Oh great, now I have to listen to some n00bs chatter about how they were an extra in such-and-such a movie.
If I wanted to hear that crap, I'd go to the bars in meatspace with my media-industry friends.
Machinima is pretty cool, but why can't a game just be a game?
The interviewee in the article is producing the machinima equivalent of reality TV... it's just ego-tripping by the participants.
While it's a phenomenon on SWG, I'd prefer to see machinima used as a production vehicle for scripted shows or movies. I've had enough "Real World" that I don't need a "SWG Virtual World" to get my reality TV fix.
Props to the machinima "directors" who actually create content that they film, taking full advantage of cheap (as-in-beer, not cheap as-in-floozie) animation software.
"He's like an Einstein of music," Carlini said. "He sees it like, there's a thought, an idea in the air, and it passes through him. Passing through him, he's able to build these instruments."
Wow, deep stuff, man, but don't bogart that joint. At first sight, I though Mr. Carlini must be some hack that CNN tapped for a quote. Turns out, Carlini is a force in the NYC entertainment industry -- http://carlinigroup.com/pdf/bio.pdf. Sorry for the PDF.
Let me join the rest of the music world in wishing Dr. Robert Moog peaceful journeys. Without his genius, we might never have experienced music as we know it today.
It's not GWB who has Congress by the cojones. The Powers That Be have GWB by the balls as well as Congress.
Follow the money trail... all the non-corporate-interest legislation and executive orders are just red herrings to keep the (R) and (D) voter bases motivated.
Breaking news, RSS is favored by industry giants! Use RSS, support for Atom is disappearing!
Oh, and by the way, we happen to produce software to manage your RSS needs!
"Now that Atom's attempt at replacing RSS has fallen flat, the syndication arena will likely see significant innovation and progress."
Yes, that's what competition does, it stifles innovation.
Seriously, though, uniform standards can be great, saving dev time for loads of people and companies.
But I'd say that, at the very least, this promotional material (that's what it is) is putting the cart before the horse, and is also poorly written. I'd like to read a detailed analysis by an industry expert (not a marketing department), who is qualified to project market share for the standards.
Also:
Google's recent new service that allows web surfers to monitor Google News using either RSS or Atom feeds, appears to be an acknowledgment that perhaps in purchasing Blogger, they chose the wrong specification.
Actually, this appears to be an acknowledgement that (1) Google would like as many consumers as possible to use Google News and (2) Google is choosing not to use their market share to lock out competitors in related products.
The president has a moral obligation to do what's best for the country as a whole instead of acting out of his own personal religious beliefs.
Strictly speaking, he does not have that obligation, nor that power. He can recommend to the Congress "such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." He must do what is necessary to uphold the law of the land.
But the power to act lies within Congress, and any recommendation by the President is based upon his personal opinion, which may or may not reflect what is best for the country.
This is why there is a separation of powers, so that the Congress can hold a President, who either oversteps his authority, or is an idiot, in check.
Some marketing mumbo-jumbo bs, and then a summary that says absolutely nothing other than "We want to make the best console ever for everyone." Which was probably written prior to the interview, then cut-and-pasted into the chat session.
br>
If I am going to spend time viewing an online interview with an "expert," I expect to gain some insight, maybe, possibly, learn some new things.
The MS press releases on the XBox 360 would have been a more informative read... and would, in essence, say exactly the same thing.
I know I'm getting modded down for this, but really now...
One valid item-of-note:
FTA: "Q: Why even offer the core package, its seems quite useless[sic]
A: the significance of this message can not be understated. many of the publishing and retail partners want our commitment to grow the market. and as you have heard from us in our press conferences and such we are very committed to growing the market."
Translation: We have to convince developers and retailers that consumers will purchase the product, which they assuredly will not do at the price point for the complete system.
Not many adults play these games in the states (unsure elsewhere). I'm sure you could find some, but the games are really directed at the pre-teen and teen markets.
Most adult former players I've spoken to feel that the games are basically just a big fat money-draining time-suck that you can't play by yourself (as opposed to MMORPGs, which are just big fat money-draining timesucks that you can play by yourself*.
I do play Yu-Gi-Oh... with my 7-year-old nephew when I look after him. Interestingly enough, the game is too complex for him, so we end up telling stories about the characters on the cards.
The median projected growth rate for the next 5 years is 30%. P/E/G ratios of 2 are common for fast growing companies, so the lowest that P/E will get is about 60.
Growth != earnings. While growth is nice, profitability is not just dependent upon revenues, you must factor in costs as well.
Furthermore, please cite source for median projected growth rate of 30% over next 5 years. What units are we talking about hear? Median of what industry, or of the economy as a whole? As estimated by whom?
If you mean the US GDP, I think you are way off...
The P/E may be 80 for the trailing 12 months, but that's certainly not its current P/E.
You're right, the current P/E is probably 75 or so. What has happened in the past quarter that makes you think they are significantly more profitable than in the past year? Especially considering they are holding US$ 3 bn cash?
Remember, the cost of everything turns back into man-years of effort.
Actually, that's not quite right. The cost of everything can be expressed as man-years of effort, but converting between currency and labor units is not so easy as dividing by PCI. Far better to divide by the the per capita production of all the people who will work on whatever product Google produces.
Sure, Google wants to raise some cash. They also need to justify that whopping share price, the P/E ratio currently is absurd.
In addition, 200k man-years is a drop in the bucket. By your calculations, Google had about 3/4 of that last year in revenues.
How many man-years will it take them to build new office space? How many man-years will they "spend" on office overhead, and other non-labor operating costs?
Of note, though, is that even hunted meat can be dangerous... even if prepared "properly". Wild rabbits are very often infected with tularemia, for example, and this is easily passed through the skin when skinning or dressing Peter Cottontail.
The fact is, you can never be sure, and it's all a question of balancing effort, cost and risk for each individual.
Another limiting factor is that there are not enough resources for everyone to grow their own food sources, at the current consumption rate. Mass production of food is the only way to get it done.
One thing I like about the subject of the original article is that this has the potential to ease some of the stresses we put on the environment.
From the site: Pork (deer and bear are also targets) used to get infected with Trichinae via their diet of uncooked meats, either foraged or scraps. Now the US requires that even garbage must be cooked before using as feed for commercial hog stock.
There's always the question of whether the regulations are being followed, however -- recent articles have been published re: BSE-prevention regulations not being followed.
and "Interestingly enough, trichinae is not found worldwide. Southeast Asia and Europe have no problems with the parasite, allowing the consumption of raw pork without the risk of health problems."
Also, please not the qualifier in the parent:"If handled properly."
The only way to guarantee that your meat is handled properly is to do it yourself.
Umm... let me rephrase that... Is to raise, butcher, and process the meat yourself, after a thorough education in the correct methods.
And to take that one step further, if you are ethically unable to butcher your own meat, you really shouldn't be eating it at all... or you're just deceiving yourself.
I don't disagree with you in principle, but I felt that the parent was perhaps missing an important part of MS's new direction for collaboration.
I was just making the point that additional software (and expense) will be required for some of the functionality he currently has with Exchange.
My concern is that we'll have to purchase an expensive license for a ton of funtionality we don't even utilize, just to get the basics. Of course, it's still up to the user to determine whether it's necessary.
FTA:
[Greg Kostikyan says]
"[There's] nothing wrong with sequels and licensed products - in moderation. The problem [...] is that they're beginning to overwhelm original work. Here we are, like Balboa, shocked with wild surmise as we face a vast unknown Pacific of enormous creative possibility - and all we can do is licensed drivel?"
The movie industry is try to overcome a lack of diversity in content with a diversity of delivery mechanisms.
Although, this could be a step towards immersive interactive movies.
Besides the negative effects of long-term exposure to both static and intermittent magnetic fields...
I believe they use magnetic fields to approximate weight-bearing exercise. You've still got the problem that the "weight" of the steel suit will not be evenly distributed across the skeleton.
Plus, I can imagine the annoyance factor, and the stench factor.
I'm curious as to how much energy would be required to generate a magnetic field of sufficient force.
"At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy nut, I sometimes think that NASA hasn't solved this problem "on purpose." Why? Because, hey, let's face it--weightlessness is cool. I caught a little bit of NASA TV over the weekend when they were replaying the video taken when the Shuttle astronauts came aboard ISS. People were floating around, bouncing off the walls, etc. It looked really cool. If everything looked "normal" with people walking around, it's a little less interesting to the TV viewer."
Do tinfoil hats prevent bone density loss, too?
Seriously, though... interesting thoughts, especially about the artificial G sleep chamber.
However, I think the extremely small radial arm would cause very, very strong side effects, possible far worse than the negative effects of zero-G. The variations in angular momentum would be pretty sick.
Re: not solving it on purpose, I think that NASA has other priorities than artificial G.
"Heh...heh...heh...they think I'm crazy. But I know better. It is not I who am crazy. It is not I who am mad! Didn'tcha hear 'em? Didn'tcha see the CROWDS? Oh my beloved ice cream bar... "
According to Ren & Stimpy, it is zero-G that causes Space Madness.
I'm sure every slashdotter has seen multiple sci-fi examples of a huge spinning doohickey that replaces gravity with centrifugal[1] force.
Four problems I can see:
1) If the radial arm is too short, there are tons of biological side effects. Coriolis forces and angular momentum are the two major factors causing these side effects, which can be mediated by intermittent spinning.
2) An engineering nightmare, especially if done intermittenly.
3) A logistical nightmare. If the radial arm is long enough to prevent the side effects, construction and maintenace service would, I believe, be beyond acceptable costs.
4) Would make impossible all the long-term zero-g experiments we need to continue doing.
However, there is currently renewed research into the idea. I was able to find an entry for the Mars Gravity Biosatellite in Wikipedia, but there is not much information there.
Anyone know more info (such as projected launch date) about the MGBS or other artificial gravity experiments?
[1] Yeah, yeah, it doesn't really exist. But it's a useful term.
"...along with our document management system it is the core of IT infrastructure for where I work (a multibillion dollar, multinational financial services company). Simply, Exchange provides for email service in all its forms (pop, mapi, imap), news server, webmail backend/front end (along with IIS), public folders, collaborative contacts, mails, document checking, etc., global contacts, shared calendering, shared tasks, etc."
From Wikipedia:
"Microsoft now appears to be positioning a combination of Microsoft Office, Live Meeting and Sharepoint as its collaboration software of choice. Exchange is now to be simply email and calendaring."
I hope you're forecasting the increase in licensing costs for all the functionality you are currently experiencing under Exchange Server.
Exchange Server, the Microsoft messaging and collaboration server, is software that runs on servers that enables you to send and receive electronic mail and other forms of interactive communication through computer networks. Designed to interoperate with a software client application such as Microsoft Outlook, Exchange Server also interoperates with Outlook Express and other e-mail client applications.
From wikipedia:
Microsoft now appears to be positioning a combination of Microsoft Office, Live Meeting and Sharepoint as its collaboration software of choice. Exchange is now to be simply email and calendaring.
MS prefers its clients to have to license separate software for these tasks, this allows both greater specialization and multiple revenue streams.
Slashdot Mirror
Oh great, now I have to listen to some n00bs chatter about how they were an extra in such-and-such a movie.
If I wanted to hear that crap, I'd go to the bars in meatspace with my media-industry friends.
Machinima is pretty cool, but why can't a game just be a game?
The interviewee in the article is producing the machinima equivalent of reality TV... it's just ego-tripping by the participants.
While it's a phenomenon on SWG, I'd prefer to see machinima used as a production vehicle for scripted shows or movies. I've had enough "Real World" that I don't need a "SWG Virtual World" to get my reality TV fix.
Props to the machinima "directors" who actually create content that they film, taking full advantage of cheap (as-in-beer, not cheap as-in-floozie) animation software.
"He's like an Einstein of music," Carlini said. "He sees it like, there's a thought, an idea in the air, and it passes through him. Passing through him, he's able to build these instruments."
Wow, deep stuff, man, but don't bogart that joint. At first sight, I though Mr. Carlini must be some hack that CNN tapped for a quote. Turns out, Carlini is a force in the NYC entertainment industry -- http://carlinigroup.com/pdf/bio.pdf. Sorry for the PDF.
Let me join the rest of the music world in wishing Dr. Robert Moog peaceful journeys. Without his genius, we might never have experienced music as we know it today.
Agreed, with one caveat:
It's not GWB who has Congress by the cojones. The Powers That Be have GWB by the balls as well as Congress.
Follow the money trail... all the non-corporate-interest legislation and executive orders are just red herrings to keep the (R) and (D) voter bases motivated.
Pay no attention to the man* behind the curtain.
*gender doesn't really apply to corporations.
Breaking news, RSS is favored by industry giants! Use RSS, support for Atom is disappearing!
Oh, and by the way, we happen to produce software to manage your RSS needs!
"Now that Atom's attempt at replacing RSS has fallen flat, the syndication arena will likely see significant innovation and progress."
Yes, that's what competition does, it stifles innovation.
Seriously, though, uniform standards can be great, saving dev time for loads of people and companies.
But I'd say that, at the very least, this promotional material (that's what it is) is putting the cart before the horse, and is also poorly written. I'd like to read a detailed analysis by an industry expert (not a marketing department), who is qualified to project market share for the standards.
Also: Google's recent new service that allows web surfers to monitor Google News using either RSS or Atom feeds, appears to be an acknowledgment that perhaps in purchasing Blogger, they chose the wrong specification.
Actually, this appears to be an acknowledgement that (1) Google would like as many consumers as possible to use Google News and (2) Google is choosing not to use their market share to lock out competitors in related products.
The president has a moral obligation to do what's best for the country as a whole instead of acting out of his own personal religious beliefs.
Strictly speaking, he does not have that obligation, nor that power. He can recommend to the Congress "such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." He must do what is necessary to uphold the law of the land.
But the power to act lies within Congress, and any recommendation by the President is based upon his personal opinion, which may or may not reflect what is best for the country.
This is why there is a separation of powers, so that the Congress can hold a President, who either oversteps his authority, or is an idiot, in check.
This interview took an hour to complete?
Some marketing mumbo-jumbo bs, and then a summary that says absolutely nothing other than "We want to make the best console ever for everyone." Which was probably written prior to the interview, then cut-and-pasted into the chat session. br>
If I am going to spend time viewing an online interview with an "expert," I expect to gain some insight, maybe, possibly, learn some new things. The MS press releases on the XBox 360 would have been a more informative read... and would, in essence, say exactly the same thing.
I know I'm getting modded down for this, but really now...
One valid item-of-note:
FTA: "Q: Why even offer the core package, its seems quite useless[sic] A: the significance of this message can not be understated. many of the publishing and retail partners want our commitment to grow the market. and as you have heard from us in our press conferences and such we are very committed to growing the market."
Translation: We have to convince developers and retailers that consumers will purchase the product, which they assuredly will not do at the price point for the complete system.
Not many adults play these games in the states (unsure elsewhere). I'm sure you could find some, but the games are really directed at the pre-teen and teen markets.
Most adult former players I've spoken to feel that the games are basically just a big fat money-draining time-suck that you can't play by yourself (as opposed to MMORPGs, which are just big fat money-draining timesucks that you can play by yourself*. I do play Yu-Gi-Oh... with my 7-year-old nephew when I look after him. Interestingly enough, the game is too complex for him, so we end up telling stories about the characters on the cards.
*disclaimer: I play MMORPGs
So, some online content will only be available by purchasing packs of cards...
Genius, really. Sure beats multi-tiered memberships.
Blizzard could be doing a much better job of promoting itself as a marketing target.
I would hate to see in-game advertising for real-world products, but Blizzard could be capitalizing on its subscriber base more effectively.
So, when do we get WoW Happy Meals, with scratch-off extra game content?
Or a Pepsi under-the-lid promotion?
Of course there will be a higher incidence of psychopathy at the tops of corporate pyramids.
How do you think people get there? And why do you think they are successful at earning profits?
1. Start new company 2. Run the Hare test on management to make sure they are psychopathic 3. ??? 4. Profit!
Thanks for the info. The original poster, however, should have specified earnings growth, then.
The site you linked to says that Google's growth is expected to be 30% per annum over the next five years, not 30% total the next five years.
This is a forecast of 270% aggregate over the next five years... almost unbelievable.
The median projected growth rate for the next 5 years is 30%. P/E/G ratios of 2 are common for fast growing companies, so the lowest that P/E will get is about 60.
Growth != earnings. While growth is nice, profitability is not just dependent upon revenues, you must factor in costs as well.
Furthermore, please cite source for median projected growth rate of 30% over next 5 years. What units are we talking about hear? Median of what industry, or of the economy as a whole? As estimated by whom?
If you mean the US GDP, I think you are way off...
The P/E may be 80 for the trailing 12 months, but that's certainly not its current P/E.
You're right, the current P/E is probably 75 or so. What has happened in the past quarter that makes you think they are significantly more profitable than in the past year? Especially considering they are holding US$ 3 bn cash?
Remember, the cost of everything turns back into man-years of effort.
Actually, that's not quite right. The cost of everything can be expressed as man-years of effort, but converting between currency and labor units is not so easy as dividing by PCI. Far better to divide by the the per capita production of all the people who will work on whatever product Google produces.
Sure, Google wants to raise some cash. They also need to justify that whopping share price, the P/E ratio currently is absurd.
In addition, 200k man-years is a drop in the bucket. By your calculations, Google had about 3/4 of that last year in revenues.
How many man-years will it take them to build new office space? How many man-years will they "spend" on office overhead, and other non-labor operating costs?
Absolutely, I agree with you.
Of note, though, is that even hunted meat can be dangerous... even if prepared "properly". Wild rabbits are very often infected with tularemia, for example, and this is easily passed through the skin when skinning or dressing Peter Cottontail.
The fact is, you can never be sure, and it's all a question of balancing effort, cost and risk for each individual.
Another limiting factor is that there are not enough resources for everyone to grow their own food sources, at the current consumption rate. Mass production of food is the only way to get it done.
One thing I like about the subject of the original article is that this has the potential to ease some of the stresses we put on the environment.
Actually, most commercially available pork nowadays is not infected with Trichinella.
e ase.ap/index.html
While the layout on it is pretty gaudy, here's a fact sheet from the meatman:
http://www.askthemeatman.com/pork_Trichinosis.htm
From the site:
Pork (deer and bear are also targets) used to get infected with Trichinae via their diet of uncooked meats, either foraged or scraps. Now the US requires that even garbage must be cooked before using as feed for commercial hog stock.
There's always the question of whether the regulations are being followed, however -- recent articles have been published re: BSE-prevention regulations not being followed.
and
"Interestingly enough, trichinae is not found worldwide. Southeast Asia and Europe have no problems with the parasite, allowing the consumption of raw pork without the risk of health problems."
Too bad that there's another swine infection problem coming along in Asia:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/08/03/china.pigdis
Also, please not the qualifier in the parent:"If handled properly."
The only way to guarantee that your meat is handled properly is to do it yourself.
Umm... let me rephrase that... Is to raise, butcher, and process the meat yourself, after a thorough education in the correct methods.
And to take that one step further, if you are ethically unable to butcher your own meat, you really shouldn't be eating it at all... or you're just deceiving yourself.
I don't disagree with you in principle, but I felt that the parent was perhaps missing an important part of MS's new direction for collaboration.
I was just making the point that additional software (and expense) will be required for some of the functionality he currently has with Exchange.
My concern is that we'll have to purchase an expensive license for a ton of funtionality we don't even utilize, just to get the basics. Of course, it's still up to the user to determine whether it's necessary.
FTA: [Greg Kostikyan says] "[There's] nothing wrong with sequels and licensed products - in moderation. The problem [...] is that they're beginning to overwhelm original work. Here we are, like Balboa, shocked with wild surmise as we face a vast unknown Pacific of enormous creative possibility - and all we can do is licensed drivel?"
The movie industry is try to overcome a lack of diversity in content with a diversity of delivery mechanisms.
Although, this could be a step towards immersive interactive movies.
Besides the negative effects of long-term exposure to both static and intermittent magnetic fields...
I believe they use magnetic fields to approximate weight-bearing exercise. You've still got the problem that the "weight" of the steel suit will not be evenly distributed across the skeleton.
Plus, I can imagine the annoyance factor, and the stench factor.
I'm curious as to how much energy would be required to generate a magnetic field of sufficient force.
"At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy nut, I sometimes think that NASA hasn't solved this problem "on purpose." Why? Because, hey, let's face it--weightlessness is cool. I caught a little bit of NASA TV over the weekend when they were replaying the video taken when the Shuttle astronauts came aboard ISS. People were floating around, bouncing off the walls, etc. It looked really cool. If everything looked "normal" with people walking around, it's a little less interesting to the TV viewer."
Do tinfoil hats prevent bone density loss, too?
Seriously, though... interesting thoughts, especially about the artificial G sleep chamber.
However, I think the extremely small radial arm would cause very, very strong side effects, possible far worse than the negative effects of zero-G. The variations in angular momentum would be pretty sick.
Re: not solving it on purpose, I think that NASA has other priorities than artificial G.
"Heh...heh...heh...they think I'm crazy. But I know better. It is not I who am crazy. It is not I who am mad! Didn'tcha hear 'em? Didn'tcha see the CROWDS? Oh my beloved ice cream bar... "
According to Ren & Stimpy, it is zero-G that causes Space Madness.
Don't push the button.
There is no simple artificial gravity solution.
I'm sure every slashdotter has seen multiple sci-fi examples of a huge spinning doohickey that replaces gravity with centrifugal[1] force.
Four problems I can see:
1) If the radial arm is too short, there are tons of biological side effects. Coriolis forces and angular momentum are the two major factors causing these side effects, which can be mediated by intermittent spinning.
2) An engineering nightmare, especially if done intermittenly.
3) A logistical nightmare. If the radial arm is long enough to prevent the side effects, construction and maintenace service would, I believe, be beyond acceptable costs.
4) Would make impossible all the long-term zero-g experiments we need to continue doing.
However, there is currently renewed research into the idea. I was able to find an entry for the Mars Gravity Biosatellite in Wikipedia, but there is not much information there.
Anyone know more info (such as projected launch date) about the MGBS or other artificial gravity experiments?
[1] Yeah, yeah, it doesn't really exist. But it's a useful term.
The point I am making is that MS is positioning Exchange to be solely for email and calendaring.
Most other features (including collaboration, perhaps the most useful in the modern office) are being migrated or developed for other MS apps.
The only reason I can see to prefer Exchange over competitors would be increased interoperability with other MS products.
"...along with our document management system it is the core of IT infrastructure for where I work (a multibillion dollar, multinational financial services company). Simply, Exchange provides for email service in all its forms (pop, mapi, imap), news server, webmail backend/front end (along with IIS), public folders, collaborative contacts, mails, document checking, etc., global contacts, shared calendering, shared tasks, etc."
From Wikipedia:
"Microsoft now appears to be positioning a combination of Microsoft Office, Live Meeting and Sharepoint as its collaboration software of choice. Exchange is now to be simply email and calendaring."
I hope you're forecasting the increase in licensing costs for all the functionality you are currently experiencing under Exchange Server.
From MS website:
Exchange Server, the Microsoft messaging and collaboration server, is software that runs on servers that enables you to send and receive electronic mail and other forms of interactive communication through computer networks. Designed to interoperate with a software client application such as Microsoft Outlook, Exchange Server also interoperates with Outlook Express and other e-mail client applications.
From wikipedia:
Microsoft now appears to be positioning a combination of Microsoft Office, Live Meeting and Sharepoint as its collaboration software of choice. Exchange is now to be simply email and calendaring.
MS prefers its clients to have to license separate software for these tasks, this allows both greater specialization and multiple revenue streams.
I used Logo pretty extensively in grade school. We were assigned problems similar to what you suggest, but these are not really games.
x .html
Logo was developed as an educational tool, here's the Logo Foundation link to explain:
http://el.media.mit.edu/logo-foundation/logo/inde
Lots of interesting tidbits in the link, and the parent site.
I went on a 30F streak back in college, and would have felt frozen if it weren't for the whiskey.
Frostbite in the nether regions would be pretty uncomfortable.