This is my hometown, and I gotta say...I'm rather ashamed. I thought the town in general was more forward-thinking than that. Though I do agree with this point, at least:
Polygon also spoke with Joe Erardi, Southington School superintendent and a member of SouthingtonSOS:
"There are youngsters who appear to be consumed with violent video games," Erardi said. "I'm not certain if that's a good thing. If this encourages one courageous conversation with a parent and their child, then it's a success. We're suggesting that for parents who have a child or children who play violent video games, to first of all view the games. We're asking parents to better understand what their child is doing. Have a conversation about next steps."
I'm all for parents to be involved with what their kids are doing, especially videogames. They should better understand what their kids are into, and be there to tell them, "No, this game is not appropriate for you right now, but I'm happy to let you play it when you're older." The thing is, you don't need to have a drive where M-rated games are turned in in order to have these conversations. I have them with my eight-year-old son already. I explain things to him, and give him appropriate games to play as an alternative. Problem solved.
Is buy parts for a PC off of some website, get a case with a clear side. Build it with him, teach him the importance of discharging static etc. Let him put the pieces together, tell him what each piece does.
You should be able to get parts for a standard PC relatively inexpensively.
Load the operating system with him, and explain what it does.
This.
My oldest son is eight; a couple years ago I built a computer for him from parts bought from online, stuck it in an old mini-ATX case I had from a previous PC I built, and had him help me put in every single component. Not only did he have a complete blast, he learned from it, and he has loved working on them with me since.
It's only 'dangerous' if you let them do things they shouldn't without educating them first. Teach them to respect the tool (no matter what the tool is), walk them through it, answer the questions they have (and look it up with them if you don't know), and aside from the occasional accident that anyone could have, they'll be fine.
The sensitivity of our deep-space tracking antennas located around the world is truly amazing. The antennas must capture Voyager information from a signal so weak that the power striking the antenna is only 10 exponent -16 watts (1 part in 10 quadrillion). A modern-day electronic digital watch operates at a power level 20 billion times greater than this feeble level.
One ten-quadrillionth of a watt.
Yeah, "truly amazing" doesn't even begin to cover it. You're right; it IS mindblowing.
No offense...but given what passes for 'normal conversation' in the bulk of American society these days, I'd be happy to "'wax loquacious'", as you so deftly put it, with anyone intelligent enough to do likewise.
Simplicity is becoming a defense for the lazy.
I think Harry Gregson-Williams' opening theme for Metal Gear Solid 2 could give it a run for its money. That was an AMAZING theme-I'd just stick the game in my PS2, and let it run through the opening over and over just to listen to it.
I see your point about it being linear, but that's not really any big surprise; none of the games in the Zelda series could seriously be considered true RPGs (adventure with a few basic RPG elements mixed in).
Look at A Link to the Past-you can't just go fight Agahnim; you've got to find your uncle in the castle sewers, rescue Zelda, take her to the church, travel to three dungeons to get all three Pendants to get the Master Sword, etc. So there hasn't been much of a change in that regard.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Zelda games (even Zelda II), and sometimes certain things you're doing in any one of them can get repetitive, to be sure-but one has to be careful not to expect them to be something they're not.
Meepzorb put it perfectly:
Scalpers "attempt to generate wealth that they neither earned nor created". One should not be allowed to price-gouge other people just because one happens to be lucky enough to snag either a Wii or PS3 (during times when supply & demand are this far out of balance) with no intention of actually using it, as well as trying to hide behind a witless free-market/"We live in a capitalist society" defense when others call them to the mat for it.
In situations like this, stores should be limiting how many systems people are allowed to buy. Case in point: the guy who got shot in Connecticut while waiting in line at Wal-Mart had THREE PS3s preordered (one of the local stations ran a story on him), and as what essentially amounts to a "We're sorry, please don't involve us in a lawsuit" gesture, he was given a FOURTH one. Now, how is that fair to other gamers who not only have the $600 to spend, but are just as deserving of a system as he is? Not to mention his only reason for getting them was to flip them (read: rip off other people) online, since he was unemployed at the time.
You know, no one deserves to get shot for a video game, but it's kind of hard to feel sympathy for the guy when they actually SHOW him listing the PS3s on eBay.
Or, at the very least, someone in a position of authority recognizing it. This (for once, someone who deserves the title) most honorable judge should be the one hearing all the asinine cases where robbers sue the homeowner who actually defended themselves when their house was broken into, or people who sue fast-food companies because their food is 'addictive'. (To be fair, I'm sure that not all the plaintiffs are the ones who initiate the suit in the first place; the attorneys are most likely the ones hauling some of them into court promising a huge settlement check.) At least, he would be hearing the cases long enough to realize how much of a waste of our courts' time they are, then throwing these bottom-feeders out of the courthouse.
IMHO, that parallel you're trying to make is a tenuous one, at best. Magic in and of itself didn't have anything to do with P&P RPGs, other than the fact that Wizards of the Coast published Magic and then a couple of years later bought out TSR (which was still before Hasbro bought them). I'm sure that a lot of Magic players also play RPGs-I'm one who plays Magic, RPGs and WoW, for example-but I don't think that RPG players were literally abandoning P&P for Magic. (Not to mention that P&P games are, hands down, a LOT cheaper in the long run.)
Slashdot Mirror
This is my hometown, and I gotta say...I'm rather ashamed. I thought the town in general was more forward-thinking than that. Though I do agree with this point, at least:
Polygon also spoke with Joe Erardi, Southington School superintendent and a member of SouthingtonSOS:
"There are youngsters who appear to be consumed with violent video games," Erardi said. "I'm not certain if that's a good thing. If this encourages one courageous conversation with a parent and their child, then it's a success. We're suggesting that for parents who have a child or children who play violent video games, to first of all view the games. We're asking parents to better understand what their child is doing. Have a conversation about next steps."
I'm all for parents to be involved with what their kids are doing, especially videogames. They should better understand what their kids are into, and be there to tell them, "No, this game is not appropriate for you right now, but I'm happy to let you play it when you're older." The thing is, you don't need to have a drive where M-rated games are turned in in order to have these conversations. I have them with my eight-year-old son already. I explain things to him, and give him appropriate games to play as an alternative. Problem solved.
Is buy parts for a PC off of some website, get a case with a clear side. Build it with him, teach him the importance of discharging static etc. Let him put the pieces together, tell him what each piece does.
You should be able to get parts for a standard PC relatively inexpensively.
Load the operating system with him, and explain what it does.
This.
My oldest son is eight; a couple years ago I built a computer for him from parts bought from online, stuck it in an old mini-ATX case I had from a previous PC I built, and had him help me put in every single component. Not only did he have a complete blast, he learned from it, and he has loved working on them with me since.
It's only 'dangerous' if you let them do things they shouldn't without educating them first. Teach them to respect the tool (no matter what the tool is), walk them through it, answer the questions they have (and look it up with them if you don't know), and aside from the occasional accident that anyone could have, they'll be fine.
It's not imprecise. They're just referring to a lunar day, not an Earth day (which you correctly pointed out is about 29 Earth days long).
Just need to remember it's a different frame of reference.
From NASA's Voyager mission site (link here: http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/didyouknow.html):
The sensitivity of our deep-space tracking antennas located around the world is truly amazing. The antennas must capture Voyager information from a signal so weak that the power striking the antenna is only 10 exponent -16 watts (1 part in 10 quadrillion). A modern-day electronic digital watch operates at a power level 20 billion times greater than this feeble level.
One ten-quadrillionth of a watt.
Yeah, "truly amazing" doesn't even begin to cover it. You're right; it IS mindblowing.
No offense...but given what passes for 'normal conversation' in the bulk of American society these days, I'd be happy to "'wax loquacious'", as you so deftly put it, with anyone intelligent enough to do likewise. Simplicity is becoming a defense for the lazy.
I think Harry Gregson-Williams' opening theme for Metal Gear Solid 2 could give it a run for its money. That was an AMAZING theme-I'd just stick the game in my PS2, and let it run through the opening over and over just to listen to it.
I see your point about it being linear, but that's not really any big surprise; none of the games in the Zelda series could seriously be considered true RPGs (adventure with a few basic RPG elements mixed in). Look at A Link to the Past-you can't just go fight Agahnim; you've got to find your uncle in the castle sewers, rescue Zelda, take her to the church, travel to three dungeons to get all three Pendants to get the Master Sword, etc. So there hasn't been much of a change in that regard. Don't get me wrong, I love the Zelda games (even Zelda II), and sometimes certain things you're doing in any one of them can get repetitive, to be sure-but one has to be careful not to expect them to be something they're not.
Meepzorb put it perfectly: Scalpers "attempt to generate wealth that they neither earned nor created". One should not be allowed to price-gouge other people just because one happens to be lucky enough to snag either a Wii or PS3 (during times when supply & demand are this far out of balance) with no intention of actually using it, as well as trying to hide behind a witless free-market/"We live in a capitalist society" defense when others call them to the mat for it. In situations like this, stores should be limiting how many systems people are allowed to buy. Case in point: the guy who got shot in Connecticut while waiting in line at Wal-Mart had THREE PS3s preordered (one of the local stations ran a story on him), and as what essentially amounts to a "We're sorry, please don't involve us in a lawsuit" gesture, he was given a FOURTH one. Now, how is that fair to other gamers who not only have the $600 to spend, but are just as deserving of a system as he is? Not to mention his only reason for getting them was to flip them (read: rip off other people) online, since he was unemployed at the time. You know, no one deserves to get shot for a video game, but it's kind of hard to feel sympathy for the guy when they actually SHOW him listing the PS3s on eBay.
Or, at the very least, someone in a position of authority recognizing it. This (for once, someone who deserves the title) most honorable judge should be the one hearing all the asinine cases where robbers sue the homeowner who actually defended themselves when their house was broken into, or people who sue fast-food companies because their food is 'addictive'. (To be fair, I'm sure that not all the plaintiffs are the ones who initiate the suit in the first place; the attorneys are most likely the ones hauling some of them into court promising a huge settlement check.) At least, he would be hearing the cases long enough to realize how much of a waste of our courts' time they are, then throwing these bottom-feeders out of the courthouse.
IMHO, that parallel you're trying to make is a tenuous one, at best. Magic in and of itself didn't have anything to do with P&P RPGs, other than the fact that Wizards of the Coast published Magic and then a couple of years later bought out TSR (which was still before Hasbro bought them). I'm sure that a lot of Magic players also play RPGs-I'm one who plays Magic, RPGs and WoW, for example-but I don't think that RPG players were literally abandoning P&P for Magic. (Not to mention that P&P games are, hands down, a LOT cheaper in the long run.)