I think Star Wars is riding the shark. Despite the Ewoks Christmas specials and the mediocrity of the second trilogy, there are still great manifestations of the Star Wars Universe out there. Particularly in video games (Knights of the Old Republic, Jedi Knight) and though I've not read them, I've heard good things about many of the books.
Oh and since you reminded me. Did anyone else think of 'Parasite Eve' when they first started talking about Midi-chlorians in Episode 1?
Unfortunately, being union isn't a guarantee of benefits and good wages. Due to the monopolistic practices of Wal-Mart, many of it's competitors can't provide those benefits and stay competitive. This forces the unions to back off on things like strikes, when demanding pay increases and other various items during contract negotiations, because they know the employers will shutdown rather than succumb to their demands.
As for direction. Our professional athletes, scientists and Engineers produce far fewer children than those at the bottom of our social order. For the sake of our species, I would advise you all (Creationists and Evolutionist) to pray (To Jesus or Darwin) that human intelligence is not seriously impacted by our genetic makeup. If it is our society will collapse when we are no longer able to maintain what our parents built. While not remotely scientific, the comedy Idiocracy is based on that idea; eventually the stupid, through massive reproduction, will be the next step in human evolution.
It's not always a technical barrier that blocks people from these services. Sometimes it's just word of mouth. Napster was great until it was on the news, then suddenly you had constant fake songs, mislabeled songs, throttled connections due to leechers etc. etc. Bittorrent will have the same happen within the next year or two. You're definitely correct on that "critical mass level" though.
Women playing online games at a greater rate than men makes sense to me. Every woman I've known, no matter how much she avoids video games in general, will play Tetris for hours on end. The flash puzzle games all over the web are exactly what women like to play. While men may be playing online, they're sticking to MMORPGs, FPS and RTS.
And for the other figure mentioned: 8% of gamers being 45+ doesn't seem that outlandish to me. The first video games came out in the early 70's. A 45 year old today would have been 11 when Pong came out. The number of "old" people playing video games will probably see a dramatic increase over the coming years, about the time the Nintendo generation hits 45+.
What utility should I use to defrag? Not the one with Windows? I've left this running on my computer for a weekend and got back on Monday to see that it restarted itself.
If you have to leave defrag running over the weekend, you're definitely not defragging often enough. If you want a better defrag program, you can buy a copy of Diskeeper or O&O Defrag.
Also I have heard about the problems with Norton's and I am looking into TrendMicro to replace it after my subscription is up.
Forget about Norton now, ignore the subscription. Go pickup Antivir for free at http://www.free-av.com/
How do you do a head-to-head comparision of a new format with two players that have issues and limitations?
From the article:
"But first, a note on this comparison. I hooked up both my Toshiba HD-XA1 HD DVD player and Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray player to my HP Pavilion reference HDTV via its two HDMI inputs. Note, however, that the first-generation Toshiba HD DVD decks are not capable of outputting native 1080p signals (unlike the Samsung), so it was up to the HP's internal processing to upconvert the Toshiba's 1080i signal to 1080p. Also, given the Samsung's much-publicized problems with its HDMI output (due to a reported faulty noise reduction chip that results in a degraded signal via the deck's HDMI out -- Samsung is planning to correct the problem on future shipments as well as issue a firmware upgrade sometime this Fall), I also compared both the Toshiba and the Samsung via component out to ensure the most fair comparison possible between the two discs."
I've always wondered why MS hasn't considered putting Windows on a memory chip that could plug into a custom Operating System port. They could fully document the hardware, so that other OSes can use the technology without them being accused of a monopoly. I'm sure it would make instant booting more of a reality. And with full access to the windows installation on the chip you wouldn't have anything to copy over on an install, it'd just be a matter of detecting the hardware and making some settings files (overly simplified, but you know what I mean); in fact not having the Windows eat up hard drive space could be a selling point for some users.
But I suppose this hybridization will help a bit, but I don't think it was neccesary to incorporate it into the Hard Drive. I'm more picturing a port on the front of your case where you plug in your OS with a chip emblazoned with a Microsoft, Apple, Debian, Red Hat, Gentoo etc. etc. logo.
Intelligent Design advocate: YEAAARRRRGGGHHHH! YOU BROKE MY KNEECAP!
Scientist: Perhaps it only appears that I broke your kneecap. Certainly, all the evidence points to the hypothesis I broke your kneecap. For example, your kneecap is broken; it appears to be a fresh wound; and I am holding a baseball bat, which is spattered with your blood. However, a mere preponderance of evidence doesn't mean anything. Perhaps your kneecap was designed that way. Certainly, there are some features of the current situation that are inexplicable according to the "naturalistic" explanation you have just advanced, such as the exact contours of the excruciating pain that you are experiencing right now.
Intelligent Design advocate: AAAAH! THE PAIN!
Scientist: Frankly, I personally find it completely implausible that the random actions of a scientist such as myself could cause pain of this particular kind. I have no precise explanation for why I find this hypothesis implausible --- it just is. Your knee must have been designed that way!
Intelligent Design advocate: YOU BASTARD! YOU KNOW YOU DID IT!
Scientist: I surely do not. How can we know anything for certain? Frankly, I think we should expose people to all points of view. Furthermore, you should really re-examine whether your hypothesis is scientific at all: the breaking of your kneecap happened in the past, so we can't rewind and run it over again, like a laboratory experiment. Even if we could, it wouldn't prove that I broke your kneecap the previous time. Plus, let's not even get into the fact that the entire universe might have just popped into existence right before I said this sentence, with all the evidence of my alleged kneecap-breaking already pre-formed.
Intelligent Design advocate: That's a load of bullshit sophistry! Get me a doctor and a lawyer, not necessarily in that order, and we'll see how that plays in court!
Scientist (turning to audience): And so we see, ladies and gentlemen, when push comes to shove, advocates of Intelligent Design do not actually believe any of the arguments that they profess to believe. When it comes to matters that hit home, they prefer evidence, the scientific method, testable hypotheses, and naturalistic explanations. In fact, they strongly privilege naturalistic explanations over supernatural hocus-pocus or metaphysical wankery. It is only within the reality-distortion field of their ideological crusade that they give credence to the flimsy, ridiculous arguments which we so commonly see on display. I must confess, it kind of felt good, for once, to be the one spouting free-form bullshit; it's so terribly easy and relaxing, compared to marshaling rigorous arguments backed up by empirical evidence. But I fear that if I were to continue, then it would be habit-forming, and bad for my soul. Therefore, I bid you adieu.
UPDATE (22 Oct.): If you're a creationist or IDiot [0], and you're suddenly possessed by the urge to comment on this post, please don't bother. I know what you're going to say. When I was an undergrad, I read talk.origins for a while, and I have seen every single creationist argument under the sun. I spent many an hour watching people knowledgeable about evolution debating creationists: patiently debunking the same tired arguments over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again, responding in good faith to arguments that
For those of you that think Topher Grace is poor casting as Venom, you're right IF they use the normal Marvel Universe (Universe 616) version of Venom. However the Venom from Ultimate Spiderman would work great for Topher Grace. A childhood friend of Peter's who is going to college and continuing the research began by his and Peter's parents. The research project ends up becoming the Venom suit after interaction with Peter. This version of Venom is a college science nerd and more of an anti-Spiderman then the alien symbiote of the normal Marvel Universe. Considering Sam Raimi's voiced dislike of the Venom character I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to go with this alternate interpretation.
I'll think this is even more likely if the Venom from the new Ultimate Spiderman game turns out to have the same Ultimate storyline.
Slashdot Mirror
I think Star Wars is riding the shark. Despite the Ewoks Christmas specials and the mediocrity of the second trilogy, there are still great manifestations of the Star Wars Universe out there. Particularly in video games (Knights of the Old Republic, Jedi Knight) and though I've not read them, I've heard good things about many of the books. Oh and since you reminded me. Did anyone else think of 'Parasite Eve' when they first started talking about Midi-chlorians in Episode 1?
Unfortunately, being union isn't a guarantee of benefits and good wages. Due to the monopolistic practices of Wal-Mart, many of it's competitors can't provide those benefits and stay competitive. This forces the unions to back off on things like strikes, when demanding pay increases and other various items during contract negotiations, because they know the employers will shutdown rather than succumb to their demands.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophyophore
It's not always a technical barrier that blocks people from these services. Sometimes it's just word of mouth. Napster was great until it was on the news, then suddenly you had constant fake songs, mislabeled songs, throttled connections due to leechers etc. etc. Bittorrent will have the same happen within the next year or two. You're definitely correct on that "critical mass level" though.
Women playing online games at a greater rate than men makes sense to me. Every woman I've known, no matter how much she avoids video games in general, will play Tetris for hours on end. The flash puzzle games all over the web are exactly what women like to play. While men may be playing online, they're sticking to MMORPGs, FPS and RTS. And for the other figure mentioned: 8% of gamers being 45+ doesn't seem that outlandish to me. The first video games came out in the early 70's. A 45 year old today would have been 11 when Pong came out. The number of "old" people playing video games will probably see a dramatic increase over the coming years, about the time the Nintendo generation hits 45+.
Superman's costume was based on the suits worn by "strongmen" at the Circus. The rest is history.
Forget about Norton now, ignore the subscription. Go pickup Antivir for free at http://www.free-av.com/
How do you do a head-to-head comparision of a new format with two players that have issues and limitations? From the article: "But first, a note on this comparison. I hooked up both my Toshiba HD-XA1 HD DVD player and Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray player to my HP Pavilion reference HDTV via its two HDMI inputs. Note, however, that the first-generation Toshiba HD DVD decks are not capable of outputting native 1080p signals (unlike the Samsung), so it was up to the HP's internal processing to upconvert the Toshiba's 1080i signal to 1080p. Also, given the Samsung's much-publicized problems with its HDMI output (due to a reported faulty noise reduction chip that results in a degraded signal via the deck's HDMI out -- Samsung is planning to correct the problem on future shipments as well as issue a firmware upgrade sometime this Fall), I also compared both the Toshiba and the Samsung via component out to ensure the most fair comparison possible between the two discs."
I've always wondered why MS hasn't considered putting Windows on a memory chip that could plug into a custom Operating System port. They could fully document the hardware, so that other OSes can use the technology without them being accused of a monopoly. I'm sure it would make instant booting more of a reality. And with full access to the windows installation on the chip you wouldn't have anything to copy over on an install, it'd just be a matter of detecting the hardware and making some settings files (overly simplified, but you know what I mean); in fact not having the Windows eat up hard drive space could be a selling point for some users. But I suppose this hybridization will help a bit, but I don't think it was neccesary to incorporate it into the Hard Drive. I'm more picturing a port on the front of your case where you plug in your OS with a chip emblazoned with a Microsoft, Apple, Debian, Red Hat, Gentoo etc. etc. logo.
Taken from The Abstract Factory
http://abstractfactory.blogspot.com/2005/10/only-d ebate-on-intelligent-design-that.html
The only debate on Intelligent Design that is worthy of its subject
Moderator: We're here today to debate the hot new topic, evolution versus Intelligent Des---
(Scientist pulls out baseball bat.)
Moderator: Hey, what are you doing?
(Scientist breaks Intelligent Design advocate's kneecap.)
Intelligent Design advocate: YEAAARRRRGGGHHHH! YOU BROKE MY KNEECAP!
Scientist: Perhaps it only appears that I broke your kneecap. Certainly, all the evidence points to the hypothesis I broke your kneecap. For example, your kneecap is broken; it appears to be a fresh wound; and I am holding a baseball bat, which is spattered with your blood. However, a mere preponderance of evidence doesn't mean anything. Perhaps your kneecap was designed that way. Certainly, there are some features of the current situation that are inexplicable according to the "naturalistic" explanation you have just advanced, such as the exact contours of the excruciating pain that you are experiencing right now.
Intelligent Design advocate: AAAAH! THE PAIN!
Scientist: Frankly, I personally find it completely implausible that the random actions of a scientist such as myself could cause pain of this particular kind. I have no precise explanation for why I find this hypothesis implausible --- it just is. Your knee must have been designed that way!
Intelligent Design advocate: YOU BASTARD! YOU KNOW YOU DID IT!
Scientist: I surely do not. How can we know anything for certain? Frankly, I think we should expose people to all points of view. Furthermore, you should really re-examine whether your hypothesis is scientific at all: the breaking of your kneecap happened in the past, so we can't rewind and run it over again, like a laboratory experiment. Even if we could, it wouldn't prove that I broke your kneecap the previous time. Plus, let's not even get into the fact that the entire universe might have just popped into existence right before I said this sentence, with all the evidence of my alleged kneecap-breaking already pre-formed.
Intelligent Design advocate: That's a load of bullshit sophistry! Get me a doctor and a lawyer, not necessarily in that order, and we'll see how that plays in court!
Scientist (turning to audience): And so we see, ladies and gentlemen, when push comes to shove, advocates of Intelligent Design do not actually believe any of the arguments that they profess to believe. When it comes to matters that hit home, they prefer evidence, the scientific method, testable hypotheses, and naturalistic explanations. In fact, they strongly privilege naturalistic explanations over supernatural hocus-pocus or metaphysical wankery. It is only within the reality-distortion field of their ideological crusade that they give credence to the flimsy, ridiculous arguments which we so commonly see on display. I must confess, it kind of felt good, for once, to be the one spouting free-form bullshit; it's so terribly easy and relaxing, compared to marshaling rigorous arguments backed up by empirical evidence. But I fear that if I were to continue, then it would be habit-forming, and bad for my soul. Therefore, I bid you adieu.
UPDATE (22 Oct.): If you're a creationist or IDiot [0], and you're suddenly possessed by the urge to comment on this post, please don't bother. I know what you're going to say. When I was an undergrad, I read talk.origins for a while, and I have seen every single creationist argument under the sun. I spent many an hour watching people knowledgeable about evolution debating creationists: patiently debunking the same tired arguments over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again, responding in good faith to arguments that
Scientists discover that fire is hot.
For those of you that think Topher Grace is poor casting as Venom, you're right IF they use the normal Marvel Universe (Universe 616) version of Venom. However the Venom from Ultimate Spiderman would work great for Topher Grace. A childhood friend of Peter's who is going to college and continuing the research began by his and Peter's parents. The research project ends up becoming the Venom suit after interaction with Peter. This version of Venom is a college science nerd and more of an anti-Spiderman then the alien symbiote of the normal Marvel Universe. Considering Sam Raimi's voiced dislike of the Venom character I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to go with this alternate interpretation.
I'll think this is even more likely if the Venom from the new Ultimate Spiderman game turns out to have the same Ultimate storyline.