That chart shows the radiative forcing of atmospheric components. No-one's arguing those numbers per se, or that the model is a poor one. If it were a poor model, it would have been replaced long ago. However, the confidence levels discussed in the paper are lower than even I expected (although they don't mean everything). But more importantly, while it is clear that increasing atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases would cause global warming, it is still unclear to me why that is the only factor for warming that is being considered in that report. I see that it says greenhouse gas emissions are "very likely" to be the sole cause for warming, but I am unable to see the sources for that conclusion (nor is anything present in the report that would lead to that conclusion). Indeed much in the report is simply attributed to "expert opinion," which is great and would be enough for me if not for dissenting expert opinion when it comes to the "sole cause" claim.
How can Mario Bros 3 be considered one of the 10 most important games of all time when the original Super Mario Bros is the foundation is was built on in the first place? It wasn't even all that innovative if we're talking "grand scales" such as this (it was innovative, but not nearly the leap that the original was).
Then there's Donkey Kong Country, which to my knowledge popularized actually using 3d models for characters in a game.
The Legend of Zelda, anyone? Action/adventure one of those genres that never really took off or spawned a descendant that is considered widely to be the greatest game of all time? Ocarina is yet to be dethroned according to most critics (and gamers I know).
How about Doom? Or is FPS a fad?:-P
I just find it hard to justify putting in WarCraft when it didn't even spawn the genre it "represents" in the first place, and on top of that not putting in the games that spawned much more prominent genres.
Are you saying that no money goes into alternative energy research? Or that we're not heading in the direction of using alternative energy more and more? If GM invests however much money into developing a hybrid car that's on par with, say, Lexus's LS600hL (hybrid), does that money just vaporize? I would hope not.
If we are serious about curbing CO2 output (nevermind whether we ought to be or not, that's a different issue), then we will need to invest a LOT of money into developing technology that will allow us to do so. Where will that money go? To those who do the research, those who come up with ideas on how to put that research into action, and those who put it into action by building stuff. That means researchers, engineers, etc. will get this money, as will folks marketing this new technology. And let's not forget Mr. Future-Conscious Entrepreneur at the top who will have founded some of these ventures.
Either there is a lot of money to be made in alternative energy, or IT WON'T HAPPEN bro. Do you want to prove me wrong now?:-P
Or maybe I should find less-interesting Photoshop projects. Perhaps the friends I talk to over MSN should be more boring. How about I stop updating my websites?:-P
Not every game should take up 100% of your attention, nor should you let any game do that if you don't want it to.
Ok, so either you're saying that Wunsch is himself the whole of the world's scientific community, or you're misunderstanding his statements about increasing CO2 being dangerous. It is a great shame he was misrepresented in the British program, and I am not educated enough on climatology to question his stance on global warming per se, but I do not see that he has a complete and unequivocal explanation on his hands, either.
The earth has experienced very significant temperature fluctuations in the past despite CO2 concentration being far below what it is today. It may be that global warming is progressing at an unexpectedly rapid rate now, and that this rapidity can be attributed to the CO2 rise, but then I am curious about actual numbers. That is, how much of the CO2 increase is industry responsible for? (I have read something like 12/80 ppm over the last 150 years... can someone correct or confirm this?) Additionally, the projected temperature rise over the next 100 years varies, dare I say, wildly. (Something like 1.5 to 6 degrees by 2100... what kind of degree of confidence are we looking at here? +/- 300%?) It could be a question of good science arriving at correct values and bad science arriving at bogus ones, but I would like some of the bad science to then FAIL peer review.
If you think I am saying that CO2 isn't a greenhouse gas, or that it can't contribute to global warming, you misunderstand. What I *am* saying is that, at this point in time, claiming that CO2 concentration is the sole reason for global warming is irresponsible and presumptuous.
Yeah I do have a lot of RAM. It spoils me, haha. My next machine will definitely be 4 Gigs (because I'll probably move to Vista by then.. I'm thinking folks will have workarounds for all the DRM rubbish eventually).
How dare you call me an asshat, you prick!:-P
Well, when you mention polar bears and ice caps on mountains, etc., it seems like that's a whole other topic altogether. The scientific community isn't saying that global warming isn't happening; they're just not agreeing about how it is being caused. While it [sort of] correlates to CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, it correlates to other things as well. On top of that, ocean current changes (which can have an effect on climate), as well as other phenomena, are not fully explored or understood and may well be responsible as well. That is, there are many postulations and theories about what's causing global warming and there is no super ninja conclusive evidence for one over the others. Our climate models are simply not that good.
I'm not defending this particular scientist's ideas; I am not familiar with them. But I do agree that there's just as much money to be made on the Green side of the fence as on the Exxon-Mobil side (or whatever). So like you, I want to question everything and I appreciate that this scientist at least inspires that tendency.
Besides "persistent game worlds" and community support for games that's unmatched by consoles, PC games have another massive advantage: you can do other stuff at the same time!
I can listen to my Winamp playlist, have AIM/MSN/ICQ chat windows open, be FTP-ing files to my website, and tracking just how bad Mavs are owning Lakers on NBA.com WHILE I'M PLAYING GUILD WARS (and Oblivion in another window:-P). And that's when I'm not also messing with item designs in Photoshop while I'm at it.
When I can do all of that on a console, it will mean that my console is basically a PC. And so technically PC gaming will never die. Some people need something that lets them multitask.
When I want to 100% relax, I play some FF or Zelda or Ninja Gaiden or whatever. Something that is just plain awesome on a big hi-def TV with surround that I can enjoy on a comfy couch rather than hunched over a desk screwing up my posture. But if I want to play something AND do other stuff while I'm at it, PC is the only way to go.
Point taken about the "continuous blows;" that's what Baldur's Gate did if I remember correctly. Characters swung continuously but only 1 attack per "round" was actually calculated. FFXII could probably have done this, but I can't say for certain that it wouldn't have created a lot of confusion for many players. Hard to say, I think, without actually trying it out.
To be fair, JRPGs were never about realistic combat. They're slowly moving in that direction (White Knight looks particularly good in that regard), but games like Elder Scrolls are lightyears ahead of something like FFXII in that regard (despite still having lots of room for improvement). An RPG with Ninja Gaiden-style combat? count me in:-) but I don't see one even on the horizon, sadly.
Meh I happily use both Windows and Unix-based OSs. Often at the same time, since I develop mostly on Windows in Eclipse but do scripting on Unix and deploy to Unix. I used Linux throughout my undergrad and post-grad days.
But I still find that choosing a Linux distribution takes more consideration than choosing the Windows OS distribution, in nearly every case. And the way you simplified all Linux distro installations as "you obtain the software and put it on your computer" is so silly it sounds sarcastic! I could probably tell some non-computer-power-user (for instance girlfriend) "obtain Windows and put it on your computer" and she'll manage (most likely end up with XP Home or something, as if it'll matter), but "obtain Linux and put it on your computer" would be far less trivial for her to realize.
I can imagine samba making the workplace feel a little more-upbeat, what with the 1..a-2..3..a-4 rhythm that makes you want to shake that booty. It can definitely keep folks awake at their workstations, which would boost productivity. Plus it would give everything a more Brazilian feel, which will help people forget that in fact outside it's all icy and cold. So, yes, I could definitely see samba being successful in enterprise.
Paso Doble not so much. Spanish Gypsy can get quite annoying after a while.
Do [big and awesome] walls count as buildings? Wiki refers to it as the longest building in the US, so maybe they mean the Great Wall to be the longest in the world?
The point is it doesn't make that big a difference which version one buys if it's someone like your mom (I assume if she really cares about some specific feature that only Vista Ultimate provides she's not going to be troubled about the whole selection process to begin with). On top of that, the selection process is still simpler than WRT Linux distributions. With those, you need to worry about how each installs, what sort of support you can expect with each, etc. I think those are for consumers and for businesses much more important factors than, say, Vista Ultimate providing "windows DVD maker" (which I'm not even sure works because disc burning on new Windows is kinda meh early on ^^).
w00t you actually swore at me you prick that's sweet! But your point is about danger to the guy drinking beer; mine was about danger to everything else, like Ace the hound who likes to sit on the couch or walk by it on the way to the kitchen:-)
Characters atack every 2-3 seconds or so don't they? That's not too horrible... most RPGs have some internal timer that determines when your next attack is. In Guild Wars it's between 1.33 and 2.5 seconds or something, depending on your weapon. In Baldur's Gate there was an internal 'round' of combat that lasted 6 seconds or so, since DND is kinda turn-based.
Maybe you haven't ever played BG or something like KOTOR, because to me it seemed like FFXII borrowed a lot from those games in terms of combat system design. It added a lot of other great things, though, such as the whole gambit system (the reason I don't mind battles in FFXII is basically that I can sit back and watch the AI I set for them go to work -- very convenient for those lengthy boss battles).
Granted there's a bit of a learning curve because of all of the potential complexity (and if you don't use gambits, then the combat can actually get *really tedious* I admit). But if you really try to exploit the combat system fully, I think you'll start to like it. It's basically a smarter version of the DND-style system pioneered by Bioware.
All versions of Vista install the same way. Some just have more extra features than others. The same company supports all of them, in the same manner. As for previous versions of Windows, well, that's all moot since they're kinda *the previous versions!* This is like saying "omg there are multiple types of Xterras to buy I have no freaking clue whether I'm supposed to get the off-road or SE or a used 2004 one or whatever. And then there's all the exterior colors to choose from which one is the right one for me!?":-P
Anything that can toss a beer 20 feet is hazardous to the TV, dog, kid, Xbox, and the beer itself. Granted it's a funny thing to have put together, it would have made more sense to use those 150 hours on moving beer from the fridge to the couch over a lifetime.
I already am working on getting a robotic arm, being a part-time nudist, and acting ridiculously paranoid while spending half of my disposable income on "vintage" shoes. Good thing the Audi R8 has been released because that's exactly what I need for wheels.
My experience was actually quite similar. I was tasked with replacing everything in our IT department with Apple stuff, down to the pens and notebooks. The general policy was if it wasn't Apple it wasn't up to the task. Well, three days after one of our big Mac Pros came in, a friggin ninja crawled out of it and started giving us major grief. At first he was just being a nuisance, taking all of the paper cups out of the cappucino machines, covering elevator buttons with engine grease, stuff like that. But over time he started slicing up monitors, breaking fluorescent bulbs over people's heads, and eventually got into the usual ninja habit of killing people and setting things on fire.
I contacted AppleCare about the issue, and their response was I had clearly ordered the Mac Pro with the "trojan horse" option turned on. Friggin liars. Well, no matter what I said, they refused to take the ninja back.
Eventually we started running out of equipment thanks to that jerk. Unable to be productive typing on half a keyboard and a cordless-by-way-of-sword mouse, I was left with no option other than contacting Apple's Business support and informing them that AppleCare was being uncooperative. These guys sent me Chuck Norris within 3 business days and now I'm back in full productivity mode. Though our floor's cappucino machine is messed up after eating one of Chuck's nickels and taking a roundhouse in the gut for it.
That asteroid was the size of TEXAS. I think if there were something of *that* size heading for us, a nuke wouldn't really do anything to it besides piss it off. And if it hit Earth, it'd probably smash it into countless pieces.
Slashdot Mirror
That chart shows the radiative forcing of atmospheric components. No-one's arguing those numbers per se, or that the model is a poor one. If it were a poor model, it would have been replaced long ago. However, the confidence levels discussed in the paper are lower than even I expected (although they don't mean everything). But more importantly, while it is clear that increasing atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases would cause global warming, it is still unclear to me why that is the only factor for warming that is being considered in that report. I see that it says greenhouse gas emissions are "very likely" to be the sole cause for warming, but I am unable to see the sources for that conclusion (nor is anything present in the report that would lead to that conclusion). Indeed much in the report is simply attributed to "expert opinion," which is great and would be enough for me if not for dissenting expert opinion when it comes to the "sole cause" claim.
Meh gaming articles are blocked where I'm at :-P So I gotta just assume they're morons based on what I gather from the summary :-)
And where can I buy some?
:-P
How can Mario Bros 3 be considered one of the 10 most important games of all time when the original Super Mario Bros is the foundation is was built on in the first place? It wasn't even all that innovative if we're talking "grand scales" such as this (it was innovative, but not nearly the leap that the original was).
Then there's Donkey Kong Country, which to my knowledge popularized actually using 3d models for characters in a game.
The Legend of Zelda, anyone? Action/adventure one of those genres that never really took off or spawned a descendant that is considered widely to be the greatest game of all time? Ocarina is yet to be dethroned according to most critics (and gamers I know).
How about Doom? Or is FPS a fad?
I just find it hard to justify putting in WarCraft when it didn't even spawn the genre it "represents" in the first place, and on top of that not putting in the games that spawned much more prominent genres.
Are you saying that no money goes into alternative energy research? Or that we're not heading in the direction of using alternative energy more and more? If GM invests however much money into developing a hybrid car that's on par with, say, Lexus's LS600hL (hybrid), does that money just vaporize? I would hope not.
:-P
If we are serious about curbing CO2 output (nevermind whether we ought to be or not, that's a different issue), then we will need to invest a LOT of money into developing technology that will allow us to do so. Where will that money go? To those who do the research, those who come up with ideas on how to put that research into action, and those who put it into action by building stuff. That means researchers, engineers, etc. will get this money, as will folks marketing this new technology. And let's not forget Mr. Future-Conscious Entrepreneur at the top who will have founded some of these ventures.
Either there is a lot of money to be made in alternative energy, or IT WON'T HAPPEN bro. Do you want to prove me wrong now?
Or maybe I should find less-interesting Photoshop projects. Perhaps the friends I talk to over MSN should be more boring. How about I stop updating my websites? :-P
Not every game should take up 100% of your attention, nor should you let any game do that if you don't want it to.
Ok, so either you're saying that Wunsch is himself the whole of the world's scientific community, or you're misunderstanding his statements about increasing CO2 being dangerous. It is a great shame he was misrepresented in the British program, and I am not educated enough on climatology to question his stance on global warming per se, but I do not see that he has a complete and unequivocal explanation on his hands, either.
... what kind of degree of confidence are we looking at here? +/- 300%?) It could be a question of good science arriving at correct values and bad science arriving at bogus ones, but I would like some of the bad science to then FAIL peer review.
The earth has experienced very significant temperature fluctuations in the past despite CO2 concentration being far below what it is today. It may be that global warming is progressing at an unexpectedly rapid rate now, and that this rapidity can be attributed to the CO2 rise, but then I am curious about actual numbers. That is, how much of the CO2 increase is industry responsible for? (I have read something like 12/80 ppm over the last 150 years... can someone correct or confirm this?) Additionally, the projected temperature rise over the next 100 years varies, dare I say, wildly. (Something like 1.5 to 6 degrees by 2100
If you think I am saying that CO2 isn't a greenhouse gas, or that it can't contribute to global warming, you misunderstand. What I *am* saying is that, at this point in time, claiming that CO2 concentration is the sole reason for global warming is irresponsible and presumptuous.
Yeah I do have a lot of RAM. It spoils me, haha. My next machine will definitely be 4 Gigs (because I'll probably move to Vista by then .. I'm thinking folks will have workarounds for all the DRM rubbish eventually).
How dare you call me an asshat, you prick! :-P
Well, when you mention polar bears and ice caps on mountains, etc., it seems like that's a whole other topic altogether. The scientific community isn't saying that global warming isn't happening; they're just not agreeing about how it is being caused. While it [sort of] correlates to CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, it correlates to other things as well. On top of that, ocean current changes (which can have an effect on climate), as well as other phenomena, are not fully explored or understood and may well be responsible as well. That is, there are many postulations and theories about what's causing global warming and there is no super ninja conclusive evidence for one over the others. Our climate models are simply not that good.
I'm not defending this particular scientist's ideas; I am not familiar with them. But I do agree that there's just as much money to be made on the Green side of the fence as on the Exxon-Mobil side (or whatever). So like you, I want to question everything and I appreciate that this scientist at least inspires that tendency.
Besides "persistent game worlds" and community support for games that's unmatched by consoles, PC games have another massive advantage: you can do other stuff at the same time!
:-P). And that's when I'm not also messing with item designs in Photoshop while I'm at it.
I can listen to my Winamp playlist, have AIM/MSN/ICQ chat windows open, be FTP-ing files to my website, and tracking just how bad Mavs are owning Lakers on NBA.com WHILE I'M PLAYING GUILD WARS (and Oblivion in another window
When I can do all of that on a console, it will mean that my console is basically a PC. And so technically PC gaming will never die. Some people need something that lets them multitask.
When I want to 100% relax, I play some FF or Zelda or Ninja Gaiden or whatever. Something that is just plain awesome on a big hi-def TV with surround that I can enjoy on a comfy couch rather than hunched over a desk screwing up my posture. But if I want to play something AND do other stuff while I'm at it, PC is the only way to go.
Point taken about the "continuous blows;" that's what Baldur's Gate did if I remember correctly. Characters swung continuously but only 1 attack per "round" was actually calculated. FFXII could probably have done this, but I can't say for certain that it wouldn't have created a lot of confusion for many players. Hard to say, I think, without actually trying it out.
:-) but I don't see one even on the horizon, sadly.
To be fair, JRPGs were never about realistic combat. They're slowly moving in that direction (White Knight looks particularly good in that regard), but games like Elder Scrolls are lightyears ahead of something like FFXII in that regard (despite still having lots of room for improvement). An RPG with Ninja Gaiden-style combat? count me in
Meh I happily use both Windows and Unix-based OSs. Often at the same time, since I develop mostly on Windows in Eclipse but do scripting on Unix and deploy to Unix. I used Linux throughout my undergrad and post-grad days.
But I still find that choosing a Linux distribution takes more consideration than choosing the Windows OS distribution, in nearly every case. And the way you simplified all Linux distro installations as "you obtain the software and put it on your computer" is so silly it sounds sarcastic! I could probably tell some non-computer-power-user (for instance girlfriend) "obtain Windows and put it on your computer" and she'll manage (most likely end up with XP Home or something, as if it'll matter), but "obtain Linux and put it on your computer" would be far less trivial for her to realize.
I can imagine samba making the workplace feel a little more-upbeat, what with the 1..a-2..3..a-4 rhythm that makes you want to shake that booty. It can definitely keep folks awake at their workstations, which would boost productivity. Plus it would give everything a more Brazilian feel, which will help people forget that in fact outside it's all icy and cold. So, yes, I could definitely see samba being successful in enterprise.
Paso Doble not so much. Spanish Gypsy can get quite annoying after a while.
Do [big and awesome] walls count as buildings? Wiki refers to it as the longest building in the US, so maybe they mean the Great Wall to be the longest in the world?
The point is it doesn't make that big a difference which version one buys if it's someone like your mom (I assume if she really cares about some specific feature that only Vista Ultimate provides she's not going to be troubled about the whole selection process to begin with). On top of that, the selection process is still simpler than WRT Linux distributions. With those, you need to worry about how each installs, what sort of support you can expect with each, etc. I think those are for consumers and for businesses much more important factors than, say, Vista Ultimate providing "windows DVD maker" (which I'm not even sure works because disc burning on new Windows is kinda meh early on ^^).
w00t you actually swore at me you prick that's sweet! But your point is about danger to the guy drinking beer; mine was about danger to everything else, like Ace the hound who likes to sit on the couch or walk by it on the way to the kitchen :-)
Characters atack every 2-3 seconds or so don't they? That's not too horrible... most RPGs have some internal timer that determines when your next attack is. In Guild Wars it's between 1.33 and 2.5 seconds or something, depending on your weapon. In Baldur's Gate there was an internal 'round' of combat that lasted 6 seconds or so, since DND is kinda turn-based.
Maybe you haven't ever played BG or something like KOTOR, because to me it seemed like FFXII borrowed a lot from those games in terms of combat system design. It added a lot of other great things, though, such as the whole gambit system (the reason I don't mind battles in FFXII is basically that I can sit back and watch the AI I set for them go to work -- very convenient for those lengthy boss battles).
Granted there's a bit of a learning curve because of all of the potential complexity (and if you don't use gambits, then the combat can actually get *really tedious* I admit). But if you really try to exploit the combat system fully, I think you'll start to like it. It's basically a smarter version of the DND-style system pioneered by Bioware.
All versions of Vista install the same way. Some just have more extra features than others. The same company supports all of them, in the same manner. As for previous versions of Windows, well, that's all moot since they're kinda *the previous versions!* This is like saying "omg there are multiple types of Xterras to buy I have no freaking clue whether I'm supposed to get the off-road or SE or a used 2004 one or whatever. And then there's all the exterior colors to choose from which one is the right one for me!?" :-P
Well, sure, until little Bobby intercepts it mid-flight with his noggin.
Duuh that's what Green Lantern rings are for.
Anything that can toss a beer 20 feet is hazardous to the TV, dog, kid, Xbox, and the beer itself. Granted it's a funny thing to have put together, it would have made more sense to use those 150 hours on moving beer from the fridge to the couch over a lifetime.
Man well now I know never to complain about the PS3. It's so big and... awesome!
Well, they're just not back from school yet. So, there's still hope.
I already am working on getting a robotic arm, being a part-time nudist, and acting ridiculously paranoid while spending half of my disposable income on "vintage" shoes. Good thing the Audi R8 has been released because that's exactly what I need for wheels.
My experience was actually quite similar. I was tasked with replacing everything in our IT department with Apple stuff, down to the pens and notebooks. The general policy was if it wasn't Apple it wasn't up to the task. Well, three days after one of our big Mac Pros came in, a friggin ninja crawled out of it and started giving us major grief. At first he was just being a nuisance, taking all of the paper cups out of the cappucino machines, covering elevator buttons with engine grease, stuff like that. But over time he started slicing up monitors, breaking fluorescent bulbs over people's heads, and eventually got into the usual ninja habit of killing people and setting things on fire.
I contacted AppleCare about the issue, and their response was I had clearly ordered the Mac Pro with the "trojan horse" option turned on. Friggin liars. Well, no matter what I said, they refused to take the ninja back.
Eventually we started running out of equipment thanks to that jerk. Unable to be productive typing on half a keyboard and a cordless-by-way-of-sword mouse, I was left with no option other than contacting Apple's Business support and informing them that AppleCare was being uncooperative. These guys sent me Chuck Norris within 3 business days and now I'm back in full productivity mode. Though our floor's cappucino machine is messed up after eating one of Chuck's nickels and taking a roundhouse in the gut for it.
That asteroid was the size of TEXAS. I think if there were something of *that* size heading for us, a nuke wouldn't really do anything to it besides piss it off. And if it hit Earth, it'd probably smash it into countless pieces.