So, in 6 weeks or so (whenever the heck the Olympics are over) we should expect the price of oil to drop $30-40 a barrel since they won't be worried about looking good any longer???
Have you tried Z-tweaked, or maybe Guru3d? I have always had a better experience with their drivers than anything Nvidia puts out,and there drivers are hacked to let you run them on pretty much anything. And I know that one of them does put out mobile drivers because I accidently downloaded them once when I was in a hurry.
Am I missing something here? Z-tweaked hasn't released drivers since 10/2006 and Guru3d appears to be a review site...
The "visit Cuba" thing is kind of sad, foreigners love to vacation in Cuba and often forget (or don't even care) that these places are can not be enjoyed by the locals.
BTW, I've been playing the closed beta, and I predict this game will be epic fail. The graphics are similar to 2004 era WoW graphics. Bugs and lack of content are everywhere. I love the Warhammer universe, since I grew up playing the tabletop games, and I had high hopes for this franchise, but the game simply fails to deliver. It might have been good if it came out 4 years ago, but people expect a game to have the same polished content upon release that WoW has taken 4 years to add. The market expects an unrealistically high level of polish and content, so pretty much any new challenger is guaranteed to fail unless it's made by Blizzard.
I've been having a lot of fun playing Age of Conan lately. Don't let the haters tell you it sucks. It really is a pretty good game, even though it has bugs. What MMO doesn't?
What's wrong with 2004 era graphics? The #1 MMO seems to do well with them. I have also had the opportunity to take a peek a the WHO beta. I'll say the WOW artistry is more pleasing (graphics are subjective anyway).
I am curious as to what is unpolished from what you have seen so far. At least the lower levels seem to be fleshed out very well. At the same level as AoC, if not better. And Mythic are being up front about content not going to be in release. How is your "PvP" experience so far in AoC? Non-existent, eh? I've been "RvR"ing in WHO since level 4. I guess it's all in what you are looking for in a game.
As you stated, AoC has bugs. I say WHO BETA has fewer bugs than AoC, release +1 month.
Yeah right. Because EA has never done anything ever to screw over a good franchise they bought. Nope.
I could be mistaken, but it is my understanding if EA did not come in a purchase Mythic, WHO would have been released 6 months ago or so and probably had very similar AoC type launch. That being said, I still don't agree with them launching without having major content ready. At least they are disclosing the information up front and not AFTER 500k people have purchased the game.
I disagree with that. I'd say that "work" would be anything you'd be paid to do (and not fired for doing) in the office. If you do it after hours, it's still work.
I frequently do things after hours that benefit the company I work for. Such as reading.
On the flip side (not saying you are guilty, but most people are), how much screwing off at work do you do? Coffee breaks, smoke breaks, snack breaks, slashdot breaks, chatting with other people, long lunches, coming in late, leaving early, etc....
If people screw off an hour or two every day while in the office, why the heck should they get paid EXTRA for an hour of work while not in the office???
While I appreciate and enjoy the incredible technology that has made the BB possible, these kids need to know there was a good life before BBs and cell phones and 24/7/365 connectivity. I don't want any of it to go away, but all the tech has one common trait - a switch that allows the user to turn them off. And if they don't, take out the damn battery.
Life can be so quiet.......
When was that? Pagers have been around 20+ years now. It's a lot more convenient to have a cell phone/BB with me to call someone back than try to track down a pay phone or landline to call someone back. Or maybe in the 70s and 80s people never had to be called from work after hours? Oh right, they would just call your home phone. I guess if you went on a real vacation, that might be the only time you were truly not reachable in the days before cell phones and pagers...
On a less piratical note, distributing movies on HDD would be interesting. The HDD would be in a study case and easily inserted into the player. The HDD would not have the same data through-put issues the optical media has, but would suffer being less reliable due to the mechanical nature of the HDD. And not as study if you drop it or allow your toddler to gnaw on it while they are teething.
How might this change once Solid State hard drives are "affordable"? Current USB keys, etc?
I can definitely understand that sentiment. I've tried to go back and play it under various emulators (c64/nes/pc vga) within the last few years, but I simply cannot get past the clunky interface. I guess I've gotten spoiled with these new fangled mouse contraptions we have now. If there was a release that had a better keyboard interface I would love to go back and play it through, tiles and all. I loved the music (originally played on a c64) and the exploration. I probably made it 3/4 through the game 2 or 3 times, but damn those 1541 floppy drives corrupting my game data. I have yet to save Lord British and I am determined to do so with this remake.
Personally, I'm still amazed that, in a nation so plentiful, owing so much of its good fortune to the diversity and quantity of people who just sort of showed up on a boat, so many people have a problem with free immigration.
Absurd and ironic come to mind, but the word which I think best describes this blighted mindset is "disappointing."
I don't mind immigration at all. The problem I have is that many refuse to learn the language, go through the proper steps to obtain a green card/citizenship and pay their taxes like the rest of us do.
With that being said, it doesn't help that system to get the green card/citizenship is a royal PITA. But tens of thousands of immigrants manage to go through it successfully every year. I just hate wasting our government resources on the ones that don't. We all end up paying for it.
Technical merit? I think not.
They sure didn't tell anyone they were secretly installing Sandvine boxes that nobody had heard of specifically to screw up certain kinds of traffic. They did it in secret. It was subterfuge. A dirty trick. Mischief.
Now that they are found out their story is they are just "managing bandwidth".
Not that I agree with their practices, but since when is a company responsible for letting anyone outside of their organization when they are installing/upgrading/purchasing/etc new hardware? I suppose you'll want notification every time they roll out a new Cisco 3750 or some clown puts a Netgear switch in their cubicle?
People post too much crap about themselves online. Facebook has some decent "security" features about whom can see their profiles, but people tend leave the option checked "anyone in my network" can see my profile without realizing the ramifications. Anyway, yeah, does the FA really surprise anyone???
I don't think it *is* that bad. The worst frequent offense is tailgating, which I deal with by slowly reducing my speed until people get tired of tailgating a sloth, and overtake. At which point I accelerate, overtake *them*, and put some reasonable distance between our cars. I occasionally have to rinse and repeat, but the majority of people get the hint.
The overall standard of driving in the UK is quite high, and I'm always rather impressed by the alacrity with which most people stop and semi-park to allow emergency vehicles past.
The average brit really doesn't suck that much:-)
(Okay, London's a special case) I'm assuming people are tailgating you not because they want to be an asshole, but they want you to get out of the way (driving too slow in the fast lane perhaps?). I am not sure why you would antagonize them.
I haven't done any driving in the UK, but a decent amount in mainland Europe (I am from the US) and have found (at least outside of large cities), the drivers are more aware on the highways and get out of the way if someone comes cruising up in the fast lane. Americans are decidedly stupid when it comes to never leaving the fast lane on the interstates. The larger cities (Madrid, Paris) tend to be more hectic, especially with those crazy roundabouts and the mopeds/motorcycles allowed to drive between lanes of traffic.
Perhaps we should have two graphics cards in the the system now - one that just does desktop type things and one for when real power is required. I would have thought it would be fairly simple to design a motherboard such that it had an internal only slot to accept the latest and greatest 3D accelerator card that suplimented an on board dumb-as-a-brick graphics card.
Heck, I wouldn't mind having a "turbo" button, ala the XTs and 286s to handle what you just described...
Yea, in Europe they have much better connections...but they also get a much bigger profit from the same size network. I helped my in-laws purchase a computer and Internet service 4-5 years ago in Spain. They live in a city around 400k in population. It blew my mind at the time how their DSL subscription worked. It was similar to a cell phone plans in the US.. They had so many "peak" minutes (during the day) and a good bit non-peak during their nights and weekends. And I believe it was only a 128k connection and I remember at the time it was insanely expensive (compared to the ~$45 I was paying for my 3MB/s back in the US). Plus it seemed like they had extra phone leasing charges, etc.
I know they have "unlimited" usage and a flat rate now, but it boggles my mind that most other posts I read on Slashdot regarding European ISPs seems like a much better experience than my in-laws have.
Considering AT&T's 1st quarter PROFIT was over $3 billion, they have more than enough money to work on infrastructure, etc, regardless of golden parachutes and whatnot....
In Slovenia I'm noticing quite a different trend... But maybe we're just being weird here. You're in Europe, that's par for the course. JK, however standards are much higher on the European mainland than elsewhere in the "West". Well, at least in Poland but I assume it's a continental norm.
And for some more anecdotal evidence...
I lived in Belgium in the early 80s and attended a private Canadian School for grades 1 -> 3. We had about 15 kids per class, with two grades consisting of a class. I did very poorly in that system. Most of my grades were at the "c" level. Of course, half the day was taught in French, which I did not know at the time.
However, when we moved back to the US and I started 4th grade (Atlanta, GA), my grades skyrocketed. I was a straight "A" student almost immediately. I tested into the "gifted" program, etc. Quite a difference in my scholastic performance simply moving from Belgium to the US.
On another note, I'm a little surprised that tests, etc appear to be getting easier. It seems like the curriculum is getting more advanced every year. I remember taking my first Algebra course in 8th grade and I was on the "advanced" track. In some areas Algebra is being taught in the 5th and 6th grades.
I was a little kid back in the late 80s. Once an older relative of mine who was in college showed me how he had made a computer connection to the Simtel20 FTP site. He downloaded some games for me. The welcome screen of the FTP site said: "Welcome to White Sand Missile Range, Nevada".
I remember being very impressed and proud at the time thinking that someone in my family could hack into a military site!:-)
It made me want to learn computers even more.
LOL, you didn't hack into a military site. White Sands is in New Mexico...:-P
Yet just last week I had my bodyfat checked at a gym with some electronic device you're supposed to grip. It put me at 24% bodyfat, right within the range it should be. Try taking this measurement at different times of the day. You'll notice quite the swing of numbers if you compare them between morning and evening. Make sure you take your weight/bodyfat% around the same time of day otherwise everything will be skewed.
Check local legislation. Where I live, the government must provide electricity, water, and telephone service to any legal building built, no matter how far into the boondocks it is built. I don't know if the law specifically applies to high-speed internet access, but I'm fairly confident that a good lawyer could make it seem that way. They didn't refuse service. They simply wanted $10k for the installation. I'm pretty sure the other utilities weren't provided for free, but were built into the cost of the house at time of purchase.
This is a no-brainer around here (literally.) Second, if you get stuck in computer operations, it's a dead end, no matter what the corporations will tell you. They give you the run around telling you that operations is a "launch pad" into other areas, but in the end, you just get pigeon-holed and never get noticed, regardless of how many programming languages and platforms you are certified in. A B.S. degree around here is, well, B.S. I would disagree with the "computer operations" statement. I started my career as a 3rd shift Unix (computer) Operator at age 21. Within 5 years I had more than doubled my salary and ended up as an HP-UX Sysadmin (worked my way up to lead operator, production control analyst, backup administrator then jr sysadmin) before I left this company.
It was a "launching pad" as I dealt with nearly every aspect of the company at some point while in that position (sysadmins, DBAs, developers, application support, etc). I was sharp enough to take advantage of all the different systems I had access to and learn as much as possible and worked my way out of that position. I did work with people who had very little ambition and will most likely be Operators for life.
Or maybe your post only applies to computer operations jobs in Ohio.;-)
Slashdot Mirror
Depends if that is NET or GROSS.
I'd say most of the IT "professionals" I deal with are not worth $70k a year.
So, in 6 weeks or so (whenever the heck the Olympics are over) we should expect the price of oil to drop $30-40 a barrel since they won't be worried about looking good any longer???
Have you tried Z-tweaked, or maybe Guru3d? I have always had a better experience with their drivers than anything Nvidia puts out,and there drivers are hacked to let you run them on pretty much anything. And I know that one of them does put out mobile drivers because I accidently downloaded them once when I was in a hurry.
Am I missing something here? Z-tweaked hasn't released drivers since 10/2006 and Guru3d appears to be a review site...
The "visit Cuba" thing is kind of sad, foreigners love to vacation in Cuba and often forget (or don't even care) that these places are can not be enjoyed by the locals.
Sounds a lot like Jamaica....
BTW, I've been playing the closed beta, and I predict this game will be epic fail. The graphics are similar to 2004 era WoW graphics. Bugs and lack of content are everywhere. I love the Warhammer universe, since I grew up playing the tabletop games, and I had high hopes for this franchise, but the game simply fails to deliver. It might have been good if it came out 4 years ago, but people expect a game to have the same polished content upon release that WoW has taken 4 years to add. The market expects an unrealistically high level of polish and content, so pretty much any new challenger is guaranteed to fail unless it's made by Blizzard.
I've been having a lot of fun playing Age of Conan lately. Don't let the haters tell you it sucks. It really is a pretty good game, even though it has bugs. What MMO doesn't?
What's wrong with 2004 era graphics? The #1 MMO seems to do well with them. I have also had the opportunity to take a peek a the WHO beta. I'll say the WOW artistry is more pleasing (graphics are subjective anyway).
I am curious as to what is unpolished from what you have seen so far. At least the lower levels seem to be fleshed out very well. At the same level as AoC, if not better. And Mythic are being up front about content not going to be in release. How is your "PvP" experience so far in AoC? Non-existent, eh? I've been "RvR"ing in WHO since level 4. I guess it's all in what you are looking for in a game.
As you stated, AoC has bugs. I say WHO BETA has fewer bugs than AoC, release +1 month.
Nothing to do with EA
Yeah right. Because EA has never done anything ever to screw over a good franchise they bought. Nope.
I could be mistaken, but it is my understanding if EA did not come in a purchase Mythic, WHO would have been released 6 months ago or so and probably had very similar AoC type launch. That being said, I still don't agree with them launching without having major content ready. At least they are disclosing the information up front and not AFTER 500k people have purchased the game.
I disagree with that. I'd say that "work" would be anything you'd be paid to do (and not fired for doing) in the office. If you do it after hours, it's still work.
I frequently do things after hours that benefit the company I work for. Such as reading.
On the flip side (not saying you are guilty, but most people are), how much screwing off at work do you do? Coffee breaks, smoke breaks, snack breaks, slashdot breaks, chatting with other people, long lunches, coming in late, leaving early, etc....
If people screw off an hour or two every day while in the office, why the heck should they get paid EXTRA for an hour of work while not in the office???
While I appreciate and enjoy the incredible technology that has made the BB possible, these kids need to know there was a good life before BBs and cell phones and 24/7/365 connectivity. I don't want any of it to go away, but all the tech has one common trait - a switch that allows the user to turn them off. And if they don't, take out the damn battery.
Life can be so quiet.......
When was that? Pagers have been around 20+ years now. It's a lot more convenient to have a cell phone/BB with me to call someone back than try to track down a pay phone or landline to call someone back. Or maybe in the 70s and 80s people never had to be called from work after hours? Oh right, they would just call your home phone. I guess if you went on a real vacation, that might be the only time you were truly not reachable in the days before cell phones and pagers...
On a less piratical note, distributing movies on HDD would be interesting. The HDD would be in a study case and easily inserted into the player. The HDD would not have the same data through-put issues the optical media has, but would suffer being less reliable due to the mechanical nature of the HDD. And not as study if you drop it or allow your toddler to gnaw on it while they are teething.
How might this change once Solid State hard drives are "affordable"? Current USB keys, etc?
I can definitely understand that sentiment. I've tried to go back and play it under various emulators (c64/nes/pc vga) within the last few years, but I simply cannot get past the clunky interface. I guess I've gotten spoiled with these new fangled mouse contraptions we have now. If there was a release that had a better keyboard interface I would love to go back and play it through, tiles and all. I loved the music (originally played on a c64) and the exploration. I probably made it 3/4 through the game 2 or 3 times, but damn those 1541 floppy drives corrupting my game data. I have yet to save Lord British and I am determined to do so with this remake.
Yikes, sorry for the babbling...
Just so you all know, the greatest RPGs of all time are:
1. Ultima 5
If you haven't checked it out yet -
http://lazarus.planetdungeonsiege.gamespy.com/
Well worth the time if you enjoyed the original.
Personally, I'm still amazed that, in a nation so plentiful, owing so much of its good fortune to the diversity and quantity of people who just sort of showed up on a boat, so many people have a problem with free immigration.
Absurd and ironic come to mind, but the word which I think best describes this blighted mindset is "disappointing."
I don't mind immigration at all. The problem I have is that many refuse to learn the language, go through the proper steps to obtain a green card/citizenship and pay their taxes like the rest of us do.
With that being said, it doesn't help that system to get the green card/citizenship is a royal PITA. But tens of thousands of immigrants manage to go through it successfully every year. I just hate wasting our government resources on the ones that don't. We all end up paying for it.
Technical merit? I think not. They sure didn't tell anyone they were secretly installing Sandvine boxes that nobody had heard of specifically to screw up certain kinds of traffic. They did it in secret. It was subterfuge. A dirty trick. Mischief. Now that they are found out their story is they are just "managing bandwidth".
Not that I agree with their practices, but since when is a company responsible for letting anyone outside of their organization when they are installing/upgrading/purchasing/etc new hardware? I suppose you'll want notification every time they roll out a new Cisco 3750 or some clown puts a Netgear switch in their cubicle?
People post too much crap about themselves online. Facebook has some decent "security" features about whom can see their profiles, but people tend leave the option checked "anyone in my network" can see my profile without realizing the ramifications. Anyway, yeah, does the FA really surprise anyone???
Firefox 3 spikes my processor(s) to 50% (Centrino Duo) under XP and is impossibly slow to watch. Works fine under IE though.
I haven't done any driving in the UK, but a decent amount in mainland Europe (I am from the US) and have found (at least outside of large cities), the drivers are more aware on the highways and get out of the way if someone comes cruising up in the fast lane. Americans are decidedly stupid when it comes to never leaving the fast lane on the interstates. The larger cities (Madrid, Paris) tend to be more hectic, especially with those crazy roundabouts and the mopeds/motorcycles allowed to drive between lanes of traffic.
Perhaps we should have two graphics cards in the the system now - one that just does desktop type things and one for when real power is required. I would have thought it would be fairly simple to design a motherboard such that it had an internal only slot to accept the latest and greatest 3D accelerator card that suplimented an on board dumb-as-a-brick graphics card.
Heck, I wouldn't mind having a "turbo" button, ala the XTs and 286s to handle what you just described...I know they have "unlimited" usage and a flat rate now, but it boggles my mind that most other posts I read on Slashdot regarding European ISPs seems like a much better experience than my in-laws have.
Considering AT&T's 1st quarter PROFIT was over $3 billion, they have more than enough money to work on infrastructure, etc, regardless of golden parachutes and whatnot....
And for some more anecdotal evidence...
I lived in Belgium in the early 80s and attended a private Canadian School for grades 1 -> 3. We had about 15 kids per class, with two grades consisting of a class. I did very poorly in that system. Most of my grades were at the "c" level. Of course, half the day was taught in French, which I did not know at the time.
However, when we moved back to the US and I started 4th grade (Atlanta, GA), my grades skyrocketed. I was a straight "A" student almost immediately. I tested into the "gifted" program, etc. Quite a difference in my scholastic performance simply moving from Belgium to the US.
On another note, I'm a little surprised that tests, etc appear to be getting easier. It seems like the curriculum is getting more advanced every year. I remember taking my first Algebra course in 8th grade and I was on the "advanced" track. In some areas Algebra is being taught in the 5th and 6th grades.
I remember being very impressed and proud at the time thinking that someone in my family could hack into a military site! :-)
It made me want to learn computers even more.
LOL, you didn't hack into a military site. White Sands is in New Mexico...It was a "launching pad" as I dealt with nearly every aspect of the company at some point while in that position (sysadmins, DBAs, developers, application support, etc). I was sharp enough to take advantage of all the different systems I had access to and learn as much as possible and worked my way out of that position. I did work with people who had very little ambition and will most likely be Operators for life.
Or maybe your post only applies to computer operations jobs in Ohio.