the world/princess or something). But these gangster games you're playing the part of idiots and morons who think they're the schnizzle because they're pants are at the knees.
Isn't that what he said? They're in Missouri for crying out loud.
I bet your a riot at all the parties.
Uhm, no. Nobody is looking to replace their Windows. If they were then they have plenty of choices. They are looking for already available third-party addons which Vista is going to shut out so that only Microsoft can offer those services. Frankly, I'd rather see MS just make their OS secure. I also don't use either McAfee or Symantec. But I think this is an important fight to win against MS. This is more like Coca-Cola somehow keeping third-party straws from working in their products.
That's a great mentality. Go ahead and don't care that Microsoft is going to such lengths to crowd out competition. Then once McAfee and Symantec are dead and AVG and Trend AV go away with them, the world will be a much better place with so much less bloatware.
This is the same mentality that idiots have about someone else's free speech when they disagree with what that someone else has to say. I always defend the rights of people to have free speech even if I disagree with them, because someday they might be the ones in power and I hope they remember that I let them say what they wanted to say and give me the some respect. The same thing is true here. I don't support Symantecs and McAfees products, but I do support that either they ought to be given those APIs or that Microsoft should not be allowed to use them. This is about fair competition. If MS found some neato virus detection and removal algorithm and didn't share it that would be one thing, but for them to build into their OS an API that allows for virus detection and then keeps it secret to the other virus detection guys, then they have crossed the bounds, especially as convicted monopolists.
I don't think you understand. McAfee and Symantec aren't complaining that Vista is better and more secure. They're complaint is that Microsoft won't give them the API to low level kernel stuff so that they can detect viruses, while at the same time, Microsoft is going to use that same API for their own virus detection. This isn't Ford continuing to make defective brakes so that third-party brake manufacturers can still be in business, this is Ford some how magically making the brake design unknown to anyone else in the world so that only Ford can make brake replacements. Though in a physical world I don't know how they would do that. This is only possible in software.