People don't usually revolt while the economy is okay, and it's been getting better for the average Chinese citizen with a cell phone for the last two decades.
The developers of Red Steel for the new nintendo wii said that they upped the AI players combat skills, because the new controller allowed faster and more accurate aiming than a traditional controller. They're point was that game AI is usually braindead to make it reasonable to the players who are slightly hindered by an unnatural interface. It's common in video games for a character to stand without any cover at the end of a long hallway. This isn't because the programmers couldn't program the AI to look for cover. Game characters aren't often built to be tactical, because they'd creme the gamer. That's my take.
Read the gameinformer article about Red Steel. The view is changed with the nunchuck analog, but it also follows where the wiimote gun is aiming. The developers specifically mention that there is a slight delay between the movement of the gun and the scene change. That way, you can shoot around the scene at multiple onscreen targets without some serious motion sickness from the camera rolling around too much. Note that this is implementation specific to Red Steel. Other games may use only the analog to control direction. The game video was probably showing the follow the gun movement.
Heh. I actually knew that when I posted. I was just making a point. Salespeople are probably going to steer you toward the highest priced unit you can buy. They may not be on commission, but they still want to look good to their boss.
I think that price has more influence determining a format than anything else. Sony keeps making the same mistake over and over. They price consumer electronic devices like you would price a Lexus. Most people won't understand a single technical difference between the two formats. They will both have pretty much the same picture quality. Some rabid geeks will claim that they can see a difference with their superhuman vision. Everyone else already believes getting a widescreen tv is HD. When it comes time Ma and Pa kettle to go to Best Buy, (I don't mean this derogatorily. I live in Arkansas myself.) they'll ask the salesman what's the best dvd player for the money. Even the technophile Best Buy salesguy isn't going to try to get them to buy a $1000 bluray player. He lives on commission. He'll steer them towards a $350 HD-DVD player and save that #1000 bluray player for the gold plated audio jack chumps. That's around the price that they'll be when people really start chomping down on them. Sony will probably still be selling bluray for 1k. Don't forget that these are the people who tried to sell you umd at 2x the price of the dvd.
I'm always amazed at how many people don't bother to check around for a lower prices on the first day. Right now you can get the toshiba player online for $409 + shipping. That's how I got my pioneer Dvd/tivo combo for about $150 less. Check froogle. Search around. Even at launch msrp is just the manufacturers suggested retail price. There are a lot of retailers willing to take a much lower margin.
None of these examples have anything to do with the current state of linux. Listen closely. LINUX BREAKS THE COMPUTER A fully functioning computer often loses functionality when linux is installed. There is no comparison to a phone, car, or pipe. If someone suggested installing a hypertech chip in my car to boost performance, I would surely do it. Afterwords, if I found that I had lost automatic transmission, abs braking, and power windows, I would be very frustrated.
Trying playing more than one sound at a time on a linux computer using standard hardware. It's a joke that any modern operating system doesn't have a builtin sound mixer. It's a joke that any modern operating system doesn't have a uniform configuration system to address the most basic tasks that most users have come to expect.
If I couldn't find a way to print out documents for a meeting, I would reinstall windows. In the world of a linux user, I would spend the next week learning inane details of how my computer interacts with printers, useless information that any modern operating system would reasonably abstract from the user. After fiddling with countless configuration options that could really hose my system, I might be able to print a test page. Then, if I'm really lucky, I'll find that I'm fired and the guy with windows installed got my job when he knew how to print a freaking report without picking up a PHD in printerology.
Maybe I'm being tedious, but I don't agree with comparing Venus to the Earth. The Earth is a complex system of oceans, atmosphere, plant, and animal life. Venus never had the kind of feedback loops that the Earth has. Venus is an example of how a planet that never developed a complex ecology would develop with an excess of CO2. Don't get me wrong. Venus is as much an example of the Greenhouse effect of CO2 as anything, but the Venusian skys weren't polluted by to many cars.
Yep! That's cause they've seen that cycle a couple dozen times. If they hadn't they'd probably develop some crack pot theory about how it was just going to keep getting hotter and never go down. Or they'd come up with some bullshit reason that something they did caused it. Then they'd find something unrelated to do to get rid of it. They'd probably think they suceeded once it started cooling down again. Look into history, this is how harvest rituals get started. Don't fool yourself sunshine. You're not that important to the universe. It just doesn't care.
No line whatsoever? What about legends about bathing in virgin's blood to maintain youth? If something like that even had a chance of working, if it was feasible, would that be acceptable?
Doesn't seem to stop people like Christoper Reeves from advocating stem cell research.
Ah. While I was searching, I found this about it. So I guess it was proven as just another hoax. Probably should have looked it up before posting. Oh well.:)
This sounds like protandim. Protandim was a nutritional supplement that was being touted as a life extension drug a while back. The idea was that the human body could never swallow enough anti-oxidants to make up for the fall off with age. Besides, acids in the stomach ruin most anyways. The researcher who made protandim got the idea of restimulating the bodies natural production of anti-oxidants. I believe they claimed a 400% increase in naturally produced anti-oxidant levels. There were quite a few scientific papers that showed beneficial effects to mice suffering from strokes. Unfortunately the company seems to have wavered on what their claims are. Over time, they stepped down from that less provable statement that it could extend lifespan. Still, I don't think anyone has refuted the positive effects. They just shouldn't have targeted the I want to live forever market.
Precisely. Justifications happen after the fact. I can guarantee you that the common European farmer at the time didn't go sign up for the crusades, because he thought God wanted him to. There might have been maybe 3% of the population that thought that. The others heard that there was going to be plunder, women to rape, and bragging rights. Just like most people sign up for the military today for the benefits and so they can tell everyone they're a badass. After all, no one wanted to look like a sissy when his bud was bragging about those 10 moslems he killed single handedly. Probably a few where persuaded by their women at home to defend their country. I'm sure the rulers of the day asserted that the moslems were just waiting for their chance.
Create a drop of strange matter. Theoretically strange matter converts any matter it touches into more strange matter explosively. A free strange matter droplet could go straight through to the earth's core and eventually consume the whole planet.
The Crusades would have happened without Christianity. The Crusades were the product of two societies trying to stop infighting by picking on someone else. When Mohammed founded his empire he had to forge together many warring tribes who had bad feelings going back generations. Just like Ghengis Khan, he did this by constantly expanding outward through military conquest. This expansion eventually brought the Moslem empire into Europe. They were defeated by Charlemagne, but they were always threatening to enter Europe. In Europe, the same solution was found. The Pope, in an effort to get most of Christendom to stop beating the crap out of each other, started the crusades. In both cases, the supposedly faithful zealots were barely literate of their faith. Most moslems joined Mohammed for pillage, and most Christians at that time could barely read, much less read the Bible. The same thing would have happened in your atheistic paradise.
The Japanese market went ga-ga for cameras, text-messaging, ring-tones, etc., but from what I've seen, most Americans want a phone that works easilly and reliably as a phone more than anything else. Someday, a phone maker will become clueful about this fact, and they will sell them like hotcakes. I know I'll be in line for one.
Actually, what most people want out of a cell phone, besides just working, is to make them look cool and chic. Small portable items that we carry with us become fashion statements about us. That's why ipods have to be skinned or placed in their special holders with your name on them for everyone to see. They're like clothing. They reflect on us. That's why nokia is coming out with their L'Amour collection. The real money is going to be in personalized stuff like engraving. I personally would like a cell phone series that had original artwork etched on the cases. Custom faceplates usually only cover part of the plastic surface. Look at the L'Amour collection to see what I'm talking about.
Don't forget the completely unrealistic hippy mentality that seems to pervade stargate. It's a story about a military base for christ's sake. Stop using them as liberal mouth peaces. No military officer I know of talks like Jack or would put up with a crybaby like Daniel. Almost every episode seems to revolve around the team finding an incredibly advanced weapon that would be perfect to save them from the Gould. But of course they don't take it, because the race that they meet convinces them that they aren't morally advanced enough to use it.
Don't forget the part where they don't leave any team member behind and won't make deals that could advantageously affect their planet, because it would be wrong to deal with the bad guys or acknowledge that sometimes the end has to be given more weight than the means.
There are other reasons the show is cheesy. I can't list all of them, but here's a few.
Teal'c goes from being completely ignorant of Gould "magic" in the first season to talking about elementary particles.
Daniel Jackson's wife - Let's face it. Sharree(sp?) was killed off, because we can only sentimentalize her and Daniels relationship that way. If she was around, we'd realize that Daniel was just a loser who could only get a wife when she was handed to him as a gift. It was pathetic in the movie, but we tend to be forgiving of movies. Getting an uneducated chick from a sticks planet is one step above mail order bride.
While we're talking about Daniel, any military personel worth their salt would hate this guys. They'd laugh their asses off at the bumbling loser whining about his third-world (literally) wife. There's no way a decent military commander wouldn't tell him to shut his pie hole the first time he suggested that it wouldn't be moral to acquire anything that might defend their planet. His "let's not do violence" attitude would make him the recipient of daily swirlies.
Jack was funny a few times, but most people would slap him after a while. Whenever he interrupts an important meeting determining the fate of billions with one of his asinine comments, they would drop him down one rank. This is what I like to call Gilmore Girls Tourette syndrome. It's what happens when a main character spins off puns and one liners that the writers think are funny, but any normal person you meet would get tired of continual attempts to prove how witty you are.
Touchscreens are only useful when they are on handheld devices. For your average home computer, they make no real sense. For one thing, a desktop pc will always have it's screen perpendicular to the hands natural orientation. That creates unnecessary strain. Another thing is that touching doesn't work well with the office metaphor to which most os, including linux, adhere. The ideal touch interface would have a flat screen embedded face up or maybe at a 35 angle in a table. It could have a square section representing your out/in box, a list of icons on the side representing such things as calendar or notes, etc. Think how easy it would be to have ebooks or architectural schematics on an entire desktop. Of course this would probably require some sort of cheap e-paper, but I think the possibilities are endless.
Maybe it's because most of them are born out of wedlock today, or have inattentive or completely absent father figures due to divorce. Of course no good liberal would buy that. They've just been deprived of opportunities. Being deprived of character and mentorship, doesn't hurt anyone.
Now I know what not to read. I miss the old days before quality American materials were bumped of the air for this crap. I've seen enough anime. I can say without any reservation that American animation is superior in style, quality, and plot.
Slashdot Mirror
People don't usually revolt while the economy is okay, and it's been getting better for the average Chinese citizen with a cell phone for the last two decades.
Doesn't really matter. The way things are going, you will be able to buy 16 controllers before you even come close to the competitions price.
The developers of Red Steel for the new nintendo wii said that they upped the AI players combat skills, because the new controller allowed faster and more accurate aiming than a traditional controller. They're point was that game AI is usually braindead to make it reasonable to the players who are slightly hindered by an unnatural interface. It's common in video games for a character to stand without any cover at the end of a long hallway. This isn't because the programmers couldn't program the AI to look for cover. Game characters aren't often built to be tactical, because they'd creme the gamer. That's my take.
Read the gameinformer article about Red Steel. The view is changed with the nunchuck analog, but it also follows where the wiimote gun is aiming. The developers specifically mention that there is a slight delay between the movement of the gun and the scene change. That way, you can shoot around the scene at multiple onscreen targets without some serious motion sickness from the camera rolling around too much. Note that this is implementation specific to Red Steel. Other games may use only the analog to control direction. The game video was probably showing the follow the gun movement.
Heh. I actually knew that when I posted. I was just making a point. Salespeople are probably going to steer you toward the highest priced unit you can buy. They may not be on commission, but they still want to look good to their boss.
I think that price has more influence determining a format than anything else. Sony keeps making the same mistake over and over. They price consumer electronic devices like you would price a Lexus. Most people won't understand a single technical difference between the two formats. They will both have pretty much the same picture quality. Some rabid geeks will claim that they can see a difference with their superhuman vision. Everyone else already believes getting a widescreen tv is HD. When it comes time Ma and Pa kettle to go to Best Buy, (I don't mean this derogatorily. I live in Arkansas myself.) they'll ask the salesman what's the best dvd player for the money. Even the technophile Best Buy salesguy isn't going to try to get them to buy a $1000 bluray player. He lives on commission. He'll steer them towards a $350 HD-DVD player and save that #1000 bluray player for the gold plated audio jack chumps. That's around the price that they'll be when people really start chomping down on them. Sony will probably still be selling bluray for 1k. Don't forget that these are the people who tried to sell you umd at 2x the price of the dvd.
I'm always amazed at how many people don't bother to check around for a lower prices on the first day. Right now you can get the toshiba player online for $409 + shipping. That's how I got my pioneer Dvd/tivo combo for about $150 less. Check froogle. Search around. Even at launch msrp is just the manufacturers suggested retail price. There are a lot of retailers willing to take a much lower margin.
None of these examples have anything to do with the current state of linux. Listen closely. LINUX BREAKS THE COMPUTER A fully functioning computer often loses functionality when linux is installed. There is no comparison to a phone, car, or pipe. If someone suggested installing a hypertech chip in my car to boost performance, I would surely do it. Afterwords, if I found that I had lost automatic transmission, abs braking, and power windows, I would be very frustrated.
Trying playing more than one sound at a time on a linux computer using standard hardware. It's a joke that any modern operating system doesn't have a builtin sound mixer. It's a joke that any modern operating system doesn't have a uniform configuration system to address the most basic tasks that most users have come to expect.
If I couldn't find a way to print out documents for a meeting, I would reinstall windows. In the world of a linux user, I would spend the next week learning inane details of how my computer interacts with printers, useless information that any modern operating system would reasonably abstract from the user. After fiddling with countless configuration options that could really hose my system, I might be able to print a test page. Then, if I'm really lucky, I'll find that I'm fired and the guy with windows installed got my job when he knew how to print a freaking report without picking up a PHD in printerology.
Maybe I'm being tedious, but I don't agree with comparing Venus to the Earth. The Earth is a complex system of oceans, atmosphere, plant, and animal life. Venus never had the kind of feedback loops that the Earth has. Venus is an example of how a planet that never developed a complex ecology would develop with an excess of CO2. Don't get me wrong. Venus is as much an example of the Greenhouse effect of CO2 as anything, but the Venusian skys weren't polluted by to many cars.
The parable about boiling a frog isn't true. Some conscientious researchers tried it.
Yep! That's cause they've seen that cycle a couple dozen times. If they hadn't they'd probably develop some crack pot theory about how it was just going to keep getting hotter and never go down. Or they'd come up with some bullshit reason that something they did caused it. Then they'd find something unrelated to do to get rid of it. They'd probably think they suceeded once it started cooling down again. Look into history, this is how harvest rituals get started. Don't fool yourself sunshine. You're not that important to the universe. It just doesn't care.
Doesn't seem to stop people like Christoper Reeves from advocating stem cell research.
Ah. While I was searching, I found this about it. So I guess it was proven as just another hoax. Probably should have looked it up before posting. Oh well. :)
This sounds like protandim. Protandim was a nutritional supplement that was being touted as a life extension drug a while back. The idea was that the human body could never swallow enough anti-oxidants to make up for the fall off with age. Besides, acids in the stomach ruin most anyways. The researcher who made protandim got the idea of restimulating the bodies natural production of anti-oxidants. I believe they claimed a 400% increase in naturally produced anti-oxidant levels. There were quite a few scientific papers that showed beneficial effects to mice suffering from strokes. Unfortunately the company seems to have wavered on what their claims are. Over time, they stepped down from that less provable statement that it could extend lifespan. Still, I don't think anyone has refuted the positive effects. They just shouldn't have targeted the I want to live forever market.
Precisely. Justifications happen after the fact. I can guarantee you that the common European farmer at the time didn't go sign up for the crusades, because he thought God wanted him to. There might have been maybe 3% of the population that thought that. The others heard that there was going to be plunder, women to rape, and bragging rights. Just like most people sign up for the military today for the benefits and so they can tell everyone they're a badass. After all, no one wanted to look like a sissy when his bud was bragging about those 10 moslems he killed single handedly. Probably a few where persuaded by their women at home to defend their country. I'm sure the rulers of the day asserted that the moslems were just waiting for their chance.
Create a drop of strange matter. Theoretically strange matter converts any matter it touches into more strange matter explosively. A free strange matter droplet could go straight through to the earth's core and eventually consume the whole planet.
The Crusades would have happened without Christianity. The Crusades were the product of two societies trying to stop infighting by picking on someone else. When Mohammed founded his empire he had to forge together many warring tribes who had bad feelings going back generations. Just like Ghengis Khan, he did this by constantly expanding outward through military conquest. This expansion eventually brought the Moslem empire into Europe. They were defeated by Charlemagne, but they were always threatening to enter Europe. In Europe, the same solution was found. The Pope, in an effort to get most of Christendom to stop beating the crap out of each other, started the crusades. In both cases, the supposedly faithful zealots were barely literate of their faith. Most moslems joined Mohammed for pillage, and most Christians at that time could barely read, much less read the Bible. The same thing would have happened in your atheistic paradise.
The Japanese market went ga-ga for cameras, text-messaging, ring-tones, etc., but from what I've seen, most Americans want a phone that works easilly and reliably as a phone more than anything else. Someday, a phone maker will become clueful about this fact, and they will sell them like hotcakes. I know I'll be in line for one.
Actually, what most people want out of a cell phone, besides just working, is to make them look cool and chic. Small portable items that we carry with us become fashion statements about us. That's why ipods have to be skinned or placed in their special holders with your name on them for everyone to see. They're like clothing. They reflect on us. That's why nokia is coming out with their L'Amour collection. The real money is going to be in personalized stuff like engraving. I personally would like a cell phone series that had original artwork etched on the cases. Custom faceplates usually only cover part of the plastic surface. Look at the L'Amour collection to see what I'm talking about.
Don't forget the completely unrealistic hippy mentality that seems to pervade stargate. It's a story about a military base for christ's sake. Stop using them as liberal mouth peaces. No military officer I know of talks like Jack or would put up with a crybaby like Daniel. Almost every episode seems to revolve around the team finding an incredibly advanced weapon that would be perfect to save them from the Gould. But of course they don't take it, because the race that they meet convinces them that they aren't morally advanced enough to use it.
Don't forget the part where they don't leave any team member behind and won't make deals that could advantageously affect their planet, because it would be wrong to deal with the bad guys or acknowledge that sometimes the end has to be given more weight than the means.
There are other reasons the show is cheesy. I can't list all of them, but here's a few.
Your not wrong. They're putting a touch screen overlay over the PSone lcd.
Touchscreens are only useful when they are on handheld devices. For your average home computer, they make no real sense. For one thing, a desktop pc will always have it's screen perpendicular to the hands natural orientation. That creates unnecessary strain. Another thing is that touching doesn't work well with the office metaphor to which most os, including linux, adhere. The ideal touch interface would have a flat screen embedded face up or maybe at a 35 angle in a table. It could have a square section representing your out/in box, a list of icons on the side representing such things as calendar or notes, etc. Think how easy it would be to have ebooks or architectural schematics on an entire desktop. Of course this would probably require some sort of cheap e-paper, but I think the possibilities are endless.
You address an older gentleman as sir. :) Hope that helps.
Maybe it's because most of them are born out of wedlock today, or have inattentive or completely absent father figures due to divorce. Of course no good liberal would buy that. They've just been deprived of opportunities. Being deprived of character and mentorship, doesn't hurt anyone.
Now I know what not to read. I miss the old days before quality American materials were bumped of the air for this crap. I've seen enough anime. I can say without any reservation that American animation is superior in style, quality, and plot.