But in most systems, 90% of the time the CPU is fairly idle and memory usage is the most important performance factor; not just memory-limited systems, on huge multi-GB desktops too.
This is what I really hate about modern "desktop" systems. When I was a kid, my family's first computer was Mac that had a 33 MHz processor and 4 Megs of RAM (eventually upgraded to a fat 24 MB). This machine could run a graphical interface that's really not all that different from what we use today. It could also run a web browser with support for things like DHTML and Java applets (think Yahoo games).
Why do I say all this? Because I'm perplexed as to why I need so much damn memory to run GNOME, KDE, OS X, or any of the recent "desktop" versions of Windows. Sure, higher-res graphics require bigger pixmaps (and faster processors), but even minimally-graphical applications use ridiculous amounts of RAM.
For example, some of the GNOME applets sitting on my panels use like 3 Megs each. I read something by the applets maintainer saying the problem is legacy code dependencies or something that will be removed in the future. That's great and all, but for now my system eats 15 MB just to give me the bare-minimum utility applets.
How is exercising editorial oversite a "free speech issue" again? If the New York Times refuses to print a picture of my naked ass on the front page, is that also a "free speech issue".
Compare this with
How is exercising editorial oversite a "free speech issue" again? If all news organizations refuse to print the truth on the front page, is that also a "free speech issue".
When media refuse to allow uncomfortable and/or unpopular speech, you start down a very scary path.
Have you played the game? I have, and let me tell you something - it has zero entertainment value. It's entertainment level is just enough to keep you progressing through it.
I've also played the game, and I'd argue that the "entertainment" value, in the "traditional" game sense, is actually negative. Normally, we keep playing because we enjoy something: the game mechanics, the story, the art, or perhaps it is relaxing. In this game, enjoyment of these things is overshadowed by the horrible event it recreates, and the issues it forces you to think about. So if you're looking to have fun, you've picked up the wrong joystick.
Personally, I cannot say exactly why I continued playing; the best I can come up with is similar to the feeling that compels me to continue reading, for example, a challenging essay or watching a disturbing movie.
I think there are and should be sensible limits on everything. We arrest people who do immoral things like molesting children or killing people. Why should we not be able to assert that this is also wrong.
You can assert anything you want, the hard part is having a solid argument to back up your assertion. That said, your comparison here is horribly flawed. You are comparing violent acts that directly harm human beings with a video game that was designed to force people to think about serious issues.
Also, the fact that you use such emotionally-charged crimes in your comparison sickens me. Appealing to emotion is never a valid argument.
HDDs aren't exactly volatile, but they are a heck of a lot more susceptible to corruption and failure due to the fact that you have both a magnetic storage medium AND the circuitry to power and control it on one device.
Add to this 10,000 RPM platters *and* a read-write head that sits close to the platter surface and constantly skits back and forth to different areas. And when I say "close" to the platter, I mean extremely close: the drive head is held at the correct "altitude" by the air current created from platter rotation. This is a microscopic scale, folks.
Well, when you put a big fat teaser in your Slashdot submission (which coincidentally links to a story written by the submitter), you are able to break the law of RTFA, which states that "Slashdotters don't read articles with boring blurbs". I only pray it doesn't continue:
"Find out what unexpected shell command will totally hose your system. Details in the real story!!1"
Also, I'd like to congratulate Roland Piquepaille. Not many Slashdot submitters can whore themselves out to a point where it pisses me off enough to boycott reading anything they submit, but 'ol Roland here has done it. Now please DIAF.
It is my understanding that the SFLC's position hasn't changed.
I don't think Microsoft's position has "changed" really, either. But the irony here is pretty sweet: the Evil Empire(tm) is for a short time allied with the Freedom Fighters(r).
And I'll go ahead and be that guy and pull out a quote:
If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of today's ideas were invented, and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete standstill today. --Bill Gates (1991)
I guess this is why I usually don't like Sim-type games...I usually try and be all serious about it and then get bored because it's not as "fun" as other games. Perhaps later I'll dig up the $15 Sim-compilation-pack (or somesuch) that is lying around somewhere at home, and destroy some stuff.
Also, I think different demographics find different qualities in simulations. A few (female) friends of mine said they liked The Sims because it was like a virtual dollhouse, and another enjoyed it because of the architecture/interior design elements. I guess they're called "sandboxes" for a reason....
Wow, OK. So this post is basically me writing down my stream of thought after reading your post. Most people probably already realize this stuff about sandbox games. I'll post it anyway...maybe somebody will get something out of it.
Actually, I was thinking about this as well. A lot of those PC games have been in development for a while. Of course, "modern" games are in development longer, so it may just be that I haven't adjusted to how things are nowadays. Time will tell:-).
Vista doesn't have locks built into everything. Unprotected media files are still unprotected media files, so unless you slap DRM on everything as it comes in from a mic, you'll probably be fine.
I'm going to assume you never got into Guild Battles with a decent guild. Beyond simply having good communication skills, a team has to structure their build and tactics around the game mechanics. This is where the classes and fighting system work very well.
For example, one thing I've noticed is that they lend themselves well to a tension between a "balanced" or "specialized" team. If your team is too balanced (i.e. too generalized), your tactics will often not be extremely effective. On the other hand, too much specialization almost invariably leaves you weak to some type of counter-attack.
Has a Sony employee ever confirmed this? They didn't? Oh, OK.
Seriously, every time they release a console, people scream at the top of their lungs that Sony is losing so much money you wouldn't even believe it you guys seriously don't you believe me?? Give it a rest: nobody knows how much it actually costs Sony to make the damn things, except for Sony themselves. And they aren't telling.
Do you really have the knowledge and/or experience to pass this kind of judgment? I say this not because I think you're dumb or anything, but because there are few people on the planet who have experience running this kind of server farm. The art and science of running a real-time, interactive server for thousands of people has probably not reached its apex.
This doesn't exactly "tickle" me. I bought a Gamecube last December, and I knew for a fact that they came with a 12-month warranty. The checkout clerk tried to claim that it only had a 90-day warranty, so I should totally get that extended one.
Aren't there laws against this type of thing? It might not be "false advertising", but it's certainly "false".
Slashdot Mirror
But in most systems, 90% of the time the CPU is fairly idle and memory usage is the most important performance factor; not just memory-limited systems, on huge multi-GB desktops too.
This is what I really hate about modern "desktop" systems. When I was a kid, my family's first computer was Mac that had a 33 MHz processor and 4 Megs of RAM (eventually upgraded to a fat 24 MB). This machine could run a graphical interface that's really not all that different from what we use today. It could also run a web browser with support for things like DHTML and Java applets (think Yahoo games).
Why do I say all this? Because I'm perplexed as to why I need so much damn memory to run GNOME, KDE, OS X, or any of the recent "desktop" versions of Windows. Sure, higher-res graphics require bigger pixmaps (and faster processors), but even minimally-graphical applications use ridiculous amounts of RAM.
For example, some of the GNOME applets sitting on my panels use like 3 Megs each. I read something by the applets maintainer saying the problem is legacy code dependencies or something that will be removed in the future. That's great and all, but for now my system eats 15 MB just to give me the bare-minimum utility applets.
How is exercising editorial oversite a "free speech issue" again? If the New York Times refuses to print a picture of my naked ass on the front page, is that also a "free speech issue".
Compare this with
How is exercising editorial oversite a "free speech issue" again? If all news organizations refuse to print the truth on the front page, is that also a "free speech issue".
When media refuse to allow uncomfortable and/or unpopular speech, you start down a very scary path.
We just need a festival called "fuck-shit-piss-motherfuckerdance" or something so that they won't ever have to deal with uppity financial sponsors.
I think this game was rightfully taken out of the competition, it's just taking it a step too far.
You fail to state:
A) That you have actually played this game, and
B) Your thinking as to how this game "takes it a step too far".
Come back when you have a real argument.
Have you played the game? I have, and let me tell you something - it has zero entertainment value. It's entertainment level is just enough to keep you progressing through it.
I've also played the game, and I'd argue that the "entertainment" value, in the "traditional" game sense, is actually negative. Normally, we keep playing because we enjoy something: the game mechanics, the story, the art, or perhaps it is relaxing. In this game, enjoyment of these things is overshadowed by the horrible event it recreates, and the issues it forces you to think about. So if you're looking to have fun, you've picked up the wrong joystick.
Personally, I cannot say exactly why I continued playing; the best I can come up with is similar to the feeling that compels me to continue reading, for example, a challenging essay or watching a disturbing movie.
I think there are and should be sensible limits on everything. We arrest people who do immoral things like molesting children or killing people. Why should we not be able to assert that this is also wrong.
You can assert anything you want, the hard part is having a solid argument to back up your assertion. That said, your comparison here is horribly flawed. You are comparing violent acts that directly harm human beings with a video game that was designed to force people to think about serious issues.
Also, the fact that you use such emotionally-charged crimes in your comparison sickens me. Appealing to emotion is never a valid argument.
PTFG
HDDs aren't exactly volatile, but they are a heck of a lot more susceptible to corruption and failure due to the fact that you have both a magnetic storage medium AND the circuitry to power and control it on one device.
Add to this 10,000 RPM platters *and* a read-write head that sits close to the platter surface and constantly skits back and forth to different areas. And when I say "close" to the platter, I mean extremely close: the drive head is held at the correct "altitude" by the air current created from platter rotation. This is a microscopic scale, folks.
Also, I'd like to congratulate Roland Piquepaille. Not many Slashdot submitters can whore themselves out to a point where it pisses me off enough to boycott reading anything they submit, but 'ol Roland here has done it. Now please DIAF.
I don't think Microsoft's position has "changed" really, either. But the irony here is pretty sweet: the Evil Empire(tm) is for a short time allied with the Freedom Fighters(r).
And I'll go ahead and be that guy and pull out a quote:
I read this, and I thought "wait...isn't Norris a conservative?". And yeah, it appears he is.
:-(.
Not that there's anything "wrong" with being "conservative". But the Wikipedia article kind of makes me frown
I guess this is why I usually don't like Sim-type games...I usually try and be all serious about it and then get bored because it's not as "fun" as other games. Perhaps later I'll dig up the $15 Sim-compilation-pack (or somesuch) that is lying around somewhere at home, and destroy some stuff.
...
Also, I think different demographics find different qualities in simulations. A few (female) friends of mine said they liked The Sims because it was like a virtual dollhouse, and another enjoyed it because of the architecture/interior design elements. I guess they're called "sandboxes" for a reason.
Wow, OK. So this post is basically me writing down my stream of thought after reading your post. Most people probably already realize this stuff about sandbox games. I'll post it anyway...maybe somebody will get something out of it.
Actually, I was thinking about this as well. A lot of those PC games have been in development for a while. Of course, "modern" games are in development longer, so it may just be that I haven't adjusted to how things are nowadays. Time will tell :-).
As a nice touch, it also had a slot where it could play the older gameboy as well as the newer DS kit.
Since when is the Gameboy Advance an "older" system? Holy crap man, you're the one with kids, and you're making me feel old. TIME PARADOX.
Also, I suggest getting a screen protector. Even the most careful person in the world will eventually scratch up that touchscreen.
Also also, you can get a "free" SDK if you do a search for "ds homebrew". Getting one from N costs most of your soul (plus money).
Before posting more, please learn the difference between "player keys" and "title keys", kthx.
Vista doesn't have locks built into everything. Unprotected media files are still unprotected media files, so unless you slap DRM on everything as it comes in from a mic, you'll probably be fine.
a virtual earthquake disrupting a real currency market
I think this is pronounced "Apple press release".
I'm going to assume you never got into Guild Battles with a decent guild. Beyond simply having good communication skills, a team has to structure their build and tactics around the game mechanics. This is where the classes and fighting system work very well.
For example, one thing I've noticed is that they lend themselves well to a tension between a "balanced" or "specialized" team. If your team is too balanced (i.e. too generalized), your tactics will often not be extremely effective. On the other hand, too much specialization almost invariably leaves you weak to some type of counter-attack.
Sony after taking a loss on intitial units
Has a Sony employee ever confirmed this? They didn't? Oh, OK.
Seriously, every time they release a console, people scream at the top of their lungs that Sony is losing so much money you wouldn't even believe it you guys seriously don't you believe me?? Give it a rest: nobody knows how much it actually costs Sony to make the damn things, except for Sony themselves. And they aren't telling.
Still, I think the new approach is much more elegant and will probably save the taxpayers a lot in the long run.
I have a better idea: declassify everything after a fixed number of years, no exceptions. The UK does.
I mean this looks like regular Playstation graphics
I didn't realize the PS3 was some kind of non-regular Playstation. Does that make it irregular?
Oh, you're right, we totally weren't using those terms in an economic sense. Oh wait.
Also, what exactly is "theoritical ecconomics"?
Do you really have the knowledge and/or experience to pass this kind of judgment? I say this not because I think you're dumb or anything, but because there are few people on the planet who have experience running this kind of server farm. The art and science of running a real-time, interactive server for thousands of people has probably not reached its apex.
I'm not talking about "Shortage" as defined in theoritical ecconomics ... I'm talking about it in a common-sense fashion
Where do you think we invented the concept of "shortage" (or "supply", or "demand")? Oh right, in economics.
Dude, this stuff isn't that hard. Your school probably has Econ classes, go take one. Then you might actually understand what I'm saying.
What tickled me
This doesn't exactly "tickle" me. I bought a Gamecube last December, and I knew for a fact that they came with a 12-month warranty. The checkout clerk tried to claim that it only had a 90-day warranty, so I should totally get that extended one.
Aren't there laws against this type of thing? It might not be "false advertising", but it's certainly "false".