Portal would be fun if it had much less story. As it is, the story and humor is brilliant, but not as plot-heavy as something like Half Life or even Call of Duty. Still fun. Meat Boy or Pac Man have almost zero story, and focus on gameplay. Minecraft has no story. Street Fighter has nearly no story. Bulletstorm has nearly no story, and is intentionally about mastering the combo mechanics.
These things often have SOME story, but in reality the gameplay is not about plot exposition but about mastering the mechanics.
Deus Ex, Assassin's Creed, and other games DO have a story, and we love that too, but only because they have solid gameplay elements too (IMO). However, some games have tons of story and crappy gameplay, and thus no one wants to actually play them, or regret
Licensed as in, "EA NFL SIM", or "MADDEN 2012: NFL Apocalyse", or "NBA Superheroes 2011". As in, you pay large money to a well recognized brand to use their name plastered on your game.
NFL. NBA. Major League Baseball. NASCAR. Star Wars.
There's a niche of gamer who says, "I want to play a football game. Clearly, the one that is allowed to use the Real Names and Teams will give me the most realistic fantasy football ever!", and will overlook (somewhat) things like the playability tweaks in order to have something good to play with their (drinking?) buddies. Similarly, when Aunt Mabel wants to buy Timmy a football game for his PS3 or XBox, she'll have heard of NFL or NASCAR, but will (usually) not have heard of Mario Kart or Blood Bowl, and so the name on the license nets them sales that the gameplay and polish alone would not.
This is true, but since I only open Steam to play specific games, and often leave it open while I sleep my computer, I rarely see the ads. So, I find out after the fact about things like "Left4Dead was on sale last week, we made bank! Sorry, not this week..." too late.
As a prospective app buyer, how do you filter out the crapware from the good stuff without wasting your money experimenting? The very fact that the shovelware apps ARE successful means that somoene's buying them instead of the Good Apps, which makes me think it's hard to tell one from the other.
Helping people avoid wrong turns reduces traffic on the streets that were incorrectly referred, which has potential to increase pedestrian safety (as there are less cars traveling). It saves drivers time and frustration. It seems like it's a universally good thing - why do you ridicule it? Do you also ridicule people that pick up litter, or volunteer as crossing guards?
The guy isn't making a crusade of it, he just wants less people to (mistakenly) turn onto his street. Seems pretty understandable. As a driver, I'd prefer not to get sent down his street (or anyone else's) by mistake either.
Basically, from this I can tell that my under-40-inch LCD screen, when seen at most viewing ranges in my living room (under 10 feet) MIGHT be noticeably better at 720p, but that better than that willl likely go unnoticed. Fascinating stuff, all based on math and geometry.
Well, to be fair, it likely also was that he and his friends were probably standing next to the large screen at best buy, which means that the angle of their view taken up by the image would be much larger than if they were at a more normal viewing range (or in a theater).
That, more than anything else, is why I don't want to upgrade.
My TV supports it. My computer PROBABLY can, but my monitor won't. I don't want the uncertainty of wondering whether I bought the right player+TV+etc to make it all play well together, nor do I want to worry about whether my HTPC (if I ever build or buy one) will work at 1080p.
That would be awesome, even as a way to filter games people buy for themselves. However, as a parent, it's especially important, as it lets me make sure that my kids play games which I feel are wholesome.... which the more I think about it, seems to be "none of them".;) I kid, I kid. Hardly any of the games I consider formative and awesome are ones I'd want my kid playing for Quite Some Time, though (Fallout, Deus Ex, Call of Duty, etc). In some ways, I think the simplicity and enforced abstraction of the Older Games (Secret of Mana, early Final Fantasies, Chrono Trigger, Mario series) are better ones to start a kid with -- and go figure, those are the ones with teen and E ratings. Now to make sure I can get a copy of them on $CONSOLE of choice...
Erased and encrypted (with a lost key) are not the same thing. A dedicated attacker could likely have a fun time with the latter, as there's potential for a fair bit of known-plaintext.... of course, most of us are likely to encounter such an attacker. At work, maybe, but then we'd be doing wipe+destroy processes. At home, meh. I can't even give away old monitors, so Idoubt anyone'd end up with one of my drives.
I really liked all of the Call of Duty games (that I've played: 2, 4, MW2, World at War, Black Ops) in that they really humanized the character you are controlling. You're railroaded somewhat in what you do, but it really did a lot to make the enemies and allies you have both believable and sympathetic. Playing the russian missions in Black Ops and World at War, for example, were really interesting.
Last time I was fighting for Peace and Order in a video game, it was as a TIE pilot. It was brilliantly done - your initial missions ARE peacekeeping, ARE stopping pirates, etc.
I think this may be partly due to the people with enough expertise in CAD to meaningfully distinguish industrial-grade CAD tools from Blender (or similar) are not often involved in (or interested in) building open-source alternatives. I (am naive enough to) imagine that such capabilities could be added to open source tools like Blender in order to MAKE it a precision CAD package, if only we had a clear idea of what's needed. (I say 'we' as if I were involved in its development - I'm not.)
What are the key features that you feel are critical for CAD software? Is it a matter of convenience stuff, or capabilities which just aren't there? What kinds of things would I (as a potential hobbyist) find missing in something like Blender if I were trying to use it for CAD?
Why drill holes you don't need? If you use steel tubing, you don't need any holes, welding it is quicker and cheaper.
Non-welded pieces can be safely assembled by children, too, whereas I'm not keen on my kid (or me!;)) sitting down with a welding torch. The ease of disassembly/reassembly makes this very appealing.
Bruce, thanks for sharing this. Sounds very much like adult Lego, and that sounds really neat. (And thanks also to everyone later talking about intricate drilling rigs - fascinating!) Now, if only I can get my wife to approve of the aesthetics...
Yes, but often people are most concerned about what impacts them directly. It's IT's job to make sure those nunces of HIPAA (etc) are followed, and other hospital staff likely forget all about them (while worrying about other ways of keeping patient data secure).
As someone said above, a good IT manager will go have an in-person talk with this guy and explain why it's Hard To Do Right, and that it's important to do it Legally so that we all keep our jobs.
GPL and Linux (and Apache) have impacted (indirectly) a great many people - more than some many albums, movies, or books have. I think it's quite apropos to list them with others who created or invented "in their spare time", out of a love of creation rather than money.
Wait, you know of Serenity fans who did NOT buy it? I can't speak for the rest, but I doublt I'm the only Serenity fan to have bought the DVD set and the movie. Serenity's a bad example, IMO -- I expect that just about everyone interested in the movie or TV show is rabid enough in their fandom to want to own it, watch it, etc. They also happen to be predominantly nerds. What do you THINK would be more likely to be chosen as a crack target, Serenity or Pride and Prejudice?
When you have (via random selection) the option to Moderate, you will see a dropdown list on each post near the 'Reply to this' link which has selections like "Normal","Insightful", "Interesting", "Funny", "Troll", "Flamebait", and "Off Topic". When you select one, it moderates that post. (Sadly, this reply will probably get moderated off-topic.)
Posting a comment on an article will undo any moderation in that article you've done, and will bar you from further moderation on the topic. (It's useful when you mis-click a moderation and select something bad instead of good.) The moderation happens when you select it, with no confirmation other than the dropdown list changing to text of what you selected.
I believe that moderation frequency (and number of mod points) correlates with your karma. Post nicely, well, and moderate in a manner that is consistent with the moderation guidelines, and you're likely to get more of them more often. If you neglect to use them, I don't know if it gives them less often. I sometimes get multiple sets of 15 points in a week, and other times (like now) I can go a month without seeing any.
If hot coffee is meant to be scalding hot, how do you drink it without damaging your mouth? I'm genuinely curious, because I don't find the feeling of a scalded palate or tongue a very desirable prospect.
It's entirely possible to imagine a fair gambling establishment, or of playing with a group of players where no one was cheating. The fact that many WOULD cheat doesn't mean that it's impossible not to.
Many gambling games (slots, etc) are stacked in the house's favor, yes. Poker, though, is a game of skill (with some random factors) between players, where the house takes a cut of the pot. A fair gambling establishment would ensure that no player was cheating the other players, and that the dealer was not favoring anyone. It would be like having professional Magic the Gathering leagues that play for big money: fairness is both possible and desired, but some people will always want to try to cheat. Good establishments will try to minimize that.
Slashdot Mirror
What he means is:
Portal would be fun if it had much less story. As it is, the story and humor is brilliant, but not as plot-heavy as something like Half Life or even Call of Duty. Still fun.
Meat Boy or Pac Man have almost zero story, and focus on gameplay.
Minecraft has no story.
Street Fighter has nearly no story.
Bulletstorm has nearly no story, and is intentionally about mastering the combo mechanics.
These things often have SOME story, but in reality the gameplay is not about plot exposition but about mastering the mechanics.
Deus Ex, Assassin's Creed, and other games DO have a story, and we love that too, but only because they have solid gameplay elements too (IMO). However, some games have tons of story and crappy gameplay, and thus no one wants to actually play them, or regret
Licensed as in, "EA NFL SIM", or "MADDEN 2012: NFL Apocalyse", or "NBA Superheroes 2011". As in, you pay large money to a well recognized brand to use their name plastered on your game.
NFL.
NBA.
Major League Baseball.
NASCAR.
Star Wars.
There's a niche of gamer who says, "I want to play a football game. Clearly, the one that is allowed to use the Real Names and Teams will give me the most realistic fantasy football ever!", and will overlook (somewhat) things like the playability tweaks in order to have something good to play with their (drinking?) buddies. Similarly, when Aunt Mabel wants to buy Timmy a football game for his PS3 or XBox, she'll have heard of NFL or NASCAR, but will (usually) not have heard of Mario Kart or Blood Bowl, and so the name on the license nets them sales that the gameplay and polish alone would not.
This is true, but since I only open Steam to play specific games, and often leave it open while I sleep my computer, I rarely see the ads. So, I find out after the fact about things like "Left4Dead was on sale last week, we made bank! Sorry, not this week ..." too late.
As a prospective app buyer, how do you filter out the crapware from the good stuff without wasting your money experimenting? The very fact that the shovelware apps ARE successful means that somoene's buying them instead of the Good Apps, which makes me think it's hard to tell one from the other.
Or, they're using it as added insulation/shade.
We can't do that, what if they voted to lower the age at which they can have sex, drink, or smoke!?
In seriousness, while I'm sure some teens would take it seriously, I imagine a large number of others would put on their troll hats.
Helping people avoid wrong turns reduces traffic on the streets that were incorrectly referred, which has potential to increase pedestrian safety (as there are less cars traveling). It saves drivers time and frustration. It seems like it's a universally good thing - why do you ridicule it? Do you also ridicule people that pick up litter, or volunteer as crossing guards?
The guy isn't making a crusade of it, he just wants less people to (mistakenly) turn onto his street. Seems pretty understandable. As a driver, I'd prefer not to get sent down his street (or anyone else's) by mistake either.
Article: http://carltonbale.com/1080p-does-matter
Chart: http://s3.carltonbale.com/resolution_chart.html
Basically, from this I can tell that my under-40-inch LCD screen, when seen at most viewing ranges in my living room (under 10 feet) MIGHT be noticeably better at 720p, but that better than that willl likely go unnoticed. Fascinating stuff, all based on math and geometry.
Well, to be fair, it likely also was that he and his friends were probably standing next to the large screen at best buy, which means that the angle of their view taken up by the image would be much larger than if they were at a more normal viewing range (or in a theater).
That, more than anything else, is why I don't want to upgrade.
My TV supports it. My computer PROBABLY can, but my monitor won't. I don't want the uncertainty of wondering whether I bought the right player+TV+etc to make it all play well together, nor do I want to worry about whether my HTPC (if I ever build or buy one) will work at 1080p.
I'm pretty sure Duke Nukem Forever will be coming out later this year.
That would be awesome, even as a way to filter games people buy for themselves. However, as a parent, it's especially important, as it lets me make sure that my kids play games which I feel are wholesome. ... which the more I think about it, seems to be "none of them". ;) I kid, I kid. Hardly any of the games I consider formative and awesome are ones I'd want my kid playing for Quite Some Time, though (Fallout, Deus Ex, Call of Duty, etc). In some ways, I think the simplicity and enforced abstraction of the Older Games (Secret of Mana, early Final Fantasies, Chrono Trigger, Mario series) are better ones to start a kid with -- and go figure, those are the ones with teen and E ratings. Now to make sure I can get a copy of them on $CONSOLE of choice...
Erased and encrypted (with a lost key) are not the same thing. A dedicated attacker could likely have a fun time with the latter, as there's potential for a fair bit of known-plaintext. ... of course, most of us are likely to encounter such an attacker. At work, maybe, but then we'd be doing wipe+destroy processes. At home, meh. I can't even give away old monitors, so Idoubt anyone'd end up with one of my drives.
I really liked all of the Call of Duty games (that I've played: 2, 4, MW2, World at War, Black Ops) in that they really humanized the character you are controlling. You're railroaded somewhat in what you do, but it really did a lot to make the enemies and allies you have both believable and sympathetic. Playing the russian missions in Black Ops and World at War, for example, were really interesting.
Last time I was fighting for Peace and Order in a video game, it was as a TIE pilot. It was brilliantly done - your initial missions ARE peacekeeping, ARE stopping pirates, etc.
I think this may be partly due to the people with enough expertise in CAD to meaningfully distinguish industrial-grade CAD tools from Blender (or similar) are not often involved in (or interested in) building open-source alternatives. I (am naive enough to) imagine that such capabilities could be added to open source tools like Blender in order to MAKE it a precision CAD package, if only we had a clear idea of what's needed. (I say 'we' as if I were involved in its development - I'm not.)
What are the key features that you feel are critical for CAD software? Is it a matter of convenience stuff, or capabilities which just aren't there? What kinds of things would I (as a potential hobbyist) find missing in something like Blender if I were trying to use it for CAD?
Why drill holes you don't need? If you use steel tubing, you don't need any holes, welding it is quicker and cheaper.
Non-welded pieces can be safely assembled by children, too, whereas I'm not keen on my kid (or me! ;)) sitting down with a welding torch. The ease of disassembly/reassembly makes this very appealing.
Bruce, thanks for sharing this. Sounds very much like adult Lego, and that sounds really neat. (And thanks also to everyone later talking about intricate drilling rigs - fascinating!) Now, if only I can get my wife to approve of the aesthetics...
Will he conquer us by airship?
Yes, but often people are most concerned about what impacts them directly. It's IT's job to make sure those nunces of HIPAA (etc) are followed, and other hospital staff likely forget all about them (while worrying about other ways of keeping patient data secure).
As someone said above, a good IT manager will go have an in-person talk with this guy and explain why it's Hard To Do Right, and that it's important to do it Legally so that we all keep our jobs.
GPL and Linux (and Apache) have impacted (indirectly) a great many people - more than some many albums, movies, or books have. I think it's quite apropos to list them with others who created or invented "in their spare time", out of a love of creation rather than money.
Wait, you know of Serenity fans who did NOT buy it? I can't speak for the rest, but I doublt I'm the only Serenity fan to have bought the DVD set and the movie. Serenity's a bad example, IMO -- I expect that just about everyone interested in the movie or TV show is rabid enough in their fandom to want to own it, watch it, etc. They also happen to be predominantly nerds. What do you THINK would be more likely to be chosen as a crack target, Serenity or Pride and Prejudice?
When you have (via random selection) the option to Moderate, you will see a dropdown list on each post near the 'Reply to this' link which has selections like "Normal" ,"Insightful", "Interesting", "Funny", "Troll", "Flamebait", and "Off Topic". When you select one, it moderates that post. (Sadly, this reply will probably get moderated off-topic.)
Posting a comment on an article will undo any moderation in that article you've done, and will bar you from further moderation on the topic. (It's useful when you mis-click a moderation and select something bad instead of good.) The moderation happens when you select it, with no confirmation other than the dropdown list changing to text of what you selected.
I believe that moderation frequency (and number of mod points) correlates with your karma. Post nicely, well, and moderate in a manner that is consistent with the moderation guidelines, and you're likely to get more of them more often. If you neglect to use them, I don't know if it gives them less often. I sometimes get multiple sets of 15 points in a week, and other times (like now) I can go a month without seeing any.
If hot coffee is meant to be scalding hot, how do you drink it without damaging your mouth? I'm genuinely curious, because I don't find the feeling of a scalded palate or tongue a very desirable prospect.
Oversight of the banking industry, or any other similar juggernaut of potential corruption.
It's entirely possible to imagine a fair gambling establishment, or of playing with a group of players where no one was cheating. The fact that many WOULD cheat doesn't mean that it's impossible not to.
Many gambling games (slots, etc) are stacked in the house's favor, yes. Poker, though, is a game of skill (with some random factors) between players, where the house takes a cut of the pot. A fair gambling establishment would ensure that no player was cheating the other players, and that the dealer was not favoring anyone. It would be like having professional Magic the Gathering leagues that play for big money: fairness is both possible and desired, but some people will always want to try to cheat. Good establishments will try to minimize that.