I highly recommend you check out Scottevest. I recently purchased the Travel Vest, a light-weight vest riddled with internal pockets. I would never have considered myself a vest-man before then, but it perfectly filled my needs when I was looking for a similar product. It is internally balanced and well structured so that large items like tablets don't poke out and can comfortably and discretely hold a lot of bulk and weight. I walk around with over a pound of kit (tablet, phone, wallet, tools, etc) without looking like I am carrying anything. It looks nice (I trust my friends to make me very aware when my fashion sense flounders) and it matches almost all of my clothes, so I can wear it almost everywhere, everyday. It sure beats keeping all that junk in my pants.
It really sounds like exactly what you are looking for and I have never been more satisfied with a piece of clothing. If you aren't fond of vests, they have other items designed to conveniently carry loads of junk, but I wanted something I wouldn't need to wash everyday and could take off when I was just chilling at home. They are kind of pricey also, but they have regular sales. I waited for the one I wanted to come on sale and got over 50% off. Just saying.
No, things have been pretty hush hush in advance of GDC, but the community consensus is that the original support for Doom 3 was hard-coded in, and with the changes to the Dev Kit the support was no longer available. Carmack didn't have the time to plug in the changes needed, what with Doom 4 in development. We will probably find out more on the 26th.
Haha, you took the "This" right out of my mouth. At my community college, our capstone Network Ops course was based on packet analysis with Wireshark. It really solidified my understanding of the network flow in a way that gave me a true sense of visualizing The Matrix. I will need to follow up on your suggestion on DIS... a quick Wikipedia jaunt reveals it to be something I would like to invest more time in. Many thanks for the tip.
I was going to point out this Slashdot post from days past: The Games Programmers Play. SpaceChem was one of the featured games.. and it certainly gets a thumbs up from me.
I buy a smartphone to have what it is: a pocket-sized computer with internet on-the-go. I admit that the phone-app is rarely used, but even when it is I use a headset so I wouldn't expect to have problems with a phone being "too large." So long as it can still fit in my pocket, bigger is better in my opinion. If I spent more time on the phone it might become a factor. I suppose I just didn't realize it was hard to find smaller phones.. I would probably get an old-school cell phone if I was having problems, but I don't mind walking around with 5 gadgets at a time.
Its. Learn it, love it, live it and spell it CORRECTLY.
Heh.. guilty as charged. Allow me to beg for forgiveness, it was a first-time submission newbie-error.. We tend to learn more from our mistakes than our successes, especially when it is made on the internet in front of millions of people;-) I spent my review time fixing the capitalization, which I probably got wrong anyway.
Obviously, every situation is different.. doubt that needed to be said, but it is best to get that caveat out there.
I recently started at a company that has been outsourcing much of their development. Our lead dev here in the states is a native-born Indian, so he probably has an easier time coordinating the contractors than most state-side organizations. Unfortunately, he has found himself spending the majority of his time coordinating and managing the over-seas developers that it really cuts into his productivity. Bear in mind that this is not a simple management issue.. obviously a lead dev needs to spend time managing her team, but they require near constant supervision to ensure that they stay on task and don't waste time on dead-end tangents. Taking into account the time difference, it can be very difficult for him to stay on top of them while also working with the rest of the organization stateside. Being a very experienced developer and team-leader, he recognizes that the cost savings result in significant hidden overhead. That is the primary reason why we are now working on building a state-side team. Considering he already speaks their language and knows their culture, unless you have similar advantages you will probably not find yourself having an easier time than we did.
Bearing that in mind, I think your hesitation is grounded in logic.. in my humble opinion, you would probably get better results by fishing in the market of community colleges.. find some young, starving students and train them into what you need. That is a strong, long-term solution that will probably take some time to really bear fruit, but should have similar costs and results in the short-term to an outsourcing strategy. Treat them well, and you will have a loyal, dedicated, and competent team.
Re:Hate to put a damper on the celebration
on
Diablo III Released
·
· Score: 1, Interesting
I think the relevant facet of this conversation involves their new cash auction-house revenue stream. While eliminating piracy is probably a very appealing notion to them, it alone doesn't justify such a ridiculous notion as an online-only single-player game. On the other hand, the only way their auction house will realize any value is by preventing the "dupes and haxx" and I can think of no surer way of providing that security than by separating the user from the most important parts of the program and tightly controlling the experience from their end. It could even stand to make Blizzard quite a bit of money, though they made a serious mistake that would ruin a lesser-company: the price point. From my perspective (I haven't played it), if the entire game is modeled to support the auction house in a way that diminishes the user experience then it shouldn't be treated and priced like a full game.. especially if you don't own a playable copy of the game after purchasing it. In which case it would seem to make a lot more sense to set it up as a freemium, free-to-play kind of thing.. vastly widening the audience and the participation in their auction house. I would be all over that. Their loss.. this seems like a game designed by committee, lacking the courage and fortitude to actually embrace any one vision or another.
Notice that I have refused to address any of the allegations of dated graphics or diluted gameplay.. I haven't played it, and I probably won't. Personally, I have been really digging an old-school diablo 2 clone called Path of Exile that is currently in closed beta.. Lots of fun, highly recommended to any D2 fans lamenting a sequel they will never get. While it is online only as well, their model is looking pretty tight: free-to-play with an in-game store that will only sell cosmetic and non-gameplay related items, like extra character or storage slots. You can buy into the beta by purchasing store credit.. and it was totally worth it. IMHO.
Seems like sound advice. Thank you for tracking down and providing a functional link, it was a good read. Your post would have received a mod point if I had any!
China's current premier has a background in both geology and engineering. His predecessor was an electrical engineer. I don't know how that affects their political capability or decision-making, but I have difficulty seeing the skills and thought processes of an engineer translating well into the leadership of a global super-power. On the other hand, I don't think our politicians have much aptitude in that regard either, so who am I to judge? Different cultures have different leadership requirements, perhaps a state in the midst of reconstruction really needs an engineer to get their infrastructure back online.
In this specific situation you are correct. This individual needs to stand up and establish boundaries and consequences. However, the deeper question is worth discussing: how screwed is a person if a housemate draws legal fire on their collective heads? Not every household is as aware of the internet habits of each computer in the house. Not every house has a decent network admin. In fact, the offending party might BE the network admin working under the assumption that their actions won't affect their housemates! The real question does lay at the crux of the legal and technical world, and just because the question is phrased in a context that implies deeper conflict doesn't mean that it is not worth discussing.
I for one am glad that this question came up because I had similar questions. My situation is not the same, but I am glad that I read some of these responses in case a similar situation ever arises! In fact, the lawsuit intimidation scare-tactics is based on the ignorance of the defendants.. I don't see how more discussion on the topic isn't worthwhile. At least, that is how I see it.
I do not own a current-gen console, nor do I have stock in any of the companies involved. I don't favor one over the other for that matter. Have I cleared myself as an independent in the console-fanboy wars yet?
Ahem. Simple observation here. A couple of my friends own 360's. One of them has had to replace it 5-6 times due to hardware failure. A recent release killed support for early games. I guess if success is defined as convincing their customers to ignore past experiences then perhaps I would call that a win. But it isn't going to get me to buy any hardware from them that costs more than $20. I honestly can't figure out how Microsoft has managed to keep so many 360 users over the years, because I would have dropped that console like an F-bomb the first time it failed on me. I would not have given it any more chances. Nor will I give any other Microsoft hardware any chances. If maintaining any customer base in any way counts as exceeding all expectations (which, granted, in my case is true) then huzzah for them. But really?
Is there a reason ActiveX is being used in software that controls critical infrastructures? I don't want to jump to conclusions, but that seems almost as silly as a Security Consulting firm that doesn't test their own website for security holes.
I couldn't say whether or not Amazon will be able to crack the DRM obstacle that is holding up Netflix on Android, but I CAN say that the first company that manages to stream movies to my phone will win my subscription dollars. I have a feeling that many Android users feel the same way, and considering we are the largest smart-phone market segment I am surprised we are not served already!
Yay.. my unasked question is answered! Many problems can now be solved with this program and my Epic.. this is fantastic. Thank you for pointing this out!
This "linux gaming" concept is a very interesting subject, and perhaps my fellow slashdotters can help my brain tackle some "ethical dilemma's" that I am facing. Some quick backstory..
I love me some computer games. Grew up on the stuff.. Civ 1 was my first true computer game.. it came bundled with our first cd-rom drive that my dad bought. I never went back to a console again. I grew up, but never outgrew gaming.. although these days I try to temper "frivolous entertainment" with worthwhile projects and contributions to reality;-)
Still, a system's "gaming potential" is the primary factor I must consider when working on my personal box.. and is one of the reasons I still have to boot back into Windows all the time. In fact, it is usually easier for me to just arrange everything in Windows so that I can do all my "*Nixy stuff" from inside Win7.. Cygwin, ssh, etc.. so that when I need to unwind for a few mins on TF2 pwning newbs I don't need to close EVERYthing and reboot into Win.. pain in my butt if I may say so.
For this reason, I have been eagerly anticipating Steam on Linux for many years.. the rumors began in '08, right? Shouldn't this be a very exciting prospect for me? Well.. I guess it has only been the last several months that Steam has started "irking" me.. Something about DRM and "anti-competitive behavior".. and for me to continue playing on Steam I feel I am having to compromise my personal code.
When I compare Steam to iTunes.. it comes down to just a few differences:
Steam is owned by Valve (yay Valve!), one of the best darn CPU game developing houses out there.
CPU games are much more appealing to me than music
But there are too many similarities for me to be comfortable:
DRM, anticompetitive practices, proprietary software platform requirement, Draconian developer/publisher agreement policies (ok I cannot verify that rumor).. yeah yeah, I know, a business is in the business of making money, blah blah.
I love my computer games, and I have loved EVERY SINGLE ONE of Valves products. And I know that Steam on Linux is probably going to be a net win for my favorite operating environment.. but I can't help but shake the feeling that Steam doesn't BELONG on Linux.. Does that make sense, or am I just being a whiny bitch? Flame-baiting aside.. I know that Steam has done some wonderful things for various small-time developers.. and that they are WORLDS better as publishers than the rip-off artists at EA, so it is all a very gray area for me..
I could go on for pages, but I will cut this short. In conclusion, I want to shout out Hooray for LINUX GAMING! It will be wonderful for me and for millions in the long run. I just wonder whether Steam should be the platform that we are pinning our hopes on.
That's what f.lux is for. It changes the temperature of your screen according to the time (sunrise/sunset). It works under Mac, Linux, Windows ; a real gem.
Bump. Installing F.lux for me was like discovering that I had been secretly poisoned by mercury for the last several years. I simply could not believe how much strain was lifted from my eyes by keeping it on. My ability to sleep has substantially improved, and I get substantially fewer headaches during marathon coding sessions. It has an almost undetectable memory footprint, and you will completely forget it is there. Turning it off is an interesting experience, as it is an instant demo of exactly how penetrating monitor light can be! I recommend it to all of my friends and family. Of course, most people will just have to see for themselves, as I can only speak for myself. In my opinion, however, the function provided is important enough that it's absence as a default feature in OS's seems kind of irresponsible, if not just negligent and a reflection of poor UI research and design.
If [game developers] want to help avoid piracy, this may be a method that helps.
A good example of this would be American Mcgee's Grimm.. a game broken into multiple episodes with the first one being free! This allowed me to verify that the game sucked withOUT having to pirate the game!
Slashdot Mirror
I highly recommend you check out Scottevest. I recently purchased the Travel Vest, a light-weight vest riddled with internal pockets. I would never have considered myself a vest-man before then, but it perfectly filled my needs when I was looking for a similar product. It is internally balanced and well structured so that large items like tablets don't poke out and can comfortably and discretely hold a lot of bulk and weight. I walk around with over a pound of kit (tablet, phone, wallet, tools, etc) without looking like I am carrying anything. It looks nice (I trust my friends to make me very aware when my fashion sense flounders) and it matches almost all of my clothes, so I can wear it almost everywhere, everyday. It sure beats keeping all that junk in my pants.
It really sounds like exactly what you are looking for and I have never been more satisfied with a piece of clothing. If you aren't fond of vests, they have other items designed to conveniently carry loads of junk, but I wanted something I wouldn't need to wash everyday and could take off when I was just chilling at home. They are kind of pricey also, but they have regular sales. I waited for the one I wanted to come on sale and got over 50% off. Just saying.
No, things have been pretty hush hush in advance of GDC, but the community consensus is that the original support for Doom 3 was hard-coded in, and with the changes to the Dev Kit the support was no longer available. Carmack didn't have the time to plug in the changes needed, what with Doom 4 in development. We will probably find out more on the 26th.
Wait.. two months early. This still has to be a joke, right?
Haha, you took the "This" right out of my mouth. At my community college, our capstone Network Ops course was based on packet analysis with Wireshark. It really solidified my understanding of the network flow in a way that gave me a true sense of visualizing The Matrix. I will need to follow up on your suggestion on DIS... a quick Wikipedia jaunt reveals it to be something I would like to invest more time in. Many thanks for the tip.
I was going to point out this Slashdot post from days past: The Games Programmers Play. SpaceChem was one of the featured games.. and it certainly gets a thumbs up from me.
I buy a smartphone to have what it is: a pocket-sized computer with internet on-the-go. I admit that the phone-app is rarely used, but even when it is I use a headset so I wouldn't expect to have problems with a phone being "too large." So long as it can still fit in my pocket, bigger is better in my opinion. If I spent more time on the phone it might become a factor. I suppose I just didn't realize it was hard to find smaller phones.. I would probably get an old-school cell phone if I was having problems, but I don't mind walking around with 5 gadgets at a time.
Its. Learn it, love it, live it and spell it CORRECTLY.
Heh.. guilty as charged. Allow me to beg for forgiveness, it was a first-time submission newbie-error.. We tend to learn more from our mistakes than our successes, especially when it is made on the internet in front of millions of people ;-) I spent my review time fixing the capitalization, which I probably got wrong anyway.
Obviously, every situation is different.. doubt that needed to be said, but it is best to get that caveat out there. I recently started at a company that has been outsourcing much of their development. Our lead dev here in the states is a native-born Indian, so he probably has an easier time coordinating the contractors than most state-side organizations. Unfortunately, he has found himself spending the majority of his time coordinating and managing the over-seas developers that it really cuts into his productivity. Bear in mind that this is not a simple management issue.. obviously a lead dev needs to spend time managing her team, but they require near constant supervision to ensure that they stay on task and don't waste time on dead-end tangents. Taking into account the time difference, it can be very difficult for him to stay on top of them while also working with the rest of the organization stateside. Being a very experienced developer and team-leader, he recognizes that the cost savings result in significant hidden overhead. That is the primary reason why we are now working on building a state-side team. Considering he already speaks their language and knows their culture, unless you have similar advantages you will probably not find yourself having an easier time than we did.
Bearing that in mind, I think your hesitation is grounded in logic.. in my humble opinion, you would probably get better results by fishing in the market of community colleges.. find some young, starving students and train them into what you need. That is a strong, long-term solution that will probably take some time to really bear fruit, but should have similar costs and results in the short-term to an outsourcing strategy. Treat them well, and you will have a loyal, dedicated, and competent team.
I think the relevant facet of this conversation involves their new cash auction-house revenue stream. While eliminating piracy is probably a very appealing notion to them, it alone doesn't justify such a ridiculous notion as an online-only single-player game. On the other hand, the only way their auction house will realize any value is by preventing the "dupes and haxx" and I can think of no surer way of providing that security than by separating the user from the most important parts of the program and tightly controlling the experience from their end. It could even stand to make Blizzard quite a bit of money, though they made a serious mistake that would ruin a lesser-company: the price point. From my perspective (I haven't played it), if the entire game is modeled to support the auction house in a way that diminishes the user experience then it shouldn't be treated and priced like a full game.. especially if you don't own a playable copy of the game after purchasing it. In which case it would seem to make a lot more sense to set it up as a freemium, free-to-play kind of thing.. vastly widening the audience and the participation in their auction house. I would be all over that. Their loss.. this seems like a game designed by committee, lacking the courage and fortitude to actually embrace any one vision or another.
Notice that I have refused to address any of the allegations of dated graphics or diluted gameplay.. I haven't played it, and I probably won't. Personally, I have been really digging an old-school diablo 2 clone called Path of Exile that is currently in closed beta.. Lots of fun, highly recommended to any D2 fans lamenting a sequel they will never get. While it is online only as well, their model is looking pretty tight: free-to-play with an in-game store that will only sell cosmetic and non-gameplay related items, like extra character or storage slots. You can buy into the beta by purchasing store credit.. and it was totally worth it. IMHO.
Seems like sound advice. Thank you for tracking down and providing a functional link, it was a good read. Your post would have received a mod point if I had any!
China's current premier has a background in both geology and engineering. His predecessor was an electrical engineer. I don't know how that affects their political capability or decision-making, but I have difficulty seeing the skills and thought processes of an engineer translating well into the leadership of a global super-power. On the other hand, I don't think our politicians have much aptitude in that regard either, so who am I to judge? Different cultures have different leadership requirements, perhaps a state in the midst of reconstruction really needs an engineer to get their infrastructure back online.
In this specific situation you are correct. This individual needs to stand up and establish boundaries and consequences. However, the deeper question is worth discussing: how screwed is a person if a housemate draws legal fire on their collective heads? Not every household is as aware of the internet habits of each computer in the house. Not every house has a decent network admin. In fact, the offending party might BE the network admin working under the assumption that their actions won't affect their housemates! The real question does lay at the crux of the legal and technical world, and just because the question is phrased in a context that implies deeper conflict doesn't mean that it is not worth discussing. I for one am glad that this question came up because I had similar questions. My situation is not the same, but I am glad that I read some of these responses in case a similar situation ever arises! In fact, the lawsuit intimidation scare-tactics is based on the ignorance of the defendants.. I don't see how more discussion on the topic isn't worthwhile. At least, that is how I see it.
I do not own a current-gen console, nor do I have stock in any of the companies involved. I don't favor one over the other for that matter. Have I cleared myself as an independent in the console-fanboy wars yet? Ahem. Simple observation here. A couple of my friends own 360's. One of them has had to replace it 5-6 times due to hardware failure. A recent release killed support for early games. I guess if success is defined as convincing their customers to ignore past experiences then perhaps I would call that a win. But it isn't going to get me to buy any hardware from them that costs more than $20. I honestly can't figure out how Microsoft has managed to keep so many 360 users over the years, because I would have dropped that console like an F-bomb the first time it failed on me. I would not have given it any more chances. Nor will I give any other Microsoft hardware any chances. If maintaining any customer base in any way counts as exceeding all expectations (which, granted, in my case is true) then huzzah for them. But really?
Is there a reason ActiveX is being used in software that controls critical infrastructures? I don't want to jump to conclusions, but that seems almost as silly as a Security Consulting firm that doesn't test their own website for security holes.
I couldn't say whether or not Amazon will be able to crack the DRM obstacle that is holding up Netflix on Android, but I CAN say that the first company that manages to stream movies to my phone will win my subscription dollars. I have a feeling that many Android users feel the same way, and considering we are the largest smart-phone market segment I am surprised we are not served already!
Yay.. my unasked question is answered! Many problems can now be solved with this program and my Epic.. this is fantastic. Thank you for pointing this out!
This "linux gaming" concept is a very interesting subject, and perhaps my fellow slashdotters can help my brain tackle some "ethical dilemma's" that I am facing. Some quick backstory.. I love me some computer games. Grew up on the stuff.. Civ 1 was my first true computer game.. it came bundled with our first cd-rom drive that my dad bought. I never went back to a console again. I grew up, but never outgrew gaming.. although these days I try to temper "frivolous entertainment" with worthwhile projects and contributions to reality ;-)
Still, a system's "gaming potential" is the primary factor I must consider when working on my personal box.. and is one of the reasons I still have to boot back into Windows all the time. In fact, it is usually easier for me to just arrange everything in Windows so that I can do all my "*Nixy stuff" from inside Win7.. Cygwin, ssh, etc.. so that when I need to unwind for a few mins on TF2 pwning newbs I don't need to close EVERYthing and reboot into Win.. pain in my butt if I may say so.
For this reason, I have been eagerly anticipating Steam on Linux for many years.. the rumors began in '08, right? Shouldn't this be a very exciting prospect for me? Well.. I guess it has only been the last several months that Steam has started "irking" me.. Something about DRM and "anti-competitive behavior".. and for me to continue playing on Steam I feel I am having to compromise my personal code.
When I compare Steam to iTunes.. it comes down to just a few differences:
Steam is owned by Valve (yay Valve!), one of the best darn CPU game developing houses out there.
CPU games are much more appealing to me than music
But there are too many similarities for me to be comfortable:
DRM, anticompetitive practices, proprietary software platform requirement, Draconian developer/publisher agreement policies (ok I cannot verify that rumor).. yeah yeah, I know, a business is in the business of making money, blah blah.
I love my computer games, and I have loved EVERY SINGLE ONE of Valves products. And I know that Steam on Linux is probably going to be a net win for my favorite operating environment.. but I can't help but shake the feeling that Steam doesn't BELONG on Linux.. Does that make sense, or am I just being a whiny bitch? Flame-baiting aside.. I know that Steam has done some wonderful things for various small-time developers.. and that they are WORLDS better as publishers than the rip-off artists at EA, so it is all a very gray area for me..
I could go on for pages, but I will cut this short. In conclusion, I want to shout out Hooray for LINUX GAMING! It will be wonderful for me and for millions in the long run. I just wonder whether Steam should be the platform that we are pinning our hopes on.
That's what f.lux is for. It changes the temperature of your screen according to the time (sunrise/sunset). It works under Mac, Linux, Windows ; a real gem.
Bump. Installing F.lux for me was like discovering that I had been secretly poisoned by mercury for the last several years. I simply could not believe how much strain was lifted from my eyes by keeping it on. My ability to sleep has substantially improved, and I get substantially fewer headaches during marathon coding sessions. It has an almost undetectable memory footprint, and you will completely forget it is there. Turning it off is an interesting experience, as it is an instant demo of exactly how penetrating monitor light can be! I recommend it to all of my friends and family. Of course, most people will just have to see for themselves, as I can only speak for myself. In my opinion, however, the function provided is important enough that it's absence as a default feature in OS's seems kind of irresponsible, if not just negligent and a reflection of poor UI research and design.
If [game developers] want to help avoid piracy, this may be a method that helps. A good example of this would be American Mcgee's Grimm.. a game broken into multiple episodes with the first one being free! This allowed me to verify that the game sucked withOUT having to pirate the game!