"Apple seems to be targeting the market segment that does want their music player to organize their music and keep track of things (import date, play counts, skip counts, last played, rating, etc) for them."
That doesn't preclude his suggestion. Rhapsody/Sansa users have this functionality.
"Based on Apple's market share, compared to the rest of the market combined, it looks like they have a better idea of what will sell than you do."
Would I be invoking a variant of Godwin's Law if I pointed in Windows' general direction and asked you to repeat that?
"This might work for movies which IMHO have very little replay value, but music is timeless, and this is disgusting."
Depends on how you look at it. I'm a Rhapsody subscriber, have been for years. I've had a LOT of music come and go. (i.e. not all music is 'timeless'.) In the mean time, I don't have to store music on my machine, and if I really really wanna keep a song (and it happens sometimes) I just purchase it. The subscription service is really useful for finding new music without having to succumb to the 'open your mouth and close your eyes' business model. It's also good for people like me to that listen to music from mutiple computers. (like my machine at work...) It isn't a one-size-fits-all service, but it has its place. I didn't think I'd go for it, but now that I have it, I can't help but wonder what took Apple so frickin long.
"If you remember, aircraft were cut from GTAIII (also set in "new york") for a similar reason, since the game came out pretty soon after 9/11."
The Dodo in pre-911 screenshots had the short wingspan. I'm not an authority on this, but I don't remember promises of flying planes around in that game. I also remember that it was BFD that the Vice City engine actually supported flight.
"Just because I did stupid thing when I was younger doesn't mean that I should be afraid to tell my kids "Don't do stupid things." If that's being a hypocrite, then I'm all for it."
Seems to me that a hypocrite would be the best person to listen to. "I smoke 3 packs a day. I'm tellin ya, DON'T SMOKE!"
Space Corp Directive #34 clearly states that no officers are to engage in oral sex while wearing dentures. I'm sorry sir, but I don't see how this applies to the situation.
"At least it can help weed out the most abusive moderators. I seldom call a mod unfair, but when I do I suspect I'm not alone."
I gave up meta-modding when I was negatively M2'd a couple of times, never to recieve mod points again. Silly thing was, I was M2'd over a couple of BS posts about Microsoft. Since then, I've registerred a new nickname and get mod points occasionally. Sadly, I'm hesitant to use them. If my objectivity goes against public opinion, I'll have to start all over again.
"I'd say on most days it does a fair job of at least hiding the blatant trolls from view."
Erm... if by 'blatant trolls' you mean the GNAA posts, then yes, I agree. However, I've seen quite a few cases of moderation being based on public opinion, as opposed to a more objective line of thought. Unfortunately, I think this has caused the community to develop a style about how they post here that goes against the initial wishes of this system. For example: Take ANY cell phone story and you'll find several +5 comments about how people angrily wish they could get a phone that's just a phone. Umm.. okay. So... that encourages people to make the same post in every story. Microsoft product in a car story? A mad rush to be the first to make a 'crash' joke. Sony? Hehe, you know what I mean.
I do like the moderation system, I just wish there was a better sense of objectivity. Fortunately, though, my complaints about this have gone down a LOT in the last 5 years. I'm just not sure if it's because M2 is actually working (albeit slowly) or if it's because public opinion has shifted in my favor.
"Near as I can tell, it is not just the fanboys doing this. I suspect that MS has paid FUDers here to try and keep things in check. "
I seriously doubt that. The Slashdot Community was over-zealous in attacking Microsoft. Eventually it spouted enough bullshit to recieve a backlash. (Watch, same thing will happen to Sony within the next year.) No need to pay people to take sides on the internet, it's natural. If this really bothers you, the first thing you can do is lead by example. Don't go overboard with your opinions. "George Lucas raped my childhood!"... is going to get you a lot of hoots and hollers at first, then you'll get people verbally attacking you over it. If you were to become omniscient, you'd find that they weren't actually paid by George to say that. They were just tired of the BS getting spread.
I do find it amazing how people fall over each other just to get the phrase (+5, Informative) next to their posts. I sometimes wonder if Slashdot is some long-term study of human psychology.
"(Sorry, dragging crap around with the stylus and shouting into the microphone don't make a better experience, they just make the thing more annoying.)"
I think the massive numbers of people that bought Brain Age would disagree with you on those points.
I had trouble getting a second monitor at one job. Basically, the 'task switching' argument wasn't convincing them, probably because they didn't see it as a huge problem themselves. I told them that it was important enough to me that I was ready to buy the monitor myself. Once I mentioned that, they seemed to understand that it was very important to me and eventually freed up an extra monitor for my desk. I think they were pretty comfortable with it not long after when they saw how I was using it because I ended up getting new monitors a year later.
My position may be different, though. I think they thought I just wanted an extra gadget to play with. (Honestly, I don't blame them in the slightest for thinking that since I often did exactly that. Hehe.)
"Ah, but you're arguing a different outlook on the universe."
No, though I understand how you interpreted that from what I said. I apologize for not being clearer. I'm saying we don't actually know that the star is gone so it isn't entirely appropriate to use the phrase: "You mean it could have gone at any time..."
"Your relatavistic outlook on the universe may be different, but "the cold hard truth" is what it is."
Right, but in this context, the truth isn't known. A relatavistic outlook is all you get. If you wish to be empirical, that is.
"So, if I shoot your mother, she isn't dead until the cops call you?"
Consider that example yourself, for a moment. Your world hasn't changed until the news has arrived. Think of it another way: Is your neighbor alive right now? He could be. He probably is. He may not be. You really couldn't say that he is or isn't already dead. To put it another way: The odds of his survival are in his favor, but they become 1 in 1 when you find out the outcome.
"Seriously, USB key, or, really, anything else, who is taking things they find lying around (in bathrooms!) and putting them in their computers?"
As if you wouldn't. You know, deep down, some little voice is in the back of your head saying "There might be something embarrasing for the owner of this key on here...";)
"I can't imagine adding the Wii's gimmick-y controls will improve the game-play enough to offset the step down in graphics that would be required for the Wii."
You can't imagine pointing at the screen would improve this game?
"An OS that runs applications slower, takes more resources to run the same application, or is more crash-prone is seen as a step backwards by most people."
Slashdot Mirror
"Apple seems to be targeting the market segment that does want their music player to organize their music and keep track of things (import date, play counts, skip counts, last played, rating, etc) for them."
That doesn't preclude his suggestion. Rhapsody/Sansa users have this functionality.
"Based on Apple's market share, compared to the rest of the market combined, it looks like they have a better idea of what will sell than you do."
Would I be invoking a variant of Godwin's Law if I pointed in Windows' general direction and asked you to repeat that?
"This might work for movies which IMHO have very little replay value, but music is timeless, and this is disgusting."
Depends on how you look at it. I'm a Rhapsody subscriber, have been for years. I've had a LOT of music come and go. (i.e. not all music is 'timeless'.) In the mean time, I don't have to store music on my machine, and if I really really wanna keep a song (and it happens sometimes) I just purchase it. The subscription service is really useful for finding new music without having to succumb to the 'open your mouth and close your eyes' business model. It's also good for people like me to that listen to music from mutiple computers. (like my machine at work...) It isn't a one-size-fits-all service, but it has its place. I didn't think I'd go for it, but now that I have it, I can't help but wonder what took Apple so frickin long.
"Hooray for geeks with way too much time on their hands."
Said the guy posting on Slashdot.
"If you remember, aircraft were cut from GTAIII (also set in "new york") for a similar reason, since the game came out pretty soon after 9/11."
The Dodo in pre-911 screenshots had the short wingspan. I'm not an authority on this, but I don't remember promises of flying planes around in that game. I also remember that it was BFD that the Vice City engine actually supported flight.
Just curious how long it'll take Bill to return to SECTOR 0 0 1.
"Just because I did stupid thing when I was younger doesn't mean that I should be afraid to tell my kids "Don't do stupid things." If that's being a hypocrite, then I'm all for it."
Seems to me that a hypocrite would be the best person to listen to. "I smoke 3 packs a day. I'm tellin ya, DON'T SMOKE!"
"does this qualify as rule 34?"
Space Corp Directive #34 clearly states that no officers are to engage in oral sex while wearing dentures. I'm sorry sir, but I don't see how this applies to the situation.
"At least it can help weed out the most abusive moderators. I seldom call a mod unfair, but when I do I suspect I'm not alone."
I gave up meta-modding when I was negatively M2'd a couple of times, never to recieve mod points again. Silly thing was, I was M2'd over a couple of BS posts about Microsoft. Since then, I've registerred a new nickname and get mod points occasionally. Sadly, I'm hesitant to use them. If my objectivity goes against public opinion, I'll have to start all over again.
I wouldn't mind M2 if I could challenge it.
"I'd say on most days it does a fair job of at least hiding the blatant trolls from view."
Erm... if by 'blatant trolls' you mean the GNAA posts, then yes, I agree. However, I've seen quite a few cases of moderation being based on public opinion, as opposed to a more objective line of thought. Unfortunately, I think this has caused the community to develop a style about how they post here that goes against the initial wishes of this system. For example: Take ANY cell phone story and you'll find several +5 comments about how people angrily wish they could get a phone that's just a phone. Umm.. okay. So... that encourages people to make the same post in every story. Microsoft product in a car story? A mad rush to be the first to make a 'crash' joke. Sony? Hehe, you know what I mean.
I do like the moderation system, I just wish there was a better sense of objectivity. Fortunately, though, my complaints about this have gone down a LOT in the last 5 years. I'm just not sure if it's because M2 is actually working (albeit slowly) or if it's because public opinion has shifted in my favor.
"Near as I can tell, it is not just the fanboys doing this. I suspect that MS has paid FUDers here to try and keep things in check. "
... is going to get you a lot of hoots and hollers at first, then you'll get people verbally attacking you over it. If you were to become omniscient, you'd find that they weren't actually paid by George to say that. They were just tired of the BS getting spread.
I seriously doubt that. The Slashdot Community was over-zealous in attacking Microsoft. Eventually it spouted enough bullshit to recieve a backlash. (Watch, same thing will happen to Sony within the next year.) No need to pay people to take sides on the internet, it's natural. If this really bothers you, the first thing you can do is lead by example. Don't go overboard with your opinions. "George Lucas raped my childhood!"
I do find it amazing how people fall over each other just to get the phrase (+5, Informative) next to their posts. I sometimes wonder if Slashdot is some long-term study of human psychology.
"(Sorry, dragging crap around with the stylus and shouting into the microphone don't make a better experience, they just make the thing more annoying.)"
I think the massive numbers of people that bought Brain Age would disagree with you on those points.
"Sony should be encouraging that, not making it harder"
Sony might be more open to that if they were making a profit on the console itself.
I had trouble getting a second monitor at one job. Basically, the 'task switching' argument wasn't convincing them, probably because they didn't see it as a huge problem themselves. I told them that it was important enough to me that I was ready to buy the monitor myself. Once I mentioned that, they seemed to understand that it was very important to me and eventually freed up an extra monitor for my desk. I think they were pretty comfortable with it not long after when they saw how I was using it because I ended up getting new monitors a year later.
My position may be different, though. I think they thought I just wanted an extra gadget to play with. (Honestly, I don't blame them in the slightest for thinking that since I often did exactly that. Hehe.)
"Ah, but you're arguing a different outlook on the universe."
No, though I understand how you interpreted that from what I said. I apologize for not being clearer. I'm saying we don't actually know that the star is gone so it isn't entirely appropriate to use the phrase: "You mean it could have gone at any time..."
"Your relatavistic outlook on the universe may be different, but "the cold hard truth" is what it is."
Right, but in this context, the truth isn't known. A relatavistic outlook is all you get. If you wish to be empirical, that is.
"So, if I shoot your mother, she isn't dead until the cops call you?"
:P
Consider that example yourself, for a moment. Your world hasn't changed until the news has arrived. Think of it another way: Is your neighbor alive right now? He could be. He probably is. He may not be. You really couldn't say that he is or isn't already dead. To put it another way: The odds of his survival are in his favor, but they become 1 in 1 when you find out the outcome.
Think about it.
"You mean it could have gone at any time..."
It hasn't happened until we know it has happened.
"Seriously, USB key, or, really, anything else, who is taking things they find lying around (in bathrooms!) and putting them in their computers?"
;)
As if you wouldn't. You know, deep down, some little voice is in the back of your head saying "There might be something embarrasing for the owner of this key on here..."
"I can't imagine adding the Wii's gimmick-y controls will improve the game-play enough to offset the step down in graphics that would be required for the Wii."
You can't imagine pointing at the screen would improve this game?
"Slashdot: It's news every time some random feature is included in a game?"
Slashdot: It's people coming into threads they don't care about and bitching about them?
Ahhhh.. okay, I understand what you're saying now. My bad. You said it, I just didn't get it.
"I don't know about you, but my dreams don't exactly match the weather outside. "
Sometimes they do for me, sometimes they don't. I just don't understand why having it match the weather outside would break anything.
"NiGHTS took place in a dream world, adding stuff like this would make the whole "Dream World" thing kinda pointless. "
Why?
"DO we really want the same weather outside reflected in game?"
Why are you asking any of us before we've experienced it? I mean, seriously, how could this possibly be considered 'insightful'?
.. I'll never know if this works. :(
"An OS that runs applications slower, takes more resources to run the same application, or is more crash-prone is seen as a step backwards by most people."
Right, but that's not what I said.