I know my ISP will refund you a percentage of your monthly if your connection is spotty. If you had a ping logger or something trained on Google for a few weeks, you might be able to send them the log and get some of that money back. If you keep that up and complain alot, usually things get fixed. At least my ISP has always done right.
The majority of Linux games aren't commercial, but derivitives, or otherwise free open source efforts, which often produce quite good products.
...and quite unfinished or bug ridden. Usually on version 0.9.x for the remainder of their life. Never quite reaching that 1.0 state.
Since I stopped playing First Person Shooters in the year 1999 when I was completely bored with the genre no thanks to every derivative of Team Fortress, Quake and Unreal Tournament, any ID game created then or now is pretty much exempt from any gaming lists I look at. I've been a big fan of story driven RPGs and space themed RTS games, but the last titles I know of that fit either of those two styles are Battle for Wesnoth and well, I can't think of any decent galactic turn based commerce games. Although, Neverwinter Nights 2, Oblivion and Galactic Civilizations are three titles which have had my attention on the Windows partition for the last few months. Reaching the end of the entertainment value of those, I'm at another point where I'm looking for a game. I decided to look for something I can load up on my Ubuntu partition without having to check Wine for some twisted method of recompiling wine specifically to run one game. I tire of that sort of thing nowadays and I just want to pop in a game and have it work. I program for a living, and I like to keep my work out of my personal life as much as I can.
And FYI, I have an assortment of sites that I look to when I am looking for new Linux games to try on for size. Most of them have some sort of petition listing or call to developers because they see the same thing I do. Lack of variety and change (in the form of updated visuals, story lines, and bug fixes.) I even have them categorized in Firefox so I can fire them all up in tabs and see what's new. On the off chance I do hit Google up for a new listing or something I missed, I still find the same "Top 10" listing of games I don't want to play. Mah Jongg (yawn), America's Army (yay, FPS), Armageddon Advanced (Tron, again?), Cube (is that another FPS?), Pingus (Well, that was fun for a day), Neverball & Neverputt (I'll pass), Nexuiz (Hey! Another FPS!), Enemy Territory (I see a FPS pattern forming here), Frozen Bubble (Another fun for a day title), and of course Battle for Wesnoth. Battle for Wesnoth took me one day to finish one of the mission trees and I can't quite pull myself into playing it again. No character building, same bland tiles and each story is the same package in different faces.
But no worries! I have Mame/NesEmu (or whatever variation they have today). Yeah, no. When I was 15, and ogle at the latest Street Fighter variation because it has awesome graphics and the people looked so real(!) it was interesting. But there's one thing I've found over the years. Retro gaming is best left to the memory. Every game I've ever loved has been ruined by me trying to play it again today. As I stated before. Things get dated. They wear out. I will never retro game...ever again.
Oh, and as far as killer apps are concerned. Games are the only thing keeping me in Windows. Well, that and work. Where the teams in charge of selecting the proper OS to code in decided that Windows will remain for a long time due to the fact that EVERYTHING is written in it. They spend the better part of the last 7 years getting rid of Novell and OS/2 to move to a standard platform. Since most everything was written (mostly from the ground up by internal development) on Windows 2000/NT, I'm stuck developing software on Windows for a long time the way I see it. At home, I still maintain my Linux partition, but when I get home and want to relax, sit down with a game with my friends, and waste away the night on something I enjoy... Linux is the last thing on my mind. Regrettably. I even have it set to my default OS in case the day comes when I can start it up and play something that wasn't developed over the past 10 years usi
there are numerous games for Linux that are mostly equivalent to their Windows counterparts.
Numerous older games: but that's about where it stops. Even if you count Wine, most of those older games have to run through the compatibility layer which slows things down. I can walk into Wal-mart/Best Buy/Circuit City/etc right now and practically guarantee that I will not find one that was designed to run under Linux.
If I search online, every game for Linux I see out there is dated. Games, like many other things are designed to grab and keep your attention for a short period of time. If they made games timeless (which I will argue is an impossibility) you'd never sell any games after that. It would be like creating an automobile that never breaks, and never stops running.
The truth of the matter is that 99% of all games produced today are produced around DirectX and Windows. Once you grab the attention of the masses through entertainment, you have their undivided attention for however long you want to hold it. It's a sad but true truth. Microsoft is tuned in to that truth. Heavily hedging to grab every corner and back alley of the entertainment business as they can before people stop grappling to the Microsoft "Bread and Butter".
keep in mind that my school payed for those licenses
You do realize it was you that paid for that license, don't you? They probably increased everyone's tuition and included that to try to sell the school as "giving students the tools". On that note, your school most likely also signed a deal with Microsoft (like a certain former school I went to) that stated something like: "If you want this discounted software, you have to remove Macromedia ___ from all PCs on campus."
I thought to myself, why doesn't the community pull up the patents held by Microsoft and try to identify them? I was thinking about a Slashdot "Firehose" or Digg-like interface where an abbreviated list of all Microsoft's patents are listed and the community can vote up or down a patent that they think is a possible infringement. Then We could go about fixing the top of the list if possible and alleviate all these claims.
But as you stated, this would leave Microsoft in the green as far as lawyer costs, and maybe validate their claims indirectly. We need to find a way to pressure the release of the Patent numbers. Plain and simple.
If only that logic translated correctly to the stores, companies, and government offices here in the US. Press 2 for ___.
Yeah, I'm going off-topic from the OP, sorry.
For one, I'm not a big fan of the verbose naming and the structure of "Documents and Settings", and the only "safe" way I can find to change any of that structure is to reinstall Windows using a "hack" install because the registry saves its data here. I ended up moving it off the system drive and changing it to \home\%username%\settings\ and moving my documents to \home\%username%\docs\ which really plays havoc with those programs that don't use system variables. It does keep the registry in the settings directory though, allowing me to do whatever I want with my documents without having to worry about selecting the registry files along with them. I never did understand why the registry files were in the user's folder. You can't copy those files to another computer and use them there without setting up a roaming profile and copying them to a network share.
Anyway, I think storing settings outside the program scope just creates directory clutter that's not needed. Keeping all the programs contained in their respective directories would allow me to back up that application very easily to a DVD/CD and restore it quickly if I ran into a problem. On top of that, you never have to worry about Program "X" browsing through your documents or pictures looking for something they shouldn't be poking around in. With disk space cheaper and cheaper, the OS could also make a compressed backup after install and use that as a backup in case you find that the program was corrupted or a patch failed without having to re-install it. I'm sure things don't happen a lot, but how many times have you used the airbag in our car?
In my model OS, programs would have less rights to the disk than the user running it. There's really no reason for programs on your PC to have user access and the user should decide when the program leaves it's designated space and what access it has. This would be done with the file open/save dialog as mentioned above and a "directory grant" dialog (or symbolic linking with permission granting a "docs" directory under the program scope) on install or program config option in the OS. Oh, and no programs should ever have access to the OS files unless specifically granted with the exception of dialog/window request or "interface" libraries in a "common library" directory that every program has read only access to in order to request windows, dialogs, and hardware access.
The best part about this is that it would be transparent to the user, yet more secure for the OS and all the programs installed. At least, every time I think about it, that's what I keep telling myself.;)
Excuse me for being ignorant here (as I didn't know Unix actually did this) but let's say you create a file on a pretty full drive. You open that file, then delete it. Now what happens if another process goes to make a file? Does Unix still hold onto all the allocated disk space and return a disk full error or will it overwrite the part of the disk where your "file" resides?
Yeah, that's why I put the quotes around sudo. The program should really only have access to the files selected by the user, otherwise the program would not even know the file exists. The OS would open a stream or "connection" to the file for the program and allow it access to the file granted by the user.
Using "sudo" was probably wrong here, but I couldn't think of a better way to say it at the time. You did a better job of explaining it.
That's why I've always said and stick by my thought that programs should only have access to the directory in which they run. All settings and program specific files should be contained within said directory and children and not be given permission by default to access anything in or preceding their parent scope. This should be enforced by the OS, save for one aspect which is easily controlled. Save or open common dialogs grant "sudo" access to whatever file the user selects outside that scope. Operating system maintenance programs would be the only other "special" programs and installing them should prompt the user with very stern dialogs with a system stability warning.
Maybe it's his signature? Does he really need to tell everyone he works for Microsoft? Can't you just provide good information and not bring the company you work for in to try to up your "cred"? I mean, most of us work for some IT firm or company that many have probably heard about, but when you resort to using the name of some other entity to further your goals, it seems a bit self-indulging.
That and many of us don't particularly care for Microsoft and their business methods. So modding him down is a way to "stick it to the man", if you will.
I'm not saying either of those are the reason, but I can see how they could be. Mods can use their points in any way they see fit.
[blockquote]Now 30 Mbps peaks in WMV files are fine with the new update. It's really an incredible piece of hardware.[/blockquote]
Is it a really impressive piece of hardware because it's a Microsoft product that finally reads a Microsoft format properly or because you somehow feel that WMV playback is more important than fixing the disc scratching issues or the red ring hardware failures (at 3-5%+) that Microsoft is vigorously denying and trying to cover up?
I always tied it to the lack of standards as far as Channels/RSS. I guess they could be the same though. A poor/overly complicated standard is just as bad as a bad implementation.
Slashdot Mirror
I like to imagine all ACs are green. It helps solidify the credibility.
I know my ISP will refund you a percentage of your monthly if your connection is spotty. If you had a ping logger or something trained on Google for a few weeks, you might be able to send them the log and get some of that money back. If you keep that up and complain alot, usually things get fixed. At least my ISP has always done right.
Love that chicken from Popeyes... Damn marketing!
Since I stopped playing First Person Shooters in the year 1999 when I was completely bored with the genre no thanks to every derivative of Team Fortress, Quake and Unreal Tournament, any ID game created then or now is pretty much exempt from any gaming lists I look at. I've been a big fan of story driven RPGs and space themed RTS games, but the last titles I know of that fit either of those two styles are Battle for Wesnoth and well, I can't think of any decent galactic turn based commerce games. Although, Neverwinter Nights 2, Oblivion and Galactic Civilizations are three titles which have had my attention on the Windows partition for the last few months. Reaching the end of the entertainment value of those, I'm at another point where I'm looking for a game. I decided to look for something I can load up on my Ubuntu partition without having to check Wine for some twisted method of recompiling wine specifically to run one game. I tire of that sort of thing nowadays and I just want to pop in a game and have it work. I program for a living, and I like to keep my work out of my personal life as much as I can.
And FYI, I have an assortment of sites that I look to when I am looking for new Linux games to try on for size. Most of them have some sort of petition listing or call to developers because they see the same thing I do. Lack of variety and change (in the form of updated visuals, story lines, and bug fixes.) I even have them categorized in Firefox so I can fire them all up in tabs and see what's new. On the off chance I do hit Google up for a new listing or something I missed, I still find the same "Top 10" listing of games I don't want to play. Mah Jongg (yawn), America's Army (yay, FPS), Armageddon Advanced (Tron, again?), Cube (is that another FPS?), Pingus (Well, that was fun for a day), Neverball & Neverputt (I'll pass), Nexuiz (Hey! Another FPS!), Enemy Territory (I see a FPS pattern forming here), Frozen Bubble (Another fun for a day title), and of course Battle for Wesnoth. Battle for Wesnoth took me one day to finish one of the mission trees and I can't quite pull myself into playing it again. No character building, same bland tiles and each story is the same package in different faces.
But no worries! I have Mame/NesEmu (or whatever variation they have today). Yeah, no. When I was 15, and ogle at the latest Street Fighter variation because it has awesome graphics and the people looked so real(!) it was interesting. But there's one thing I've found over the years. Retro gaming is best left to the memory. Every game I've ever loved has been ruined by me trying to play it again today. As I stated before. Things get dated. They wear out. I will never retro game
Oh, and as far as killer apps are concerned. Games are the only thing keeping me in Windows. Well, that and work. Where the teams in charge of selecting the proper OS to code in decided that Windows will remain for a long time due to the fact that EVERYTHING is written in it. They spend the better part of the last 7 years getting rid of Novell and OS/2 to move to a standard platform. Since most everything was written (mostly from the ground up by internal development) on Windows 2000/NT, I'm stuck developing software on Windows for a long time the way I see it. At home, I still maintain my Linux partition, but when I get home and want to relax, sit down with a game with my friends, and waste away the night on something I enjoy... Linux is the last thing on my mind. Regrettably. I even have it set to my default OS in case the day comes when I can start it up and play something that wasn't developed over the past 10 years usi
If I search online, every game for Linux I see out there is dated. Games, like many other things are designed to grab and keep your attention for a short period of time. If they made games timeless (which I will argue is an impossibility) you'd never sell any games after that. It would be like creating an automobile that never breaks, and never stops running.
The truth of the matter is that 99% of all games produced today are produced around DirectX and Windows. Once you grab the attention of the masses through entertainment, you have their undivided attention for however long you want to hold it. It's a sad but true truth. Microsoft is tuned in to that truth. Heavily hedging to grab every corner and back alley of the entertainment business as they can before people stop grappling to the Microsoft "Bread and Butter".
Your "Ethics and Morality" or mine?
FYI.
Supporting Microsoft != Supporting America
Supporting America != Supporting Microsoft
In fact, I'd argue the opposite. Microsoft is an affront to everything good about capitalism.
Sort of on this topic...
I thought to myself, why doesn't the community pull up the patents held by Microsoft and try to identify them? I was thinking about a Slashdot "Firehose" or Digg-like interface where an abbreviated list of all Microsoft's patents are listed and the community can vote up or down a patent that they think is a possible infringement. Then We could go about fixing the top of the list if possible and alleviate all these claims.
But as you stated, this would leave Microsoft in the green as far as lawyer costs, and maybe validate their claims indirectly. We need to find a way to pressure the release of the Patent numbers. Plain and simple.
If only that logic translated correctly to the stores, companies, and government offices here in the US. Press 2 for ___. Yeah, I'm going off-topic from the OP, sorry.
...or is anything cooler when you integrate it into Star Trek? Think about it. ;)
Agreed. Just give me an RSS reader object that I can drag and drop into whatever container object I so desire...
I don't not think so. But who can't tell what's not going on anymore.
For one, I'm not a big fan of the verbose naming and the structure of "Documents and Settings", and the only "safe" way I can find to change any of that structure is to reinstall Windows using a "hack" install because the registry saves its data here. I ended up moving it off the system drive and changing it to \home\%username%\settings\ and moving my documents to \home\%username%\docs\ which really plays havoc with those programs that don't use system variables. It does keep the registry in the settings directory though, allowing me to do whatever I want with my documents without having to worry about selecting the registry files along with them. I never did understand why the registry files were in the user's folder. You can't copy those files to another computer and use them there without setting up a roaming profile and copying them to a network share.
;)
Anyway, I think storing settings outside the program scope just creates directory clutter that's not needed. Keeping all the programs contained in their respective directories would allow me to back up that application very easily to a DVD/CD and restore it quickly if I ran into a problem. On top of that, you never have to worry about Program "X" browsing through your documents or pictures looking for something they shouldn't be poking around in. With disk space cheaper and cheaper, the OS could also make a compressed backup after install and use that as a backup in case you find that the program was corrupted or a patch failed without having to re-install it. I'm sure things don't happen a lot, but how many times have you used the airbag in our car?
In my model OS, programs would have less rights to the disk than the user running it. There's really no reason for programs on your PC to have user access and the user should decide when the program leaves it's designated space and what access it has. This would be done with the file open/save dialog as mentioned above and a "directory grant" dialog (or symbolic linking with permission granting a "docs" directory under the program scope) on install or program config option in the OS. Oh, and no programs should ever have access to the OS files unless specifically granted with the exception of dialog/window request or "interface" libraries in a "common library" directory that every program has read only access to in order to request windows, dialogs, and hardware access.
The best part about this is that it would be transparent to the user, yet more secure for the OS and all the programs installed. At least, every time I think about it, that's what I keep telling myself.
Excuse me for being ignorant here (as I didn't know Unix actually did this) but let's say you create a file on a pretty full drive. You open that file, then delete it. Now what happens if another process goes to make a file? Does Unix still hold onto all the allocated disk space and return a disk full error or will it overwrite the part of the disk where your "file" resides?
Yeah, that's why I put the quotes around sudo. The program should really only have access to the files selected by the user, otherwise the program would not even know the file exists. The OS would open a stream or "connection" to the file for the program and allow it access to the file granted by the user.
Using "sudo" was probably wrong here, but I couldn't think of a better way to say it at the time. You did a better job of explaining it.
But he would have never received the research grant money.
That's why I've always said and stick by my thought that programs should only have access to the directory in which they run. All settings and program specific files should be contained within said directory and children and not be given permission by default to access anything in or preceding their parent scope. This should be enforced by the OS, save for one aspect which is easily controlled. Save or open common dialogs grant "sudo" access to whatever file the user selects outside that scope. Operating system maintenance programs would be the only other "special" programs and installing them should prompt the user with very stern dialogs with a system stability warning.
That and many of us don't particularly care for Microsoft and their business methods. So modding him down is a way to "stick it to the man", if you will.
I'm not saying either of those are the reason, but I can see how they could be. Mods can use their points in any way they see fit.
[blockquote]Now 30 Mbps peaks in WMV files are fine with the new update. It's really an incredible piece of hardware.[/blockquote] Is it a really impressive piece of hardware because it's a Microsoft product that finally reads a Microsoft format properly or because you somehow feel that WMV playback is more important than fixing the disc scratching issues or the red ring hardware failures (at 3-5%+) that Microsoft is vigorously denying and trying to cover up?
At least they didn't take away your pedals too. :(
Paris Hilton's going to jail? I knew there was a reason I stopped watching non-DVR TV.
I always tied it to the lack of standards as far as Channels/RSS. I guess they could be the same though. A poor/overly complicated standard is just as bad as a bad implementation.
When you have to decide between a monkey and a retard, it's hard to decide which one is going to throw the most shit at it's guardians.