Let's face it, the real MMO money to be made is on the PC. With the PC version, you get to compete with hundreds of other MMO's, including World of Warcarft. With a 360 version, all you would have to compete with would be a crappy Final Fantasy MMO. And how could you possibly make money being the best (and pretty much only) game in town? No, better to focus on the PC and get lost in the sea of better competitors. Yeah, that's the smart move to make.
Actually, I base all my purchasing decisions on what John Hodgman tells me. Though this has led me astray many, many times; I still trust his judgment. He is an expert, after all.
I'm not a Mac user, so I honestly don't know. But, except for the manigication bit, that sounds just like the "Quick Launch" bar on Windows. Can someone point out the difference?
The Tivo interface is nice (and that's basically ALL you're buying here, since Pd-based DVR's like BeyondTV and MythTV have been around for years). But so much on a PC-based DVR is dependent on the right hardware and configuration. You can't just used any old videocard if you want good results, for example. Most videocards don't even have the kinds of inputs and outputs you need for this sort of thing, and almost none of them do hardware video encoding (the way the Hauppauge cards do). So you can't just slap "Tivo PC" onto your standard PC and have it work like a stand-alone Tivo. Not even close.
The only thing that believing in any party politician is going to get you is disappointment. Obama talks a good game, but when he gets in, he'll be no different than all the others before him.
I'm no Bush fan, by any stretch of the imagination. But, in this case, he is HARDLY alone among U.S. presidents. Every president since Nixon has made grandiose promises about all the great stuff NASA is going to do, while continuing to fund it at a *fraction* of the funding they had during the 60's (leaving NASA in a perpetual "do a few cheap things every year, just enough to keep justifing our funding" mode).
Obama will do the same thing. He'll stand at some podium, talk about how NASA is going to the moon/going to Mars, wax poetically on the future of humanity in space--and then continue to fund NASA at the exact same level Bush did.
And, just in case anyone thinks I'm making this up, or that this doesn't happen in the 21st century, just go to this link (it's a search result page for the "The State," South Carolina's biggest newspaper). The sixth entry on the page is a full article detailing what happened at Benedict the last time they tried this (you can pay to read the whole thing if you like, but the summary should give you a good idea).
I live in South Carolina, and have seen many nasty tricks over the years (being in a particularly conservative/religious-nutball/reactionary state). Of course, there was the infamous John McCain flyer that was sent out to upstate Rebublicans in 2000 (implying McCain had a black love child). But the nastiest bit is the one they've done the last two elections (and will almost certainly do again this time). Republicans show up a precincts on or near historically black colleges (like Benedict) and demand to see people's ID's before they vote, checking every crossed "i" and dotted "t" and generally trying to intimidate black voters or make it as hard on them as possible (since they know they'll likely vote Democrat). They do not, of course, do this for precincts at predominantly white colleges or in strong Republican precincts.
No need for everyone to panic. We'll build a giant underground facility for/. users. I'll round up a bunch of shotguns and anti-mutant shells, the rest of you get food, pron, and every video on Youtube, and as many internet memes are you can carry!
Not *up* a tree, of course. But they would get stuck between trees, in groves of trees, in branches, etc. I found a calf one time who had his head caught between a fork in a large, low-hanging branch. It could have just lifted its head and walked away, instead it just stood there like an idiot until I can over and pulled the branch down.
I'm not saying it's impossible for a system to one day replace cowboys, just that *this* almost certainly isn't that system. Some things are not only hard to automate, but largely impractical (which is why farmers still hire humans for such tasks as fruit-picking, harvesting lettuce, etc. even though it should be theoretically possible to automate the process).
And if you think ranch-hands make a huge "bundle of money" compared to what it would cost to outfit and maintain a herd full of transmitters at $900 a head, you are WAY out of touch with how much ranch-hands make.
Apparently, the aliens are so threatened by cattle that they kill and mutilate them. They must not see us as nearly that much of a threat. We just get anal probes.
I used to work with cattle on my uncle's farm when I was a kid. They are dumb animals. They do dumb things. Anytime you try to move them, they do all kinds of stupid shit. I've seen them get "trapped" in fencing, in ditches, even in bushes and trees. So, here we have a system, which costs $900 for every cow it's put on (and that "just put it on the leaders" line sounds like wishful thinking to me). If it has some sort of mechanical malfunction or loses signal in some mountain pass, you could lose a lot of cattle. If you move the cattle and some of them get trapped in a ditch/underbursh/etc., you could lose a lot of cattle (since no actual person will be there to see it and help them). And if the cows simply ignore or get confused by the signal you're sending them, you could lose a lot of cattle. And every cow lost is a lot of money lost.
Basically, this seems to me like a very high tech, expensive way to so something that's much more effectively and economically done the old-fashioned way. Ranch-hands are relatively cheap, smart, and effective. And handful of good cowboys can move a surprisingly large herd.
This new system, by contrast, sounds unreliable, dumb, and VERY expensive. When you're talking huge herds, $900 a head is a LOT of money. Even $900 a "leader" is a LOT of money. Certainly, its tracking function would be useful to keep an eye on the herd (but I think they already have those sorts of systems already). But the idea that you can move cattle remotely with the push of a button, with no actual cowboys on hand, seems to me like the dream of someone who has never actually worked with the smelly, stupid things.
Slashdot Mirror
Let's face it, the real MMO money to be made is on the PC. With the PC version, you get to compete with hundreds of other MMO's, including World of Warcarft. With a 360 version, all you would have to compete with would be a crappy Final Fantasy MMO. And how could you possibly make money being the best (and pretty much only) game in town? No, better to focus on the PC and get lost in the sea of better competitors. Yeah, that's the smart move to make.
That question would presume that there is anyone left on earth at this point NOT dating Drew Barrymore.
Sometimes I think I will never get to use my Y2K bunker. Damn.
Actually, I base all my purchasing decisions on what John Hodgman tells me. Though this has led me astray many, many times; I still trust his judgment. He is an expert, after all.
I'm not a Mac user, so I honestly don't know. But, except for the manigication bit, that sounds just like the "Quick Launch" bar on Windows. Can someone point out the difference?
Mayor Cole also declared October 28th to be "Stephen Colbert Day,"
I've already bought my cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and stuffing for the eagle. Mmmmhh...tastes like freedom.
The Tivo interface is nice (and that's basically ALL you're buying here, since Pd-based DVR's like BeyondTV and MythTV have been around for years). But so much on a PC-based DVR is dependent on the right hardware and configuration. You can't just used any old videocard if you want good results, for example. Most videocards don't even have the kinds of inputs and outputs you need for this sort of thing, and almost none of them do hardware video encoding (the way the Hauppauge cards do). So you can't just slap "Tivo PC" onto your standard PC and have it work like a stand-alone Tivo. Not even close.
This incoherent garbage should have never been accepted on /., much less on the front page.
The only thing that believing in any party politician is going to get you is disappointment. Obama talks a good game, but when he gets in, he'll be no different than all the others before him.
I'm no Bush fan, by any stretch of the imagination. But, in this case, he is HARDLY alone among U.S. presidents. Every president since Nixon has made grandiose promises about all the great stuff NASA is going to do, while continuing to fund it at a *fraction* of the funding they had during the 60's (leaving NASA in a perpetual "do a few cheap things every year, just enough to keep justifing our funding" mode).
Obama will do the same thing. He'll stand at some podium, talk about how NASA is going to the moon/going to Mars, wax poetically on the future of humanity in space--and then continue to fund NASA at the exact same level Bush did.
It was Minnesota. Here is a link to the story. Looks like SC isn't the only one facing Republican voter intimidation.
And, just in case anyone thinks I'm making this up, or that this doesn't happen in the 21st century, just go to this link (it's a search result page for the "The State," South Carolina's biggest newspaper). The sixth entry on the page is a full article detailing what happened at Benedict the last time they tried this (you can pay to read the whole thing if you like, but the summary should give you a good idea).
I live in South Carolina, and have seen many nasty tricks over the years (being in a particularly conservative/religious-nutball/reactionary state). Of course, there was the infamous John McCain flyer that was sent out to upstate Rebublicans in 2000 (implying McCain had a black love child). But the nastiest bit is the one they've done the last two elections (and will almost certainly do again this time). Republicans show up a precincts on or near historically black colleges (like Benedict) and demand to see people's ID's before they vote, checking every crossed "i" and dotted "t" and generally trying to intimidate black voters or make it as hard on them as possible (since they know they'll likely vote Democrat). They do not, of course, do this for precincts at predominantly white colleges or in strong Republican precincts.
HEY, what's wrong with being a fresh college graduate?!?!?
No need for everyone to panic. We'll build a giant underground facility for /. users. I'll round up a bunch of shotguns and anti-mutant shells, the rest of you get food, pron, and every video on Youtube, and as many internet memes are you can carry!
Not *up* a tree, of course. But they would get stuck between trees, in groves of trees, in branches, etc. I found a calf one time who had his head caught between a fork in a large, low-hanging branch. It could have just lifted its head and walked away, instead it just stood there like an idiot until I can over and pulled the branch down.
My uncle use to say that that the dumber the cow, the more milk it produced.
I'm not saying it's impossible for a system to one day replace cowboys, just that *this* almost certainly isn't that system. Some things are not only hard to automate, but largely impractical (which is why farmers still hire humans for such tasks as fruit-picking, harvesting lettuce, etc. even though it should be theoretically possible to automate the process).
And if you think ranch-hands make a huge "bundle of money" compared to what it would cost to outfit and maintain a herd full of transmitters at $900 a head, you are WAY out of touch with how much ranch-hands make.
Apparently, the aliens are so threatened by cattle that they kill and mutilate them. They must not see us as nearly that much of a threat. We just get anal probes.
I used to work with cattle on my uncle's farm when I was a kid. They are dumb animals. They do dumb things. Anytime you try to move them, they do all kinds of stupid shit. I've seen them get "trapped" in fencing, in ditches, even in bushes and trees. So, here we have a system, which costs $900 for every cow it's put on (and that "just put it on the leaders" line sounds like wishful thinking to me). If it has some sort of mechanical malfunction or loses signal in some mountain pass, you could lose a lot of cattle. If you move the cattle and some of them get trapped in a ditch/underbursh/etc., you could lose a lot of cattle (since no actual person will be there to see it and help them). And if the cows simply ignore or get confused by the signal you're sending them, you could lose a lot of cattle. And every cow lost is a lot of money lost.
Basically, this seems to me like a very high tech, expensive way to so something that's much more effectively and economically done the old-fashioned way. Ranch-hands are relatively cheap, smart, and effective. And handful of good cowboys can move a surprisingly large herd.
This new system, by contrast, sounds unreliable, dumb, and VERY expensive. When you're talking huge herds, $900 a head is a LOT of money. Even $900 a "leader" is a LOT of money. Certainly, its tracking function would be useful to keep an eye on the herd (but I think they already have those sorts of systems already). But the idea that you can move cattle remotely with the push of a button, with no actual cowboys on hand, seems to me like the dream of someone who has never actually worked with the smelly, stupid things.
How would Sony rootkit their own console?
I'm sorry, did God anoint you as the chosen one to decide what is and isn't a real MMO while I wasn't looking?
Sorry, we forgot to CC you the memo.
I'd much rather be dipped in chocolate.
That's just Steve Jobs' ego.