I'm a Canadian, and a problem I see with American voters is that a good portion of the population take their vote for granted. Americans in general live a good life, and therefore they don't have as much a stake in keeping informed about the choices their vote provides them. It bugs me when I see that people can't be bothered to vote for one reason or another, simply out of apathy. It's simply too much effort for them.
I've watched as you Americans have had one civil liberty after another stripped away from you, and can't believe you've put up with it. Your politicians work less than a 100 days in the year, the rest of the time they spend raising election funds. The funds they collect are from big business, and those big businesses write the laws passed in your government. You let your government get away with passing nasty legislation that is packaged with legislation for paying your troops or what have you.
You either vote Republican, vote Democrat, or don't vote at all. If someone votes for someone who is not a democrat or republican they are smeared as wasting their votes. It's a comfortable position for big business, since they only need to make payoffs to candidates in two parties.
I wish more Americans would put some thought into their vote, instead of taking their democracy for granted.
A good defense the parents could employ would be to suggest that the children created the defaming website during school time while they were under the supervision of the vice principal, thereby implying that she was negligent and contributed to her own lible.
I wonder if he could explain his ability/technique for memorizing the digits of PI, or if anyone has studied him. Maybe he has some intuitive insight into the number, that allows him to do this feat. It is incredible that he can memorize PI to this precision. I find it hard to comprehend that he could do this without some kind of strategy.
If there is a technique that could be explained, then perhaps it could be applied to the field of mathematics, or put into a computer algorithm.
I find it funny that the One Armed Bandits found in any casino are way more secured and auditable than these diebold machines. The slot machines have to go through a much greater rigour of testing. It seems the sactity of the voting machines is not as important as the reliability of a slot machine.
I'm from Canada, and I have to admit to being amazed at the complacency of American voters when it comes to their democracy. I'm amazed at the numbers of people who either don't vote, or vote for a party because their family has always voted for it, or have a complacency on how their votes are collected. I truly think the majority of Americans take their democracy for granted (Slashdotters excepted).
To digress and rant a bit, I'm trying to remember a Roman quote that goes along the lines of "Keep the population adequately fed and entertained and they will lack the will to rise up in revolt."
From this Canadian's perspective this seems to apply to a lot of Americans. I'm surprised that there is not more uproar on issues such as telephone calls being tapped, weapons of mass destruction, accountability of your teflon president where he exceeds the authority granted in your constitution, secret cia torture camps, the FOX propoganda network, The digital millenium copyright act, etc...
I do like americans (the average americans), they are very much like us. Canadians are considered a complacement, easy going bunch, but even I find it amazing what the american population currently accepts from their government.
What I worry about is there being 32 and 64 bit versions of Vista. I think it just confuses the market. I use the computer for software development, business, media editing, and gaming. I would like to get the 64 bit version of Windows Vista for the expanded memory capability, and the signed drivers. What scares me away though is the fact that there is a 32 bit version of Vista.
Are the people who make my development software, business software, media software, and games going to develop their products for both versions of the operating system? Will I have to worry about compatibility issues? If my current library of software, hardware, and games work with the 32-bit version of the Vista operating system will they also work with the 64 bit version?
Can we really expect hardware manufacturers to make top quality drivers for both the 32 and 64 bit versions of Vista? Will it take longer for hardware manufacturers to produce drivers now since they have to provide two versions? Why didn't microsoft make a single unified driver model for the 32/64 bit versions of Vista? As I understand it, Apple has done this.
I wish they had just made a 64 bit version of Vista, and focused on giving it a good Windows on Windows emulation for 32 bit apps and backwards compatibility. The only reason I can see for having a 32-bit version of the OS is because Intel currently ships Core 2 Duo chips that are only 32-bits.
Usually I've always upgraded to the latest version of windows as soon as it was released to retail, but I intend to wait several months before I make a purchase. Now I feel forced to wait until I hear all reviews about compatibility and stability, and opinion articles about 32 bit versus 64 bit. I plan to buy a whole new machine to ensure full compatibility with the new OS and to take advantage of it's high end features.
I like a lot of what I've seen about the architecture of Windows Vista and the new features they have added, what I don't like is the uncertainty of the compatibility. If I buy the 64 bit version of Vista will I be screwed by compatibility issues, and slow hardware driver releases? Will I be able to play my games or am I buying a Beta machine?
I'm not one for flaming people, but you sound like a bit of a nut. To say that parents cause their kids cancers by "sucking on them", as opposed to environmental factors is ridiculous and dangerously ignorant. You sound like you come straight out of the dark ages. I bet you miss the days when you could have a good old witch burning.
Sorry if my flaming burns you at the stake.
I thought Intel chips now supported AMD's 64 bit extensions. I just checked the facts, and I'm shocked to see you are right. Intel won't have the 64 bit extensions until their Sossamon release of the Core chip.
As an aside, I can't understand why Microsoft would bother with a 32 bit version of MS Vista anyways. All the CPUs sold now (and for a long time) have been 64 bit anyhow. I can't help but think that there would only be a small percent of people out there with 32bit machines willing to upgrade anyways.
Why would someone want to be limited by 4GB of memory of which you can only use about 3GB? Why should you have to depend on manufacturers to produce two sets of hardware drivers for each platform(Apple handled this better I believe)? Why should the user have to worry about problems like HD playback?
I think Microsoft is just creating confusion in the market place by releasing a 32bit and 64bit operating system. They should just work on the 64 bit distribution and spend the other resources on getting a single quality product out, with proper Windows on Windows emulation for backwards compatibility.
I'd be interested to hear if some of you plan to goto 32-bit Vista.
Cheers.
When religious groups say there is no Evolutionary process just "Intelligent Design", aren't they really saying that God is not smart/powerful enough to kick off the process of Evolution that created mankind?
I can't help but think they are overly obsessed with the Adam and Eve story. Do they really believe women were made from a piece of rib, and that the bump in a man's throat is the remnants of an apple?
I think they lack faith in Gods abilities, when they ignore science.
Cheers
Piracy not the problem, DRM and Intel Graphics are
on
Piracy Killing PC Gaming?
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Since I was a kid with a Commodore 64, there has always been prevalent pirating (I used to copy commodore 64 games as a kid, cause my allowance didn't allow me to buy them). The piracy rate has been consistent over the years. The gaming industry thrived despite the piracy.
What has changed, at least for me, is the use of invasive DRM. I always try to find out what kind of DRM is used on the games I buy, and it has become a major part of my buying decision. I buy all the games I own, I do not pirate them. Therefore, I hate being treated as a thief. I hate having my machine compromised by the malware they call DRM, like the starforce drivers. I hate having to use activation codes to use my game. I hate having my CD/DVD drive burn out, because the game keeps it constantly spinning to ensure I have the disk in the machine. If I'm done with a game, I want to be able to transfer the rights to the game to a friend or a used game store, just like a book. I don't want to have it tied to me forever.
I love PC Gaming, but I hate the road blocks that the industry has put in the way of me enjoying a game. I think part of the reason Console gaming has become more popular is that you put the game in the machine and it works, you don't have to enter codes to get it to work, or any of that other crap. DRM does not stop pirates; it just inconveniences, and infuriates legitimate users.
The other problem with PC gaming is the majority of people out in the world are not PC enthusiasts, like slashdot's readers. When they buy a PC they look at the implied speed of the processor, and that's it. They'll buy a dual core processor machine, but not realize that it contains an Intel graphics chipset (used by 40 percent of the market). When they then buy a game for their new PC, they are disappointed by poor graphics, poor performance, and a poor experience. When these same people buy a game console, they get a gauranteed gaming experience, that you can't get with a PC. Perhaps the ATI/AMD merger will improve this situation.
Combine Intel Graphics with DRM, and it's no wonder PC Gaming is declining. People who can afford games, but choose to pirate them will not change their stripes. The game industry is so focused on turning these people into paying customers, that they are alienating their legitimate paying customers.
That's my rant for the day.
Cheers.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm a Canadian, and a problem I see with American voters is that a good portion of the population take their vote for granted. Americans in general live a good life, and therefore they don't have as much a stake in keeping informed about the choices their vote provides them. It bugs me when I see that people can't be bothered to vote for one reason or another, simply out of apathy. It's simply too much effort for them.
I've watched as you Americans have had one civil liberty after another stripped away from you, and can't believe you've put up with it. Your politicians work less than a 100 days in the year, the rest of the time they spend raising election funds. The funds they collect are from big business, and those big businesses write the laws passed in your government. You let your government get away with passing nasty legislation that is packaged with legislation for paying your troops or what have you.
You either vote Republican, vote Democrat, or don't vote at all. If someone votes for someone who is not a democrat or republican they are smeared as wasting their votes. It's a comfortable position for big business, since they only need to make payoffs to candidates in two parties.
I wish more Americans would put some thought into their vote, instead of taking their democracy for granted.
A good defense the parents could employ would be to suggest that the children created the defaming website during school time while they were under the supervision of the vice principal, thereby implying that she was negligent and contributed to her own lible.
I wonder if he could explain his ability/technique for memorizing the digits of PI, or if anyone has studied him. Maybe he has some intuitive insight into the number, that allows him to do this feat. It is incredible that he can memorize PI to this precision. I find it hard to comprehend that he could do this without some kind of strategy.
If there is a technique that could be explained, then perhaps it could be applied to the field of mathematics, or put into a computer algorithm.
I find it funny that the One Armed Bandits found in any casino are way more secured and auditable than these diebold machines. The slot machines have to go through a much greater rigour of testing. It seems the sactity of the voting machines is not as important as the reliability of a slot machine.
I'm from Canada, and I have to admit to being amazed at the complacency of American voters when it comes to their democracy. I'm amazed at the numbers of people who either don't vote, or vote for a party because their family has always voted for it, or have a complacency on how their votes are collected. I truly think the majority of Americans take their democracy for granted (Slashdotters excepted).
To digress and rant a bit, I'm trying to remember a Roman quote that goes along the lines of "Keep the population adequately fed and entertained and they will lack the will to rise up in revolt."
From this Canadian's perspective this seems to apply to a lot of Americans. I'm surprised that there is not more uproar on issues such as telephone calls being tapped, weapons of mass destruction, accountability of your teflon president where he exceeds the authority granted in your constitution, secret cia torture camps, the FOX propoganda network, The digital millenium copyright act, etc...
I do like americans (the average americans), they are very much like us. Canadians are considered a complacement, easy going bunch, but even I find it amazing what the american population currently accepts from their government.
What I worry about is there being 32 and 64 bit versions of Vista. I think it just confuses the market. I use the computer for software development, business, media editing, and gaming. I would like to get the 64 bit version of Windows Vista for the expanded memory capability, and the signed drivers. What scares me away though is the fact that there is a 32 bit version of Vista.
Are the people who make my development software, business software, media software, and games going to develop their products for both versions of the operating system? Will I have to worry about compatibility issues? If my current library of software, hardware, and games work with the 32-bit version of the Vista operating system will they also work with the 64 bit version?
Can we really expect hardware manufacturers to make top quality drivers for both the 32 and 64 bit versions of Vista? Will it take longer for hardware manufacturers to produce drivers now since they have to provide two versions? Why didn't microsoft make a single unified driver model for the 32/64 bit versions of Vista? As I understand it, Apple has done this.
I wish they had just made a 64 bit version of Vista, and focused on giving it a good Windows on Windows emulation for 32 bit apps and backwards compatibility. The only reason I can see for having a 32-bit version of the OS is because Intel currently ships Core 2 Duo chips that are only 32-bits.
Usually I've always upgraded to the latest version of windows as soon as it was released to retail, but I intend to wait several months before I make a purchase. Now I feel forced to wait until I hear all reviews about compatibility and stability, and opinion articles about 32 bit versus 64 bit. I plan to buy a whole new machine to ensure full compatibility with the new OS and to take advantage of it's high end features.
I like a lot of what I've seen about the architecture of Windows Vista and the new features they have added, what I don't like is the uncertainty of the compatibility. If I buy the 64 bit version of Vista will I be screwed by compatibility issues, and slow hardware driver releases? Will I be able to play my games or am I buying a Beta machine?
I'm not one for flaming people, but you sound like a bit of a nut. To say that parents cause their kids cancers by "sucking on them", as opposed to environmental factors is ridiculous and dangerously ignorant. You sound like you come straight out of the dark ages. I bet you miss the days when you could have a good old witch burning. Sorry if my flaming burns you at the stake.
I thought Intel chips now supported AMD's 64 bit extensions. I just checked the facts, and I'm shocked to see you are right. Intel won't have the 64 bit extensions until their Sossamon release of the Core chip.
Cheers.
As an aside, I can't understand why Microsoft would bother with a 32 bit version of MS Vista anyways. All the CPUs sold now (and for a long time) have been 64 bit anyhow. I can't help but think that there would only be a small percent of people out there with 32bit machines willing to upgrade anyways.
Why would someone want to be limited by 4GB of memory of which you can only use about 3GB? Why should you have to depend on manufacturers to produce two sets of hardware drivers for each platform(Apple handled this better I believe)? Why should the user have to worry about problems like HD playback?
I think Microsoft is just creating confusion in the market place by releasing a 32bit and 64bit operating system. They should just work on the 64 bit distribution and spend the other resources on getting a single quality product out, with proper Windows on Windows emulation for backwards compatibility.
I'd be interested to hear if some of you plan to goto 32-bit Vista. Cheers.
When religious groups say there is no Evolutionary process just "Intelligent Design", aren't they really saying that God is not smart/powerful enough to kick off the process of Evolution that created mankind?
I can't help but think they are overly obsessed with the Adam and Eve story. Do they really believe women were made from a piece of rib, and that the bump in a man's throat is the remnants of an apple?
I think they lack faith in Gods abilities, when they ignore science.
Cheers
Since I was a kid with a Commodore 64, there has always been prevalent pirating (I used to copy commodore 64 games as a kid, cause my allowance didn't allow me to buy them). The piracy rate has been consistent over the years. The gaming industry thrived despite the piracy. What has changed, at least for me, is the use of invasive DRM. I always try to find out what kind of DRM is used on the games I buy, and it has become a major part of my buying decision. I buy all the games I own, I do not pirate them. Therefore, I hate being treated as a thief. I hate having my machine compromised by the malware they call DRM, like the starforce drivers. I hate having to use activation codes to use my game. I hate having my CD/DVD drive burn out, because the game keeps it constantly spinning to ensure I have the disk in the machine. If I'm done with a game, I want to be able to transfer the rights to the game to a friend or a used game store, just like a book. I don't want to have it tied to me forever. I love PC Gaming, but I hate the road blocks that the industry has put in the way of me enjoying a game. I think part of the reason Console gaming has become more popular is that you put the game in the machine and it works, you don't have to enter codes to get it to work, or any of that other crap. DRM does not stop pirates; it just inconveniences, and infuriates legitimate users. The other problem with PC gaming is the majority of people out in the world are not PC enthusiasts, like slashdot's readers. When they buy a PC they look at the implied speed of the processor, and that's it. They'll buy a dual core processor machine, but not realize that it contains an Intel graphics chipset (used by 40 percent of the market). When they then buy a game for their new PC, they are disappointed by poor graphics, poor performance, and a poor experience. When these same people buy a game console, they get a gauranteed gaming experience, that you can't get with a PC. Perhaps the ATI/AMD merger will improve this situation. Combine Intel Graphics with DRM, and it's no wonder PC Gaming is declining. People who can afford games, but choose to pirate them will not change their stripes. The game industry is so focused on turning these people into paying customers, that they are alienating their legitimate paying customers. That's my rant for the day. Cheers.