I remember reading about studies done that showed that on average men had larger brains. If there is a relation between brain volume and intelligence, are men smarter than women?
I may just be imagining things with my wee little female brain, but I seem to remember reading about a study where it was found that women just used their brains differently so the larger size of the male brain didn't actually have any effect. I also seem to remember reading about a study that showed that the shrinking brains of the elderly do not result in a loss of intelligence....
I'm still a mere computer science student, but my boyfriend works for Electronic Arts, and I've met a number of his co-workers who boast one or more obvious piercings or tattoos. I was at a party yesterday held by a guy with a lip piercing (and I think at least one other facial piercing, but I forget), and at another social gathering, I saw a guy with elaborate, vaguely yakuza-like, tattoos. The dress code at EA is casual, so when I go to visit, I meet people who just look like average computer science university students rather than "businessmen" or whatever.
I'm hoping this is the case in other parts of the games industry too because I've been toying with the idea of getting some more body modifications:) (Right now I just have my ears and navel pierced. Quite boring, I'm afraid.)
Also, on the same topic, I've also been considering getting my breasts enlarged but I'm not sure whether that kind of thing would be held against me (or count in my favour in a way that I might not like). Any idea how that kind of modification is viewed in the industry? If an employer noticed/found out, would he/she be likely to think "Wow, what a brainless slut. Why the hell should we hire her as a programmer?", or is it the kind of thing that's just accepted and ignored?
I may be wrong, but... the ages are always pretty dubious in hentai, and I've never seen or heard of any of it being blocked from entering this country.
The hentai importers always CLAIM the characters are 18, of course, but it's never really believable, especially when you consider that at least half of them are usually highschoolers. If there IS a law to stop this, it isn't doing its job.
I'm sure you've heard most of this before, but... here's my list of what Linux has done for me:
1. I've found it runs a lot faster than my Windows machine, probably because I've had a hell of a time keeping Windows spyware-free (despite a firewall, virus scanners, adaware, etc.)
2. Console windows rock... this is just personal preference, but it's so nice being able to just pull up a console and do everything from there via text input instead of working with a proper file manager. Windows has a similar feature, but it doesn't have real DOS anymore and I generally can't run programs from there, so I rarely bother using it.
3. There's an awful lot of free software available for Linux, and as a poor student, I find that really helpful. Yes, there's free software for Windows too, but in part because most professionally made software is created for Windows, there's a demand for Linux/UNIX versions, and they generally end up being free OSS.
4. Different Linux distros can coexist quite happily on a partitioned hard drive without trying to take over like Windows does.
5. This is another personal preference, but I really like the way KDE looks by default, and I also like how much I can customize it.
6. Most versions of Linux don't insult my intelligence and/or hide things that I could possibly mess up.
7. This may be the aspiring code monkey in me, but I rather like the idea of being able to look at the source of my operating system if I really want to... and I especially like having the ability to fix bugs or modify things if I so choose. Well, I don't have the coding ability yet, but someday...
Incidentally, I'm posting this from my Windows box, but I have Mandrake on my laptop. I've used Windows most of my life, dealt with the horrible crashiness of 98 and enjoyed the stability of XP, but since I started using Linux (only a few months ago, actually, though I'd briefly dabbled in it before), I can't imagine myself completely switching back. Windows is still useful when I want to play World of Warcraft (which is why I'm currently on here) or write an essay that absolutely MUST be in Word format, so I'm not going to pretend that it's evil or anything, nor will I entirely stop using it. However, for note taking, surfing the net, coding, and chatting with friends... I'm happiest using my Linux laptop.
I kind of wish that the laws would become a bit laxer about completely fictional child porn. I find it extremely gross, personally, but since I'm an amateur artist myself, any kind of limitation of victimless artistic expression worries me.
Besides, drawn/written child-porn is already allowed in the US and Canada as long as its creator puts a little disclaimer on it saying that "All characters are 18 or older"... even if other parts of the work mention a character who's just turned 18 lusting after her younger brother (an actual example from a hentai game sold on j-list.com). Somehow, the way the laws work, you can sell graphic hentai starring a character who looks 8 or 9 as long as you claim she's 18 (See: this review of Jewel Knights Crusaders), but if you draw a character who looks 18 and say she's 15, that's OMG CHILD PORN! and will get you in serious trouble.
... it would be even better if somebody would duplicate Painter's interface as well. The main thing that irks me about both The Gimp and Photoshop is the brush size. I like how Painter just always has a nice little bar where I can vary the brush's size and opacity -- I don't have to click my way into anything to change it, it can stay right there. Furthermore, it keeps track of my brush size/opacity for different tools. For example, I can be drawing with a really small and faint eraser, switch tools to airbrush, and suddenly go to a large, opaque brush without changing the settings on the eraser. In The Gimp, while I can control the opacity of each brush separately, I can't control the size that way, and there isn't just one pair of bars at the bottom of the screen to do it all.
As others have said, this has been blown way out of proportion.
I'm not going to claim that it's my favourite language, nor am I going to pretend that I prefer it to something that's fully free/open source, but it serves its purpose. I'm a computer science student stuck somewhere between first and second year (I switched faculties, so I'm behind), so I've been learning both C and Java concurrently. Because the learning language is Java, I have more experience in that, but I find C more fun. However, I am not going to hop on the OMG! JAVA IS TEH SUCK!!11! bandwagon because it does have some merits. Some were mentioned by the article, but in my personal experience, the main thing that I like about it is its portability. If I'm looking to download a program that doesn't have to run fast, and I want to use it on both my Linux laptop and Windows desktop, I'll look for something written in Java so I don't have to worry about either Mandrake or Windows flatly refusing to run it. The extra (and basically one-time) step of downloading the latest version of Java onto my computer before I can run a Java app really doesn't compare to desperately Googling around for something that will definitely not screw up due to OS issues when I try to install it.
Ok, now... back to the article before I get too far off-topic. If Open Office works with Java bits in it, that's great. I don't use it much anyway, since emacs, vim, or even vi will normally serve my purpose.
This is why I have never ever had a prof that recommends it. If they mention it at all, it's to say that it can't be trusted and that we should always proofread. Using a Word grammar checker on its own to check and correct your terrible grammar is like using the Altavista babelfish for a French assignment -- there's always a chance that it might work as planned, but it's not likely, so you had better check the result over very carefully.
It does have one important use that I have found, though. I have this bad habit (as you may have already noticed) of rambling on and on and on and writing extremely long sentences. These aren't technically grammatical mistakes, of course, but the Word grammar check will still warn me about them so I know what needs to be tweaked/rewritten.
For my assignments these days, however, I prefer to use emacs/vim/vi, and I've been teaching myself how to format in Latex as well. I frequently take advantage of the spellcheck in emacs, of course, but for the most part I just don't worry about it and fix any minor errors that I might find when I proofread.
(Disclaimer: When writing a/. post, I am not in uber-careful essay mode, so my spelling and grammar may be erratic.)
I can see how it can be useful for professionals because (as others have mentioned) it has some features that other programs lack, but how often do you use those unique tools? Also, on the topic of the article, do you think you would actually use the new features offered, and if so, would you use them enough to make them worth the price of an upgrade?
I'm curious about this mainly because although I am not (and probably never will be) a professional, I have been slowly teaching myself to create digital art. I can't do proper graphic design or anything, and for the most part have simply been drawing weird creatures and having far too much fun with layers, so I've found that I can do everything I want in either Painter or The GIMP. In fact, I usually avoid Photoshop as much as possible because I find it bloated and slow, but that might be because I have an old version. In any case, before I even think of shelling out for an upgrade, I'd like to know if it would be worth it for someone like me who ISN'T going to make the money back quickly through use of the product.
Not entirely... you could still potentially use this technology on the bus, or even (though I hope not) while driving, but I get your point.
You might find it easier to think of this as conceptually equivalent to a laptop -- it's mobile in that you can move it around easily, not that you can literally run around while using it.
It's a weird keyboard, though... some of the letters aren't quite where I'd expect them to be. That might make it difficult to use for anything other than simple communications-related functions.
It would be neat to see this used for cellphone games: there'd be more space to work with, and the input method would also make life more interesting for designers.
Makes me think of some graffiti that I saw on a bus shelter near my university a couple of days ago:
RM -RF/*
It was all in caps so it wouldn't work, but still. It's the thought that counts, right? (And if it was lowercase and interactive in any way, the results could be interesting to say the least...)
I've always envied people who have little tentacled friends, and for the first year and a half of university, I was studying biology in the hopes of someday working with the little guys. I switched to computer science last term, but I still absolutely adore octopuses (I have a plush octopus AND a plush Cthulhu! I sleep with the latter, while the former guards my computer) and hope to someday keep one as a pet.
In part because of this, I'm curious about your Cephus. Was he difficult to acquire (I've noticed that most pet stores around here don't keep them, but I may have more luck in Vancouver), and did you have much difficulty securing his tank? I've read some of the articles linked off here, and got the impression that they will escape from practically anything that isn't welded shut. I've also read that they're quite sensitive, so require very clean water and other specific environmental conditions. I haven't had fish since I was very young, so I suspect I'm best off getting a tank set up with other fish before I try to introduce anything with tentacles... but I would greatly appreciate tips from someone who's already had one as a pet.
Now, on the topic of the article, it actually doesn't surprise me that they'd walk like that. The mimic octopus in particular has been known to swim or otherwise move in unusual ways to imitate sea snakes, flounders, lionfish, and other sea creatures. I am, however, curious about whether they can be taught new camoflage and mimcry techniques (and if so, how much can they learn?). If studies have already been done on this, feel free to send me the links... otherwise, this is a hint to all you marine biologists out there looking for a research topic:)
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I may just be imagining things with my wee little female brain, but I seem to remember reading about a study where it was found that women just used their brains differently so the larger size of the male brain didn't actually have any effect. I also seem to remember reading about a study that showed that the shrinking brains of the elderly do not result in a loss of intelligence....
I'm hoping this is the case in other parts of the games industry too because I've been toying with the idea of getting some more body modifications :) (Right now I just have my ears and navel pierced. Quite boring, I'm afraid.)
Also, on the same topic, I've also been considering getting my breasts enlarged but I'm not sure whether that kind of thing would be held against me (or count in my favour in a way that I might not like). Any idea how that kind of modification is viewed in the industry? If an employer noticed/found out, would he/she be likely to think "Wow, what a brainless slut. Why the hell should we hire her as a programmer?", or is it the kind of thing that's just accepted and ignored?
The hentai importers always CLAIM the characters are 18, of course, but it's never really believable, especially when you consider that at least half of them are usually highschoolers. If there IS a law to stop this, it isn't doing its job.
1. I've found it runs a lot faster than my Windows machine, probably because I've had a hell of a time keeping Windows spyware-free (despite a firewall, virus scanners, adaware, etc.)
2. Console windows rock... this is just personal preference, but it's so nice being able to just pull up a console and do everything from there via text input instead of working with a proper file manager. Windows has a similar feature, but it doesn't have real DOS anymore and I generally can't run programs from there, so I rarely bother using it.
3. There's an awful lot of free software available for Linux, and as a poor student, I find that really helpful. Yes, there's free software for Windows too, but in part because most professionally made software is created for Windows, there's a demand for Linux/UNIX versions, and they generally end up being free OSS.
4. Different Linux distros can coexist quite happily on a partitioned hard drive without trying to take over like Windows does.
5. This is another personal preference, but I really like the way KDE looks by default, and I also like how much I can customize it.
6. Most versions of Linux don't insult my intelligence and/or hide things that I could possibly mess up.
7. This may be the aspiring code monkey in me, but I rather like the idea of being able to look at the source of my operating system if I really want to... and I especially like having the ability to fix bugs or modify things if I so choose. Well, I don't have the coding ability yet, but someday...
Incidentally, I'm posting this from my Windows box, but I have Mandrake on my laptop. I've used Windows most of my life, dealt with the horrible crashiness of 98 and enjoyed the stability of XP, but since I started using Linux (only a few months ago, actually, though I'd briefly dabbled in it before), I can't imagine myself completely switching back. Windows is still useful when I want to play World of Warcraft (which is why I'm currently on here) or write an essay that absolutely MUST be in Word format, so I'm not going to pretend that it's evil or anything, nor will I entirely stop using it. However, for note taking, surfing the net, coding, and chatting with friends... I'm happiest using my Linux laptop.
Besides, drawn/written child-porn is already allowed in the US and Canada as long as its creator puts a little disclaimer on it saying that "All characters are 18 or older"... even if other parts of the work mention a character who's just turned 18 lusting after her younger brother (an actual example from a hentai game sold on j-list.com). Somehow, the way the laws work, you can sell graphic hentai starring a character who looks 8 or 9 as long as you claim she's 18 (See: this review of Jewel Knights Crusaders), but if you draw a character who looks 18 and say she's 15, that's OMG CHILD PORN! and will get you in serious trouble.
... it would be even better if somebody would duplicate Painter's interface as well. The main thing that irks me about both The Gimp and Photoshop is the brush size. I like how Painter just always has a nice little bar where I can vary the brush's size and opacity -- I don't have to click my way into anything to change it, it can stay right there. Furthermore, it keeps track of my brush size/opacity for different tools. For example, I can be drawing with a really small and faint eraser, switch tools to airbrush, and suddenly go to a large, opaque brush without changing the settings on the eraser. In The Gimp, while I can control the opacity of each brush separately, I can't control the size that way, and there isn't just one pair of bars at the bottom of the screen to do it all.
I'm not going to claim that it's my favourite language, nor am I going to pretend that I prefer it to something that's fully free/open source, but it serves its purpose. I'm a computer science student stuck somewhere between first and second year (I switched faculties, so I'm behind), so I've been learning both C and Java concurrently. Because the learning language is Java, I have more experience in that, but I find C more fun. However, I am not going to hop on the OMG! JAVA IS TEH SUCK!!11! bandwagon because it does have some merits. Some were mentioned by the article, but in my personal experience, the main thing that I like about it is its portability. If I'm looking to download a program that doesn't have to run fast, and I want to use it on both my Linux laptop and Windows desktop, I'll look for something written in Java so I don't have to worry about either Mandrake or Windows flatly refusing to run it. The extra (and basically one-time) step of downloading the latest version of Java onto my computer before I can run a Java app really doesn't compare to desperately Googling around for something that will definitely not screw up due to OS issues when I try to install it.
Ok, now... back to the article before I get too far off-topic. If Open Office works with Java bits in it, that's great. I don't use it much anyway, since emacs, vim, or even vi will normally serve my purpose.
It does have one important use that I have found, though. I have this bad habit (as you may have already noticed) of rambling on and on and on and writing extremely long sentences. These aren't technically grammatical mistakes, of course, but the Word grammar check will still warn me about them so I know what needs to be tweaked/rewritten.
For my assignments these days, however, I prefer to use emacs/vim/vi, and I've been teaching myself how to format in Latex as well. I frequently take advantage of the spellcheck in emacs, of course, but for the most part I just don't worry about it and fix any minor errors that I might find when I proofread.
(Disclaimer: When writing a /. post, I am not in uber-careful essay mode, so my spelling and grammar may be erratic.)
I'm curious about this mainly because although I am not (and probably never will be) a professional, I have been slowly teaching myself to create digital art. I can't do proper graphic design or anything, and for the most part have simply been drawing weird creatures and having far too much fun with layers, so I've found that I can do everything I want in either Painter or The GIMP. In fact, I usually avoid Photoshop as much as possible because I find it bloated and slow, but that might be because I have an old version. In any case, before I even think of shelling out for an upgrade, I'd like to know if it would be worth it for someone like me who ISN'T going to make the money back quickly through use of the product.
You might find it easier to think of this as conceptually equivalent to a laptop -- it's mobile in that you can move it around easily, not that you can literally run around while using it.
Think about it: a keyboard you can jump on, plus long and annoying ringtones. Do we really need a cellphone version of DDR?
It would be neat to see this used for cellphone games: there'd be more space to work with, and the input method would also make life more interesting for designers.
RM -RF /*
It was all in caps so it wouldn't work, but still. It's the thought that counts, right? (And if it was lowercase and interactive in any way, the results could be interesting to say the least...)
In part because of this, I'm curious about your Cephus. Was he difficult to acquire (I've noticed that most pet stores around here don't keep them, but I may have more luck in Vancouver), and did you have much difficulty securing his tank? I've read some of the articles linked off here, and got the impression that they will escape from practically anything that isn't welded shut. I've also read that they're quite sensitive, so require very clean water and other specific environmental conditions. I haven't had fish since I was very young, so I suspect I'm best off getting a tank set up with other fish before I try to introduce anything with tentacles... but I would greatly appreciate tips from someone who's already had one as a pet.
Now, on the topic of the article, it actually doesn't surprise me that they'd walk like that. The mimic octopus in particular has been known to swim or otherwise move in unusual ways to imitate sea snakes, flounders, lionfish, and other sea creatures. I am, however, curious about whether they can be taught new camoflage and mimcry techniques (and if so, how much can they learn?). If studies have already been done on this, feel free to send me the links... otherwise, this is a hint to all you marine biologists out there looking for a research topic :)