Bull fucking shit. You cannot give away billions anonymously. You most certainly can't receive that kind of money anonymously.
I think the BMGF has created a number of negative unintended consequences through its sheer bulk, yes, but I find it stomach-turning how many people on slashdot disparage it because of the man behind it.
Definitely let's not forget the viewer's guide as well. You conspiracy wackjobs are allies neither I nor the ACLU want or need in our particular fights.
> I live in the third world and 10-15 USD monthly is unjustified for a hobby
The pricing varies by region, but yeah it's a money sink. Still, in the more industrialized parts of the world, computer gaming is a much bigger market than tabletop RPGs ever were.
And I'm not actually disparaging WoW, not completely anyway: in the end, it is a game, and it is about fun. Rules systems should always look to other sources for inspiration, including other game genres. At least they're not making you buy collector cards to power up your characters -- though it does look like they've actually incorporated some amount of CCG rules concepts in creature abilities (stating where rules are excepted in feats instead of trying to write the ruleset around every possible feat). This kind of churn might not be good for the D&D franchise (especially not that quick) but it can't be bad for RPGs in general.
> They want... NEED to sell more editions/books/modules
Actually, I suspect they're making more licensing the property to CRPG's now than they are from selling books. That would explain a whole lot of the rule changes.
No one cares any more. No one will care until we have 50% unemployment and people are burning dollars for fuel. And I'm not sure they'll care even then. Seriously. I think at long last we all deserve to just reap what we've sowed. I'm out of caring.
> AT&T's market cap is nearly 230 billion dollars!
And thus they are everything that's Good And Right About America, and doing anything that might perturb such a big corporation simply Is Not Done.
I mean seriously, they don't even have to contribute campaign money, politicians simply genuflect in the direction of money. Anything at all that might uphold a particular value over the profits of a corporation "might hurt the economy" and is simply not even considered.
We may still be the richest nation on earth, but we are deeply deeply impoverished.
Re:LWN alternative gcc article
on
LLVM 2.2 Released
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Maybe they just want it to interface at link level with tools that, I dunno, might not be GPL?
Naw, they must be The Enemies Of Freedom. That's it.
Apparently I am "hardcore". I mean, I play Sam and Max and Puzzle Quest, but I also enjoy Mass Effect and Half Life 2 (single player). I can't pull off a headshot to save my life, but still, since I don't particularly enjoy a certain vendor's hardware or games, I'm some sort of "hardcore" type, an irrelevant dinosaur, a dying breed.
So great, fine, I really just don't care any more. If the market segments significantly along these lines, maybe it'll segment more ways and we'll stop lumping in all people who play a video game as "gamers" the same way we don't really talk about "moviegoers" or "tv watchers" (except in terms of ratings and gross receipts). Maybe the discussion will finally mature so that we can stop with the labels and the smug insular elitism that goes with them.
I don't care if he said he was a pastafarian. I asked for some sort of observation independent of his belief structure. I mean, if you're claiming something could exist, it helps to know what you're even looking for.
There are some oddball video cards that windows really just doesn't know what to do with, so the installer does drop to being text-based. He probably just looked at the crappy resolution and thought it was 640x480.
And while the XP install process isn't usually nightmarish, I think that Linux has got it beat. Supporting my ATI card, 3D and all, took like two clicks and a reboot. Now finding where to click wasn't too straightforward (see below about "Start Here" docs) but it otherwise went without a hitch. Installing the catalyst drivers for windows is... not fun, especially if you've got other ATI products in the box (charming behaviors like the WDM driver install hanging forever).
It's really the post-install experience that's lacking in Linux. Ubuntu, for example, boots up to a plain brown desktop with NO ICONS AT ALL, and then you are On Your Own. And god forbid you have wireless, because now you're going to have to reboot that machine to windows to find the answers about getting wireless working. Even if the wireless process remains hard, they could at acknowledge that fact and ship some "Start Here" documentation to help out.
For me (and for a good number of other/.ers), part of the "fun" of Linux is the hacking around, getting things working and feeling a strange sense of accomplishment when you unearth some strange tidbit of wisdom that permits everything to work the way its supposed to.
That was fun for me too, for the first ten years. Maybe I'm just a worn-out old fogie, but I'm tired of pushing that rock up the hill now, and I want things to just work. There's no sense of discovery for me in configuration management. My next computer will be a Mac, but mostly for the hardware angle -- I'm also tired of dinking around with fans and cases just to keep the damn thing from burning up when I don't even overclock. The OS will be a bonus (though I hear Leopard is sort of a minefield itself, which should keep things interesting).
> given that Microsoft never released a slim XBox(1), I don't foresee them working on a slim 360.
Microsoft killed the XBox prematurely in its lifecycle, because they didn't own the chip designs. A new model would mean they'd have to beg and whine to their manufacturing partners to pretty-please shrink things down for them and pretty-please don't jack up their pricing as long as they're renegotiating.
They didn't make that mistake with the 360 however, so they could change things around overnight if they want.
If it was Apple's problem, Intel solved it for them. I'd call it IBM's problem if they couldn't offer any flexibility.
Anyway, it had less to do with supply and everything to do with the problems of PPC on laptops: horrendous heat, sub-par performance and power management. The supply issues was just another layer of crap frosting on the cake.
I know the 1800's were rife with crashes, I just didn't quite adequately convey my sarcasm:) I admit that I was ignorant enough to think we were off the gold standard during the Great Depression though. I'll have to remember that one if I ever talk to my "Federal Reserve Is A Conspiracy Out To Get Us" friend again. Not that it'll actually have any effect... sigh.
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> The only "true" philanthropy is anonymous.
Bull fucking shit. You cannot give away billions anonymously. You most certainly can't receive that kind of money anonymously.
I think the BMGF has created a number of negative unintended consequences through its sheer bulk, yes, but I find it stomach-turning how many people on slashdot disparage it because of the man behind it.
> Let's not forget Loose Change.
Definitely let's not forget the viewer's guide as well. You conspiracy wackjobs are allies neither I nor the ACLU want or need in our particular fights.
It's a death gnoll, a really nasty breed of hyena-man.
> I live in the third world and 10-15 USD monthly is unjustified for a hobby
The pricing varies by region, but yeah it's a money sink. Still, in the more industrialized parts of the world, computer gaming is a much bigger market than tabletop RPGs ever were.
And I'm not actually disparaging WoW, not completely anyway: in the end, it is a game, and it is about fun. Rules systems should always look to other sources for inspiration, including other game genres. At least they're not making you buy collector cards to power up your characters -- though it does look like they've actually incorporated some amount of CCG rules concepts in creature abilities (stating where rules are excepted in feats instead of trying to write the ruleset around every possible feat). This kind of churn might not be good for the D&D franchise (especially not that quick) but it can't be bad for RPGs in general.
You mean you still have tags on? Have you ever actually searched on a tag, or otherwise found them remotely useful on slashdot?
> They want... NEED to sell more editions/books/modules
Actually, I suspect they're making more licensing the property to CRPG's now than they are from selling books. That would explain a whole lot of the rule changes.
So in other words, they buffed the DPS of the rogue and aggro control of the fighter?
C'mon, you KNOW they are looking at that market.
Our perception of sound falls off sharply after 20KHz, but it doesn't mean that we're not still receiving the sound on our eardrums and aural nerve.
This device is straightforward assault, there's no grey area here.
There was a McDonalds in Denver that did this too. Didn't work -- the kids just developed a taste for classical music.
Kenny G might have worked but then they'd have no customers.
No one cares any more. No one will care until we have 50% unemployment and people are burning dollars for fuel. And I'm not sure they'll care even then. Seriously. I think at long last we all deserve to just reap what we've sowed. I'm out of caring.
> AT&T's market cap is nearly 230 billion dollars!
And thus they are everything that's Good And Right About America, and doing anything that might perturb such a big corporation simply Is Not Done.
I mean seriously, they don't even have to contribute campaign money, politicians simply genuflect in the direction of money. Anything at all that might uphold a particular value over the profits of a corporation "might hurt the economy" and is simply not even considered.
We may still be the richest nation on earth, but we are deeply deeply impoverished.
Maybe they just want it to interface at link level with tools that, I dunno, might not be GPL?
Naw, they must be The Enemies Of Freedom. That's it.
Apparently I am "hardcore". I mean, I play Sam and Max and Puzzle Quest, but I also enjoy Mass Effect and Half Life 2 (single player). I can't pull off a headshot to save my life, but still, since I don't particularly enjoy a certain vendor's hardware or games, I'm some sort of "hardcore" type, an irrelevant dinosaur, a dying breed.
So great, fine, I really just don't care any more. If the market segments significantly along these lines, maybe it'll segment more ways and we'll stop lumping in all people who play a video game as "gamers" the same way we don't really talk about "moviegoers" or "tv watchers" (except in terms of ratings and gross receipts). Maybe the discussion will finally mature so that we can stop with the labels and the smug insular elitism that goes with them.
> How many people on this list actually know what scientology is I wonder?
The Operational Thetan texts (OT III being the more famous one) were penned by Hubbard's own hand, and in deadly seriousness.
It would be hilarity itself if it didn't take itself and its lawsuits so seriously.
> Truth is an absolute defense against libel in the US
It still won't stop you from going broke defending yourself.
I don't care if he said he was a pastafarian. I asked for some sort of observation independent of his belief structure. I mean, if you're claiming something could exist, it helps to know what you're even looking for.
> periodic lie detector tests
Yeah, they should also undergo phrenology and palmistry exams too.
> Something must be retained from death to birth
Never mind proof, what indication do you even have of this other than your gut feeling?
There are some oddball video cards that windows really just doesn't know what to do with, so the installer does drop to being text-based. He probably just looked at the crappy resolution and thought it was 640x480.
... not fun, especially if you've got other ATI products in the box (charming behaviors like the WDM driver install hanging forever).
And while the XP install process isn't usually nightmarish, I think that Linux has got it beat. Supporting my ATI card, 3D and all, took like two clicks and a reboot. Now finding where to click wasn't too straightforward (see below about "Start Here" docs) but it otherwise went without a hitch. Installing the catalyst drivers for windows is
It's really the post-install experience that's lacking in Linux. Ubuntu, for example, boots up to a plain brown desktop with NO ICONS AT ALL, and then you are On Your Own. And god forbid you have wireless, because now you're going to have to reboot that machine to windows to find the answers about getting wireless working. Even if the wireless process remains hard, they could at acknowledge that fact and ship some "Start Here" documentation to help out.
For me (and for a good number of other /.ers), part of the "fun" of Linux is the hacking around, getting things working and feeling a strange sense of accomplishment when you unearth some strange tidbit of wisdom that permits everything to work the way its supposed to.
That was fun for me too, for the first ten years. Maybe I'm just a worn-out old fogie, but I'm tired of pushing that rock up the hill now, and I want things to just work. There's no sense of discovery for me in configuration management. My next computer will be a Mac, but mostly for the hardware angle -- I'm also tired of dinking around with fans and cases just to keep the damn thing from burning up when I don't even overclock. The OS will be a bonus (though I hear Leopard is sort of a minefield itself, which should keep things interesting).
> given that Microsoft never released a slim XBox(1), I don't foresee them working on a slim 360.
Microsoft killed the XBox prematurely in its lifecycle, because they didn't own the chip designs. A new model would mean they'd have to beg and whine to their manufacturing partners to pretty-please shrink things down for them and pretty-please don't jack up their pricing as long as they're renegotiating.
They didn't make that mistake with the 360 however, so they could change things around overnight if they want.
If it was Apple's problem, Intel solved it for them. I'd call it IBM's problem if they couldn't offer any flexibility.
Anyway, it had less to do with supply and everything to do with the problems of PPC on laptops: horrendous heat, sub-par performance and power management. The supply issues was just another layer of crap frosting on the cake.
> Not only must you have a internet connection just to play the single-player game
You need the connection to activate it. Once that's done, you can play offline as much as you damn well please.
Killing the resale market isn't so great though. But I'm still sick of having to keep track of a stack of lexan dongles.
They had Prey. Their website would have answered this.
I know the 1800's were rife with crashes, I just didn't quite adequately convey my sarcasm :) I admit that I was ignorant enough to think we were off the gold standard during the Great Depression though. I'll have to remember that one if I ever talk to my "Federal Reserve Is A Conspiracy Out To Get Us" friend again. Not that it'll actually have any effect... sigh.