What I never understood was, how do you prepare for these "If I just did X..." situations? Do you have warning that you're going to encounter a medusa (short of seeing it;)), or of there being a BigHairyNastyThing up ahead, which can inform the knowledgeable player that they should prepare for it (e.g., put on a blindfold, get out a torch, run the hell away)?
On the other hand, nearly everyone these days can handle a higher resolution than was originally supported. If all players were playing at 1024x768 (instead of 640x480), it's equally fair to everyone. All you'd need to do is ensure that games only supported the resolutions accessible by EVERYONE in the game. (So, if A has 1024x768, and B has 1920x1200, it's gonna play at 1024x768.)
That'd be an awesome patch for SC. *shrugs*. We'll likely see something like that in Stacraft II.
Apparently, my subconscious was speaking without me realizing it, I looked up this very thing several months ago.
The Emperor's Hammer (a SW gaming fan club) has been working on a total conversion of the Freespace2 Source Code Project to have the XW and T/F missions: http://ia.emperorshammer.net/. It looks like it's in an early alpha state, so sadly I don't expect to see anything from this for a few more years (if it's even active -- I hope so!).
Other Freespace2-based projects are listed at the FS2 wiki page, and include Beyond the Red Line (Battlestar Galactica), the babylon Project (three guesses;)), and starfox and Wing Commander-themed projects. This makes me want to dig up my joystick all over again. =)
One of the things I enjoyed about TIE Fighter is that you really ARE put in the position of enforcing "peace and order". You quell uprisings, fight traitors (and I don't mean just the rebels), protect shipments, etc. It just helped show a perspective that despite the megalomaniacal (and evil) impulses of the Emperor and Vader, the everyday pilot joined up (in many ways) to be a force of order.
The story, while set in the SW universe, was universal enough that it would make a GREAT port in nearly any other space sim. I wouldn't mind that in the Freespace engine. Heck, give me similar plot elements, that'd be awesome. (Not that Freespace2's story sucked, far from it. But I'd still love to see a T/F plot-steal.;))
I simply do not understand this obsession with mosaics, blurs, or twirls to obfuscate data. Why not remove the data? A big black bar of pixels is very difficult to recover from. Or, replace one's face (in the image) with Paris Holton's, or Margaret Thatcher, or any other well-known person.
OTOH, what's to say that the person didn't already do that in THIS case. If they replaced their face in the image with someone else's, and THEN did the blur/twirl, that might be a very clever form of misdirection.
Tragedy is a strong component in much humor. I'd have marked it insightful or funny, had I mod points.
Kudos to the poem-poster for being able to produce: - a witty parody of a Burma Shave advertisement - a sad but likely apropos commentary on what is happening to these selfless monks.
This helps bring the personal nature of the tragedy home, not just the magnitude. Reading "20,000 monks killed by government" does not have the same effect as seeing one monk immolate himself, or of a well-timed poem. Additionally, humor (especially black humor) is one way that we humans cope with loss, tragedy, and pain. The GP was a post which well-deserved being modded up.
Rent the first one and see.
on
Halo 3 Review
·
· Score: 1
Somehow I must have been living under a rock and not played the first two Halos... [F]rom the perspective of the review, it seems that [new players] aren't even a blip on the radar.
While I haven't played Halo 2, I did play (and greatly enjoyed) Halo 1 on PC. If you own an XBox, or a 360, or can borrow/rent one, you might consider renting Halo 1 and playing it through (even on an easier level, which while it has fewer plot-goodies in its cutscenes, has less controller-breaking elements).
Having never played Marathon, I was completely blown away by how well the story was told. Maybe it was just that it *had* a story, but keep in mind that as a PC gamer I have played Half Life, and Deus Ex. Halo had its rough spots (whether in gameplay or story), but overall was an excellent game. So good, that if it had been released on PC, I'd have bought Halos 2 and 3 in a heartbeat.
Playing Halo 1 will acquaint you with the major character (the Master Chief), and you'll understand basics about who the Covenant are (jihadistic aliens w/ superior weaponry), who the Flood are (a galaxy-devouring parasite), etc. From there, you can decide whether you want to rent/borrow Halo 2 (or just read the plot synopsis at Wikipedia;)), and whether you want to play Halo 3.
One of these countries imprisons, tortures, and kills political dissidents. One has annexed a foreign country and has been promising to annex another for fifty years. One destroys "illegal" churches and forces abortions.
Between US and China, I'm not sure if you're referring here to China, or to the US. I'm pretty certain all of these apply to China, but:
- We "render" alleged "terrorists" to other countries, presumably so that they CAN be tortured by others on our behalf. While the set of people at risk for this seems to be less than it is in China, it is a scary slippery slope of sleazy behavior. - Some might consider our behavior in Iraq similar to annexing a foreign country. I realize it's not the same in name, but we are certainly not keeping to ourselves. I realize "Free Tibet" has merit, but I don't think our hands are clean either.
I'm much happier that I and my loved ones live here than in China. I think I see more similarities than your words implied, though.
Given the complexity of the legal field, I'm pessimistic as to the average person's capability to defend themselves in a case like this. Securing legal counsel sounds like a prudent (if expensive) way to mitigate the potential losses.
if you are 1 of 500 customers on an oversold local loop, and you download 200 gigabytes per month - you could be a major impact on this line on fellow customers. Keeping you as a customer may drive off several others who find the browsing too slow. In this case -- even though you download LESS than the previous example - you would still be less desirable as a customer.
So: If they oversell their infrastructure enough that a single user can adversely affect the experiences of others merely by excercising that infrastructure, that sounds like a business mistake. We aren't obligated to protect their business model. You do make a good point, that this is WHY they are doing it... it just isn't very nice of them.
Maybe some sex education is needed: "Son, just so you know, real women don't like bukkake gang-bangs. They like hugs. And clitoral stimulation too, but hugs first." Does she just have moral or ethical objections to porn in general? Maybe she should be talking about her values with her son a little more.
Agreed. Consider the gift of the book "The Joy of Sex" -- it has a LOT to say about healthy sexual relationships, respect, and so forth. Not to mention all sorts of information on mechanics, cleanup, etc. I'm immensely glad I read that book (and a bit of the sequel). I personally think that every teen should read it from cover to cover as soon as they're ready to handle it, and understand what the consequences can be.
Went to Gamestop. The guy said, "Well, the UPS guy may get here today, or tomorrow. I think we'll have more then." So, I went nearly-next-door (in the same shopping center) to Best Buy, where there were multiple tables literally overflowing with the game. I walked up, grabbed a box, and checked out.
My game-buying experiences at Best Buy have been nearly-always been better than Gamestop. Not only do they have more PC games (local GameStops have practically all XBox/PS3 games), but I don't have to do the preorder BS. Heck, I saw DEFCON there... quite the shocker.:)
Agreed. While it would be a scheduling hassle, it would be more effective to send over a competent player of the game (presumably from the developer house or the beta team), with a selection of savegames at various points. (e.g., here's some of the more violent stuff... here's the nudity which you can see in context is nonsexual, here's the cathedral with contrast of the selflessness of the church with the inhumanity of nonhuman forces.) (Sorry, I know that's not related to ratings.)
This would ensure both that the ratings people saw all the incidental gore that might not be captured by screenshots, and would probably even help show the "games as art" perspective better.
My comments are driven by my experiences watching preview footage of Bioshock, and the developers' explanations of the mechanics, the moral choices, etc. I had not realized that the game had "drug using" themes in it (seeing the player character inject himself with stuff is somewhat creepy), but at the same time the video really helped show the atmosphere, gameplay dynamics, and all sorts of other good stuff which make me excited and eager to play it.
I'm not sure how the ratings are affected by: - being able to kill children (ick) - setting people on fire with your mind (sweet!) - shattering frozen enemies. I suspect the former gets a more mature rating, as we've had the latter in all sorts of games.;)
So, you're building a video game about Something Real (or alternate-reality-real). Do you model the building in a way that is Correct, or in a way which is Incorrect, but no one can tell?
For example... I recall playing Rainbow Six: Eagle Watch. At one point, there was a hostage rescue scenario in some offices of the Capitol building. These may have been actual floor layouts, or not -- I really (as a player) have no idea. I relish the idea that they made it seem real enough, but don't really care much whether it's 100% accurate.
In the case of Resistance (which I haven't played), you say they wanted a specific cathedral, for alternate-historical reasons. If you're already going the alternate history route, why not: - alter the outside so it looks very similar to the real thing - alter the inside so it's different but believable ?
Your gamer audience will often NOT have been inside the Real Thing, and if they have... well, you have the fallback excuse of it being an alternate reality version. Perhaps the floor plan of that church, or the design of the Oval Office, or the number of seats in the Space Shuttle are all different there -- it really doesn't have any effect on gameplay, unless being able to reference Real World information would actually help you. (In which case, you're less in a video game, and more in the research-at-the-library game.)
I like authenticity in games... but only really want it as far as is necessary to be a believable scenario. I want the bathrooms and stairs to be placed in realistic places, rather than tactical choke points (usually), rooms with furniture in them that would be reasonable obstacles, etc. The games that try to be "realistic" tend to do a good job of this (hello, Rainbow Six!), but I appreciate that they aren't so wedded to being an actual mock-up as to cripple themselves as a game. I think Sony made a mistake here, if they really did use the actual building design (or something too-close thereto) when they could have done something else.
[T]he game shows a strong edge of story telling, and a shockingly strong artistic vision.... [with] elements of a hellish children's book.
This is I think what's interesting me the most. I really enjoyed games like American McGee's Alice, Deus Ex, and other games with a story which diverges from current normalcy in ways which permeate the entire game experience.
When I first heard about Bioshock, I wasn't all that impressed. Underwater world, looks all 1940's styled, and... what the heck is with that "Big Brother" that looks like a cross between a diving suit and a tired plumber?? I still see similar artistic quirks, and I worry that the crazy nurses will become like the staple enemy spawns (like the card guards in Alice;)) or the ubiquitous MJ12 enemies in Deus Ex.
However, now that I've seen lots of developer videos and previews, that doesn't bother me as much. The moral choices (harvesting little sisters, or setting them free, etc), and the interesting "magic" (plasmids) that are available looks like it will be really cool. Ultimately, I think I may be playing on a rail, or at least a wide path (as opposed to DX's more free-form levels), but I could very well be wrong. I am expecting to geek out on the interplay of plasmids vs weapons, and getting their interactions right. (-:
So... yeah. Fractured fairy tales are some of my favourite things, as they take something familiar, and then give it a twist of the unexpected.
I want it harder for anonymous sources to come forward. If a source has an issue with this or that policy, they should prove the strength of their conviction by allowing themselves to be named instead of hiding in the shadows. Too often journalists end up as tools for agency or bureaucratic agendas and vendettas.
I was going to mod your post up (Interesting DOES apply), but thought I'd address this.
When a person feels that their life (or family) would be in danger if they are a known source, they are going to almost always stay silent. For example, snitching on mafia doings, or reporting that the US government is torturing and killing people unconstitutionally would reasonably expect that they might be next on the list for retribution. I am not making such a claim about the US gov't, but if such a thing were true, then someone that blew the whistle would very likely be persecuted heavily, and even be in serious danger.
If whistleblowers can't ensure that they are protected (whether via law or anonymity), far fewer will blow the whistle. I don't think I value my countrymen more than I value the lives of my wife and children, for example. In the case of egregious violations of public trust, some might feel that they cannot depend on the law. What good does the law do you when you are rendered to a foreign country, your exact whereabouts classified, your reason for arrest classified, and no charges actually brought? It sounds a lot like Neo's encounter with Agent Smith.
This does have a taste of tin-foil hat wearing paranoia, I admit. However, I'd rather keep our options open. I'd rather allow anonymous whistleblowers than have a much smaller set of identifiable whistleblowers.
I can't even get the damn ripping part to work. Without fail, either the video is crappy or the audio is out of sync with the video.
This reminds me of something that my wedding videographer told me about video transfer. Basically, try ripping from a firewire device to another firewire device. When he would try to transfer from (a Firewire) video camera to an (IDE) internal hard drive, the sound would become desynched at some point. The way he solved it was by going from camera directly to a firewire external drive.
I haven't tried such a thing, but it sounded credible... =) Not sure how well that would work for a ripping process, though.
you could almost smell what it was like in the era of replicants.
So... if I took an ill cat out in a rainstorm, in the middle of an alley full of dumpsters, junk, and homeless people, and used it to clean up some spilled chinese food, blood, and motor oil, would I about get it right?:D
The MSDN examples for Windows Scripting, last time I looked (2+ years ago;)) all talked about using Notepad to edit Windows scripts.
It needs: - syntax highlighting for batch files, VB, and preferably be customizable for use for other languages (or at least highlight comments!) - powerful cut/paste and search/replace capabilities. - change tab width (4-char, 3-char, or 2-char options are good!) - format conversion (unix/mac/windows) of newlines, if desired - tabbed view would be nice, too.
I guess this is why I pay money for UltraEdit, though... but it's absolutely pitiful that Microsoft will pimp Notepad as the "preferred editor" for scripts, and then continue to let it suck so completely.
Agreed. I'd be much more likely to consider a Dell, if I could trust that the price I SEE is the best one that I'm going to get from them. No wondering if I can get a better deal with some random coupon code, or if I configure it by starting from a different vantage point.
Great points. It's the intent that matters, as well as the words chosen.
If I'm in a game, and someone starts calling me gay, or a Jew, or a pig-[bleep]ing-[bleep]er, I know that they want to insult me, etc. Many times, I feel it's inappropriate. Saying someone is unskilled, or whatnot, can be done without reverting to profanity.
Also, for parents of young children, we'd rather they not hear profanity and use it in everyday conversation. I'd rather my kids didn't ask me, "Daddy, what's a hoe-biscuit?", just as I'd rather they didn't moon their teachers.
Do I accept some cursing? Of course. When bad things happen, my raid leaders curse in voice-chat, or when I get frutrated I will curse also. I do NOT, however, broadcast that over voice chat or in-game chat (unless I'm *very* frustrated, and even then I try not to).
I prefer that my gaming nights not consist of people calling each other homos, faggots, douchebags, or various racial slurs; nor would I like to hear them filled with a nonstop parroting of the F word. I can listen to rap music for that, and choose not to. This is the main reason that I never could stomache playing on public Counterstrike servers. (I can accept that I suck as a player -- and played for a long time on a server where I was not the best by a LONG shot, yet where the atmosphere was mature and people were banned for cursing. (I even got one for typo-ing "shotgun" as "shitgnu".;))
Muting general chat (and trade;)) goes a long way towards keeping the frustration level low in my WoW time.
it's all too likely that she couldn't seek statutory damages, making any action not entirely worth it.... A call-to-protest is, however, totally understandable.
I'm not sure I agree that any legal action isn't worth it. If someone made several thousand dollars off of my work, in a manner which was a violation of copyright or otherwise was improper, it seems like it would be a straightforward thing to get recompensed for such a thing. Not in a punitive damage sense, but in the sense of "These were profits which you made on MY work; please send me X% Cut, and pay my lawyer's fees for having to go to this extreme to GET such compensation".
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What I never understood was, how do you prepare for these "If I just did X ..." situations? Do you have warning that you're going to encounter a medusa (short of seeing it ;)), or of there being a BigHairyNastyThing up ahead, which can inform the knowledgeable player that they should prepare for it (e.g., put on a blindfold, get out a torch, run the hell away)?
On the other hand, nearly everyone these days can handle a higher resolution than was originally supported. If all players were playing at 1024x768 (instead of 640x480), it's equally fair to everyone. All you'd need to do is ensure that games only supported the resolutions accessible by EVERYONE in the game. (So, if A has 1024x768, and B has 1920x1200, it's gonna play at 1024x768.)
That'd be an awesome patch for SC. *shrugs*. We'll likely see something like that in Stacraft II.
Apparently, my subconscious was speaking without me realizing it, I looked up this very thing several months ago.
;)), and starfox and Wing Commander-themed projects. This makes me want to dig up my joystick all over again. =)
The Emperor's Hammer (a SW gaming fan club) has been working on a total conversion of the Freespace2 Source Code Project to have the XW and T/F missions: http://ia.emperorshammer.net/. It looks like it's in an early alpha state, so sadly I don't expect to see anything from this for a few more years (if it's even active -- I hope so!).
Other Freespace2-based projects are listed at the FS2 wiki page, and include Beyond the Red Line (Battlestar Galactica), the babylon Project (three guesses
One of the things I enjoyed about TIE Fighter is that you really ARE put in the position of enforcing "peace and order". You quell uprisings, fight traitors (and I don't mean just the rebels), protect shipments, etc. It just helped show a perspective that despite the megalomaniacal (and evil) impulses of the Emperor and Vader, the everyday pilot joined up (in many ways) to be a force of order.
;))
The story, while set in the SW universe, was universal enough that it would make a GREAT port in nearly any other space sim. I wouldn't mind that in the Freespace engine. Heck, give me similar plot elements, that'd be awesome. (Not that Freespace2's story sucked, far from it. But I'd still love to see a T/F plot-steal.
I simply do not understand this obsession with mosaics, blurs, or twirls to obfuscate data. Why not remove the data? A big black bar of pixels is very difficult to recover from. Or, replace one's face (in the image) with Paris Holton's, or Margaret Thatcher, or any other well-known person.
OTOH, what's to say that the person didn't already do that in THIS case. If they replaced their face in the image with someone else's, and THEN did the blur/twirl, that might be a very clever form of misdirection.
Tragedy is a strong component in much humor. I'd have marked it insightful or funny, had I mod points.
Kudos to the poem-poster for being able to produce:
- a witty parody of a Burma Shave advertisement
- a sad but likely apropos commentary on what is happening to these selfless monks.
This helps bring the personal nature of the tragedy home, not just the magnitude. Reading "20,000 monks killed by government" does not have the same effect as seeing one monk immolate himself, or of a well-timed poem. Additionally, humor (especially black humor) is one way that we humans cope with loss, tragedy, and pain. The GP was a post which well-deserved being modded up.
Having never played Marathon, I was completely blown away by how well the story was told. Maybe it was just that it *had* a story, but keep in mind that as a PC gamer I have played Half Life, and Deus Ex. Halo had its rough spots (whether in gameplay or story), but overall was an excellent game. So good, that if it had been released on PC, I'd have bought Halos 2 and 3 in a heartbeat.
Playing Halo 1 will acquaint you with the major character (the Master Chief), and you'll understand basics about who the Covenant are (jihadistic aliens w/ superior weaponry), who the Flood are (a galaxy-devouring parasite), etc. From there, you can decide whether you want to rent/borrow Halo 2 (or just read the plot synopsis at Wikipedia
Between US and China, I'm not sure if you're referring here to China, or to the US. I'm pretty certain all of these apply to China, but:
- We "render" alleged "terrorists" to other countries, presumably so that they CAN be tortured by others on our behalf. While the set of people at risk for this seems to be less than it is in China, it is a scary slippery slope of sleazy behavior.
- Some might consider our behavior in Iraq similar to annexing a foreign country. I realize it's not the same in name, but we are certainly not keeping to ourselves. I realize "Free Tibet" has merit, but I don't think our hands are clean either.
I'm much happier that I and my loved ones live here than in China. I think I see more similarities than your words implied, though.
Given the complexity of the legal field, I'm pessimistic as to the average person's capability to defend themselves in a case like this. Securing legal counsel sounds like a prudent (if expensive) way to mitigate the potential losses.
So use a USB-style connection for plug durability, and The One True Data Transfer Protocol (e.g., the GP suggests gigabit ethernet) to send the bits.
So: If they oversell their infrastructure enough that a single user can adversely affect the experiences of others merely by excercising that infrastructure, that sounds like a business mistake. We aren't obligated to protect their business model. You do make a good point, that this is WHY they are doing it
Agreed. Consider the gift of the book "The Joy of Sex" -- it has a LOT to say about healthy sexual relationships, respect, and so forth. Not to mention all sorts of information on mechanics, cleanup, etc. I'm immensely glad I read that book (and a bit of the sequel). I personally think that every teen should read it from cover to cover as soon as they're ready to handle it, and understand what the consequences can be.
Sounds like my Burning Crusade experience.
:)
Went to Gamestop. The guy said, "Well, the UPS guy may get here today, or tomorrow. I think we'll have more then." So, I went nearly-next-door (in the same shopping center) to Best Buy, where there were multiple tables literally overflowing with the game. I walked up, grabbed a box, and checked out.
My game-buying experiences at Best Buy have been nearly-always been better than Gamestop. Not only do they have more PC games (local GameStops have practically all XBox/PS3 games), but I don't have to do the preorder BS. Heck, I saw DEFCON there... quite the shocker.
Agreed. While it would be a scheduling hassle, it would be more effective to send over a competent player of the game (presumably from the developer house or the beta team), with a selection of savegames at various points. (e.g., here's some of the more violent stuff ... here's the nudity which you can see in context is nonsexual, here's the cathedral with contrast of the selflessness of the church with the inhumanity of nonhuman forces.) (Sorry, I know that's not related to ratings.)
;)
This would ensure both that the ratings people saw all the incidental gore that might not be captured by screenshots, and would probably even help show the "games as art" perspective better.
My comments are driven by my experiences watching preview footage of Bioshock, and the developers' explanations of the mechanics, the moral choices, etc. I had not realized that the game had "drug using" themes in it (seeing the player character inject himself with stuff is somewhat creepy), but at the same time the video really helped show the atmosphere, gameplay dynamics, and all sorts of other good stuff which make me excited and eager to play it.
I'm not sure how the ratings are affected by:
- being able to kill children (ick)
- setting people on fire with your mind (sweet!)
- shattering frozen enemies.
I suspect the former gets a more mature rating, as we've had the latter in all sorts of games.
So, you're building a video game about Something Real (or alternate-reality-real). Do you model the building in a way that is Correct, or in a way which is Incorrect, but no one can tell?
... well, you have the fallback excuse of it being an alternate reality version. Perhaps the floor plan of that church, or the design of the Oval Office, or the number of seats in the Space Shuttle are all different there -- it really doesn't have any effect on gameplay, unless being able to reference Real World information would actually help you. (In which case, you're less in a video game, and more in the research-at-the-library game.)
... but only really want it as far as is necessary to be a believable scenario. I want the bathrooms and stairs to be placed in realistic places, rather than tactical choke points (usually), rooms with furniture in them that would be reasonable obstacles, etc. The games that try to be "realistic" tend to do a good job of this (hello, Rainbow Six!), but I appreciate that they aren't so wedded to being an actual mock-up as to cripple themselves as a game. I think Sony made a mistake here, if they really did use the actual building design (or something too-close thereto) when they could have done something else.
For example... I recall playing Rainbow Six: Eagle Watch. At one point, there was a hostage rescue scenario in some offices of the Capitol building. These may have been actual floor layouts, or not -- I really (as a player) have no idea. I relish the idea that they made it seem real enough, but don't really care much whether it's 100% accurate.
In the case of Resistance (which I haven't played), you say they wanted a specific cathedral, for alternate-historical reasons. If you're already going the alternate history route, why not:
- alter the outside so it looks very similar to the real thing
- alter the inside so it's different but believable
?
Your gamer audience will often NOT have been inside the Real Thing, and if they have
I like authenticity in games
This is I think what's interesting me the most. I really enjoyed games like American McGee's Alice, Deus Ex, and other games with a story which diverges from current normalcy in ways which permeate the entire game experience.
When I first heard about Bioshock, I wasn't all that impressed. Underwater world, looks all 1940's styled, and
However, now that I've seen lots of developer videos and previews, that doesn't bother me as much. The moral choices (harvesting little sisters, or setting them free, etc), and the interesting "magic" (plasmids) that are available looks like it will be really cool. Ultimately, I think I may be playing on a rail, or at least a wide path (as opposed to DX's more free-form levels), but I could very well be wrong. I am expecting to geek out on the interplay of plasmids vs weapons, and getting their interactions right. (-:
So
When a person feels that their life (or family) would be in danger if they are a known source, they are going to almost always stay silent. For example, snitching on mafia doings, or reporting that the US government is torturing and killing people unconstitutionally would reasonably expect that they might be next on the list for retribution. I am not making such a claim about the US gov't, but if such a thing were true, then someone that blew the whistle would very likely be persecuted heavily, and even be in serious danger.
If whistleblowers can't ensure that they are protected (whether via law or anonymity), far fewer will blow the whistle. I don't think I value my countrymen more than I value the lives of my wife and children, for example. In the case of egregious violations of public trust, some might feel that they cannot depend on the law. What good does the law do you when you are rendered to a foreign country, your exact whereabouts classified, your reason for arrest classified, and no charges actually brought? It sounds a lot like Neo's encounter with Agent Smith.
This does have a taste of tin-foil hat wearing paranoia, I admit. However, I'd rather keep our options open. I'd rather allow anonymous whistleblowers than have a much smaller set of identifiable whistleblowers.
Never date anyone who interrogates people for a living :-(
... ;)
OTOH, she'd be rather capable about grilling the guys that want to date your daughter
Actually, only 7 of them were joking .... but which seven? :)
This reminds me of something that my wedding videographer told me about video transfer. Basically, try ripping from a firewire device to another firewire device. When he would try to transfer from (a Firewire) video camera to an (IDE) internal hard drive, the sound would become desynched at some point. The way he solved it was by going from camera directly to a firewire external drive.
I haven't tried such a thing, but it sounded credible
The MSDN examples for Windows Scripting, last time I looked (2+ years ago ;)) all talked about using Notepad to edit Windows scripts.
... but it's absolutely pitiful that Microsoft will pimp Notepad as the "preferred editor" for scripts, and then continue to let it suck so completely.
It needs:
- syntax highlighting for batch files, VB, and preferably be customizable for use for other languages (or at least highlight comments!)
- powerful cut/paste and search/replace capabilities.
- change tab width (4-char, 3-char, or 2-char options are good!)
- format conversion (unix/mac/windows) of newlines, if desired
- tabbed view would be nice, too.
I guess this is why I pay money for UltraEdit, though
Agreed. I'd be much more likely to consider a Dell, if I could trust that the price I SEE is the best one that I'm going to get from them. No wondering if I can get a better deal with some random coupon code, or if I configure it by starting from a different vantage point.
Great points. It's the intent that matters, as well as the words chosen.
;))
;)) goes a long way towards keeping the frustration level low in my WoW time.
If I'm in a game, and someone starts calling me gay, or a Jew, or a pig-[bleep]ing-[bleep]er, I know that they want to insult me, etc. Many times, I feel it's inappropriate. Saying someone is unskilled, or whatnot, can be done without reverting to profanity.
Also, for parents of young children, we'd rather they not hear profanity and use it in everyday conversation. I'd rather my kids didn't ask me, "Daddy, what's a hoe-biscuit?", just as I'd rather they didn't moon their teachers.
Do I accept some cursing? Of course. When bad things happen, my raid leaders curse in voice-chat, or when I get frutrated I will curse also. I do NOT, however, broadcast that over voice chat or in-game chat (unless I'm *very* frustrated, and even then I try not to).
I prefer that my gaming nights not consist of people calling each other homos, faggots, douchebags, or various racial slurs; nor would I like to hear them filled with a nonstop parroting of the F word. I can listen to rap music for that, and choose not to. This is the main reason that I never could stomache playing on public Counterstrike servers. (I can accept that I suck as a player -- and played for a long time on a server where I was not the best by a LONG shot, yet where the atmosphere was mature and people were banned for cursing. (I even got one for typo-ing "shotgun" as "shitgnu".
Muting general chat (and trade
That could be worded better