It's extraordinarily difficult to code games for a virtually infinite number of software and hardware configurations. That leads to all sorts of bugs and problems that usually aren't fixed on a PC game until after the first or second round of patches. With a console, I know that things are going to be pretty darn good out of the box, since there's only one configuration that programmers have to deal with.
In addition, I never have to worry about upgrading my system to ensure that I can play the latest game with all the graphics options turned on. Because every console edition is the same, I don't have to worry that I don't have the XX37 uber graphics card on my Xbox360. Sure, there's things like a hard drive to worry about, but that's a massively smaller problem than the infinite number of PC configurations out there.
In short, I like my console more for gaming because of its simplicity. By releasing Home, Sony has tried to make the console more complicated, more like a PC. And that's not what I want.
Aside from the obvious double entendre, you really shouldn't carry a pistol in a pocket not designed for it. Holsters are designed to avoid the risk of an accidental firing, and pockets are not. In addition, it's slower to extract a pistol from a pocket than a holster in an emergency, and when you're faced with an emergency that requires you to draw a gun, milliseconds count.
Why doesn't Google just purchase some of the better newspaper archive databases, such as NewsBank, and simply release all the stories for free? It'd likely be a lot cheaper than duplicating effort, and would help information be released more quickly.
Incidentally, if you're close to a university or a good library, many of these places already hold subscriptions to such services and offer the use of them for free. I'd love to see Google expand upon this already-good base rather than duplicating effort.
Not really. Because DNF has become a grand in-joke and no community spreads in-jokes as well as computer/gamer nerds, even folks my little sibling's age (5 years old at DN3D release) are familiar with the story and jokes. If you're at all a part of the gaming community, you know the story.
Actually, in a multiplayer game of DEFCON, I've managed to kill off six players without taking a single hit on one of my cities. Of course, I do feel bad for the guys in the one radar site that got hit.
"I have never seen anyone so succinctly indicated there lack of understanding what science is."
I have never seen someone so succinctly demonstrate their lack of grammatical understanding.:P
Few other countries have the influence to manipulate content on the Internet on a wide scale as does the United States. For worse or worse, U.S. law is applied on the Internet more than any other.
Humidity's below 20 percent most of the time, it's cooler than 80F more than 360 days a year, housing prices are relatively inexpensive, and the views are spectacular!/Fairbanks, Alaska
This was an emotionally abused kid who, because of various problems, was unable to make friends at school. Haven't most Slashdotters been there? Then, she turns to someone online in search of companionship. That person, for months, is her best -- and only -- friend in all the world, commiserating with her, sharing her deepest, darkest fears, and generally being with her in a way that her parents (for all their good intentions) can't be.
Then, in the blink of an eye, it's all taken away. The friend is revealed to be someone malicious, someone manipulative enough to string out this child for months at a time before pulling the rug out from under her. She's now left alone, with no one to turn to. I've never (thank God) been that alone in my life, but reading her story makes me understand school shooters all the more. Eventually, she reached a point where the only thing left to do was escape -- permanently.
This isn't a suicide issue. It's an abuse issue. There would be no suicide in this case without the willful, malicious intent to construct a false friendship created by a knowing adult. There was no reason for it. This was murder, plain and simple. Who knows what Ms. Meier might have done with her life. She could've become a doctor, a pilot, or even a Slashdotter. But we'll never know.
There's one at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Pima, Arizona that you can actually sit in on open-cockpit days. It was well worth the experience and wait to get a chance to do that. I'd highly recommend it.
It was almost like climbing inside a glove, it was such a tight fit. Most of the instrumentation had been replaced by blank panels that were stenciled with an inscription that they had been removed for security purposes. Still, the flight stick was still there, and so were the pedals and throttle.
In "Earth," by David Brin, there's actually a big campaign to uncover all those secret bank accounts, and the whole situation devolves into a war against Switzerland.
Unfortunately, tar sands require refining first. Thus you run into the same problem that we have here in Alaska: The points at which the fuel is extracted aren't the first points at which they can be used. They must be refined first, and the refineries are sometimes a long distance away. I'm not familiar with the refining of tar sands, but it's possible that they'll be far away from the extraction site.
Hydroelectric plants (a very few coal-fired plants, and Iceland's geothermal plants) are just about the only places where the "fuel" is "mined" on-site, which is why they can generate electricity cheaper than anything else out there. Google, Microsoft, and dozens of other companies have seen that, as did the aluminum manufacturers before them, which is why you can usually find both near big sources of hydro power, like the Columbia River.
Unfortunately, here in Alaska, we're undergoing an energy crisis. Here in Fairbanks, where I live, most electricity is supplied by coal and fuel oil. Due to the massive spike in oil prices, energy costs have risen greatly. In southern Alaska, most electricity is being supplied by natural gas, but even that's getting more expensive as the southcentral gas fields begin to run low.
Though the short term is somewhat difficult, there is hope from a projected series of natural gas pipelines from the North Slope and the potential for dozens of hydroelectric and/or nuclear plants. Until then, however, electricity prices put the kibosh on most big server farms up here.
The bandwidth capacity isn't bad -- we've actually got better connectivity than Iceland, based on the information I have, and a new undersea cable is scheduled to begin being laid between southern Alaska and Washington state next month.
As an aside, there's a nice piece on the effects of the 700Mhz auction in Alaska scheduled to be released on Monday in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. I should know; I wrote it.
Slashdot Mirror
It's kind of strange when someone you've met at a barbecue shows up in a spam e-mail.
Please mod this comment to minus a billion where it belongs.
More than happy to help!
... oops.
It's extraordinarily difficult to code games for a virtually infinite number of software and hardware configurations. That leads to all sorts of bugs and problems that usually aren't fixed on a PC game until after the first or second round of patches. With a console, I know that things are going to be pretty darn good out of the box, since there's only one configuration that programmers have to deal with.
In addition, I never have to worry about upgrading my system to ensure that I can play the latest game with all the graphics options turned on. Because every console edition is the same, I don't have to worry that I don't have the XX37 uber graphics card on my Xbox360. Sure, there's things like a hard drive to worry about, but that's a massively smaller problem than the infinite number of PC configurations out there.
In short, I like my console more for gaming because of its simplicity. By releasing Home, Sony has tried to make the console more complicated, more like a PC. And that's not what I want.
Aside from the obvious double entendre, you really shouldn't carry a pistol in a pocket not designed for it. Holsters are designed to avoid the risk of an accidental firing, and pockets are not. In addition, it's slower to extract a pistol from a pocket than a holster in an emergency, and when you're faced with an emergency that requires you to draw a gun, milliseconds count.
Why doesn't Google just purchase some of the better newspaper archive databases, such as NewsBank, and simply release all the stories for free? It'd likely be a lot cheaper than duplicating effort, and would help information be released more quickly.
Incidentally, if you're close to a university or a good library, many of these places already hold subscriptions to such services and offer the use of them for free. I'd love to see Google expand upon this already-good base rather than duplicating effort.
With that much funding, we can build a whole two inches of track. Gotta tell you, that'll really help cut down on my commute.
Well, I was going to type out a long, insightful piece about unfair competition, but I'm lazy. So I'll just link to Wikipedia instead.
Not really. Because DNF has become a grand in-joke and no community spreads in-jokes as well as computer/gamer nerds, even folks my little sibling's age (5 years old at DN3D release) are familiar with the story and jokes. If you're at all a part of the gaming community, you know the story.
Actually, in a multiplayer game of DEFCON, I've managed to kill off six players without taking a single hit on one of my cities. Of course, I do feel bad for the guys in the one radar site that got hit.
"I have never seen anyone so succinctly indicated there lack of understanding what science is." I have never seen someone so succinctly demonstrate their lack of grammatical understanding. :P
Few other countries have the influence to manipulate content on the Internet on a wide scale as does the United States. For worse or worse, U.S. law is applied on the Internet more than any other.
...but, but, but I wanted to bash Bush!
/sarcasm
Humidity's below 20 percent most of the time, it's cooler than 80F more than 360 days a year, housing prices are relatively inexpensive, and the views are spectacular! /Fairbanks, Alaska
You're not giving the whole picture.
This was an emotionally abused kid who, because of various problems, was unable to make friends at school. Haven't most Slashdotters been there? Then, she turns to someone online in search of companionship. That person, for months, is her best -- and only -- friend in all the world, commiserating with her, sharing her deepest, darkest fears, and generally being with her in a way that her parents (for all their good intentions) can't be.
Then, in the blink of an eye, it's all taken away. The friend is revealed to be someone malicious, someone manipulative enough to string out this child for months at a time before pulling the rug out from under her. She's now left alone, with no one to turn to. I've never (thank God) been that alone in my life, but reading her story makes me understand school shooters all the more. Eventually, she reached a point where the only thing left to do was escape -- permanently.
This isn't a suicide issue. It's an abuse issue. There would be no suicide in this case without the willful, malicious intent to construct a false friendship created by a knowing adult. There was no reason for it. This was murder, plain and simple. Who knows what Ms. Meier might have done with her life. She could've become a doctor, a pilot, or even a Slashdotter. But we'll never know.
There's an obesity problem in schools already!
There's one at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Pima, Arizona that you can actually sit in on open-cockpit days. It was well worth the experience and wait to get a chance to do that. I'd highly recommend it.
It was almost like climbing inside a glove, it was such a tight fit. Most of the instrumentation had been replaced by blank panels that were stenciled with an inscription that they had been removed for security purposes. Still, the flight stick was still there, and so were the pedals and throttle.
I'll have to keep an ion this.
NASA hasn't updated their page on Apophis yet. http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/a99942.html
No, it's just a bad joke.
... oh, you're serious.
In "Earth," by David Brin, there's actually a big campaign to uncover all those secret bank accounts, and the whole situation devolves into a war against Switzerland.
Unfortunately, tar sands require refining first. Thus you run into the same problem that we have here in Alaska: The points at which the fuel is extracted aren't the first points at which they can be used. They must be refined first, and the refineries are sometimes a long distance away. I'm not familiar with the refining of tar sands, but it's possible that they'll be far away from the extraction site. Hydroelectric plants (a very few coal-fired plants, and Iceland's geothermal plants) are just about the only places where the "fuel" is "mined" on-site, which is why they can generate electricity cheaper than anything else out there. Google, Microsoft, and dozens of other companies have seen that, as did the aluminum manufacturers before them, which is why you can usually find both near big sources of hydro power, like the Columbia River.
Unfortunately, here in Alaska, we're undergoing an energy crisis. Here in Fairbanks, where I live, most electricity is supplied by coal and fuel oil. Due to the massive spike in oil prices, energy costs have risen greatly. In southern Alaska, most electricity is being supplied by natural gas, but even that's getting more expensive as the southcentral gas fields begin to run low. Though the short term is somewhat difficult, there is hope from a projected series of natural gas pipelines from the North Slope and the potential for dozens of hydroelectric and/or nuclear plants. Until then, however, electricity prices put the kibosh on most big server farms up here. The bandwidth capacity isn't bad -- we've actually got better connectivity than Iceland, based on the information I have, and a new undersea cable is scheduled to begin being laid between southern Alaska and Washington state next month. As an aside, there's a nice piece on the effects of the 700Mhz auction in Alaska scheduled to be released on Monday in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. I should know; I wrote it.
Though there is a slightly bigger version here, ostensibly for desktop background usage.
It's intentionally small. They're selling a paper version for over $100, and probably don't want to give folks a reason not to buy.