The same thing happens when you meet in the real world. In some ways, it can be worse, since your judgment is clouded by hormones from the very start.
As a data point, both my brother and his ex-wife met their new spouses on the internet. In both cases, the new spouses were about 15 years younger, and the new couples are still married (one of them several years now).
I think I learned my work ethic at a short stint at McDonald's in high school. First, because they drove us pretty hard ("Time to lean, time to clean!"). And second, it made me realize how crappy work could be if I didn't get a decent education.
Guess I'm lucky, since I work a 40-hour week for a company that gives me almost 5 weeks/year vacation (though that includes sick-time too). This gives me time to spend with my daughter, write open-source software, snowboard every weekend, and still get 7-8 hours sleep each night.
To some extent this is true, and it has to do with the culture in many large corporations. If you write a piece of software that works right away, you get far less recognition than the person who creates a lot of problems, and then makes a big show of addressing them (often working late to do so).
Funny, but I'm sitting at work editing code in emacs, compiling my project with gcc, using gdb to debug it, and posting this from Konqueror. And all this is happening on a PC running Linux. Back in the old days, my company would have spent $1000's for these tools for each of us developers.
We also distribute gcc with our product (including the source, as required by the GPL).
But lots of older PC games have a high replay value, like the Ultima and Wing Commander games. Even adventure games, like Sam'n'Max or Monkey Island, can be replayed after a few years, in the same way you can enjoy an old movie.
Perhaps a better analogy would be a table-saw vs. a chop-saw. The chop-saw excels at crosscutting and is far more portable, so it would be the right choice when you're installing a deck. But if you're doing general wood-working, you'd need a table-saw for ripping and cutting plywood. Most professionals will have both.
Similarly, an Ipod (or any MP3 player) has a lot of advantages over a PC when you want to play music. But if you want do do more (word-processing, spreadsheets, internet, DVD-authoring, games...) having one general-purpose PC becomes a necessity.
I agree: It depends on the quality with which the movie was made. Consider Wing Commander. The movie wasn't terrible, but wasn't exactly a huge success. But then, the games had better actors than did the movie.
Well said. The truth is that there is a shortage of people with 10 years experience using every version of every language and API on every possible platform, and who are willing to work for $40K/year.
then why not adopt "Islamic" laws such as cutting of hands for petty theft and stoning for adultery?
We seemed to have adopted the methods of our former adversary (ship "enemies of the state" off to the gulag), so what you're suggesting doesn't sound all that implausible.
Most job ads I've seen for game programmers list "a passion for games" as one of the top requirements. Seems to me they'd do better by demanding "a passion for writing software".
I'd like to believe that DRM will die, but here's my fear: At some point in the future, a popular show, say "Lost Season 23 - The Rescue", will come out first on the internet, with the TV showing a year away. You, or your wife, or your kids, will insist on being able to watch it, and the explanation, "Sorry, but I'm morally opposed to DRM and that's why all our PC's only run Linux," just won't cut it.
What's funny is that the Greek religion ("mythology"), with its capricious gods, appears to be a better model for the way the world behaves than modern religion (where if an airplane crashes, it's because of "god's plan").
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And maybe even older: There was some research that suggested that a cat's purring helps it to repair broken bones.
Yes, but was your cheap cable "Designed for WindowsXP"?
I just finished playing it! And yes, it is one of the best games I've ever played.
Yes! Plus Ultima 7 came out then, along with King's Quests, Gabriel Knight, and Wing Commander.
I didn't read the references, but I think I've heard the song:
"This is not my beautiful house! And this is not my beautiful wife! And you say to yourself, 'My god, how did I get here?'. And the days go by..."
The same thing happens when you meet in the real world. In some ways, it can be worse, since your judgment is clouded by hormones from the very start.
As a data point, both my brother and his ex-wife met their new spouses on the internet. In both cases, the new spouses were about 15 years younger, and the new couples are still married (one of them several years now).
Some guy is having an affair, so Google sends him ads for condoms and sends his wife ads for private investigators!
Judging by the "Chains Required" signs in Oregon, I would have assumed the attack had already happened.
I think I learned my work ethic at a short stint at McDonald's in high school. First, because they drove us pretty hard ("Time to lean, time to clean!"). And second, it made me realize how crappy work could be if I didn't get a decent education.
Guess I'm lucky, since I work a 40-hour week for a company that gives me almost 5 weeks/year vacation (though that includes sick-time too). This gives me time to spend with my daughter, write open-source software, snowboard every weekend, and still get 7-8 hours sleep each night.
To some extent this is true, and it has to do with the culture in many large corporations. If you write a piece of software that works right away, you get far less recognition than the person who creates a lot of problems, and then makes a big show of addressing them (often working late to do so).
Heh. That reminds me of a Widmer Bros. beer commercial where they claimed (jokingly) that their competitors put kittens in their beer.
Funny, but I'm sitting at work editing code in emacs, compiling my project with gcc, using gdb to debug it, and posting this from Konqueror. And all this is happening on a PC running Linux. Back in the old days, my company would have spent $1000's for these tools for each of us developers.
We also distribute gcc with our product (including the source, as required by the GPL).
But lots of older PC games have a high replay value, like the Ultima and Wing Commander games. Even adventure games, like Sam'n'Max or Monkey Island, can be replayed after a few years, in the same way you can enjoy an old movie.
Perhaps a better analogy would be a table-saw vs. a chop-saw. The chop-saw excels at crosscutting and is far more portable, so it would be the right choice when you're installing a deck. But if you're doing general wood-working, you'd need a table-saw for ripping and cutting plywood. Most professionals will have both.
Similarly, an Ipod (or any MP3 player) has a lot of advantages over a PC when you want to play music. But if you want do do more (word-processing, spreadsheets, internet, DVD-authoring, games...) having one general-purpose PC becomes a necessity.
Yea, the important thing is to only buy cables "Designed for WindowsXP", although I'm not sure what you're supposed to do if you have a Linux box.
I agree: It depends on the quality with which the movie was made. Consider Wing Commander. The movie wasn't terrible, but wasn't exactly a huge success. But then, the games had better actors than did the movie.
Well said. The truth is that there is a shortage of people with 10 years experience using every version of every language and API on every possible platform, and who are willing to work for $40K/year.
Yep, and it works the other way too. When I saw the "Arctic Monkeys" CD at Target for $8.99, I bought it even though I'd only heard one song on it.
We seemed to have adopted the methods of our former adversary (ship "enemies of the state" off to the gulag), so what you're suggesting doesn't sound all that implausible.
Most job ads I've seen for game programmers list "a passion for games" as one of the top requirements. Seems to me they'd do better by demanding "a passion for writing software".
I'd like to believe that DRM will die, but here's my fear: At some point in the future, a popular show, say "Lost Season 23 - The Rescue", will come out first on the internet, with the TV showing a year away. You, or your wife, or your kids, will insist on being able to watch it, and the explanation, "Sorry, but I'm morally opposed to DRM and that's why all our PC's only run Linux," just won't cut it.
The rate of increase of unemployment is decreasing.
Take enough derivatives, and eventually you'll get a rate that looks like an improvement.
Except the doctor.:-)
What's funny is that the Greek religion ("mythology"), with its capricious gods, appears to be a better model for the way the world behaves than modern religion (where if an airplane crashes, it's because of "god's plan").