That still goes on...but keep in mind that these days, the boutique showroom has been replaced by sites like gamespot (when it's not posting articles by people describing the "no duh" obvious future of gaming). You can read reviews, check out screenshots, and basically just get an idea of what a game is about before you buy, and maybe somewhere amidst doing all that, you see a link to another game you hadn't even heard about...you follow it and now you're checking out *another* game. Buying doesn't even have to involve travel, it's just a couple of clicks away on amazon (or whereever) and the game is shipped out to you within days. All this talk about "shelf space" is awfully quaint, particularly in an age when almost anything can be shipped to you anyway, and the things you're buying are taken off pallettes in a warehouse, or in many cases you're just downloading the material anyway (like with Steam).
I was a little disappointed with Koster's presentation. Anybody who has had their ear to the ground for at least the last 5 years would know that the game industry has been changing. Of course it's a competitive marketplace. Of course there's always a fight over publisher's money. You know, I'm sure a lot of good movies don't get made, and good books don't get published for the same reason. It's a shame, but it's also a function of competition in a consumer-driven market. Oh, of course people can download content--that's been the case since the days of BBS's--remember the days of shareware? Now the file sizes are bigger, the delivery mechanisms are more sophisticated, but things have changed HOW again?
Anyways, I was the guy trying desperately not to nod off.
I'm in the same boat. Their patch site is reaallllyyy fishy. Usually I would see links to it in random forums along with comments from one-time posters like "I assure you it's 100% safe!" even before somebody raised the issue of security. Plus, a substantial number of virus checkers routinely flag their plugin and even their website as containing viruses. I was quickly scared away.
Many of us know firsthand that activating a Microsoft product can often be an onerous task, but this seems a little suspicious. Assuming that:
1. someone owns a valid Windows license and 2. they're pretty organized and didn't misplace their key and 3. they believe that Microsoft does not collect private information using WGA
then why would circumventing WGA be of use to them? In that situation, is patching a pirated copy of Windows the only realistic use for this trick? Could somebody chime in and suggest *another* use for it?
And you know, many of the more savvy gamers (who don't like to pay money for stupid add-ons) update the rosters manually anyway. It's 100 percent doable on the PC, and I'm told that you can even do it on the XBOX. There is still a cottage industry in providing recent roster and graphics updates for older NBA Live XX, Madden 'XX, and NHL XX games. Google "NBA Live roster update", for example, and you'll see what I mean.
Good question. I can't speak for every other non-stereotypical./ user, but I would imagine that playing Madden would actually create or increase interest in football. The knock on a lot of sports is that "they're more fun to play than they are to watch" (*cough* baseball *cough* *cough*), but in my opinion, actively directing the action in a sports title can sometimes have the effect of turning you into an overnight sports fan.
I had this happen to me. After playing Madden for a few months, I knew the rosters, strengths, and weaknesses of most of the major pro teams. I knew about nickel defenses, running plays, and out patterns. I learned when it was best to do one thing strategically over another, and that information did wonders for me as an armchair quarterback.
Basically, the game turned me into a more knowledgeable football fan, and helped to increase my enjoyment watching the sport on television ten-fold.
Computer skills are not just "good to have," but are absolutely vital these days. That said, laptops in the classroom can often be a mistake.
It might sound like inconsistent heresy, but for many, laptop computers in the classroom are more of a toy than a tool. When I went to law school, laptop computers with wi-fi were the norm. And due to the "stadium seating" in some of the bigger lecture rooms, anybody seated at the back was able to see exactly what the vast majority people were doing on their computers. Instant messaging, buying shoes, playing solitaire--it wasn't a pretty sight. I mention this because it tends to underscore the extent of this problem. After all, these were fellow law students who:
1. Were paying about 100k each for the their seat at the school (or at least somebody was).
2. Are extremely bright
3. Risked a great deal by not paying attention in class
And they nevertheless spent their class time in the worst ways possible. Those are the legal professionals of tomorrow--the people who will be saving your ass from one predictament or another. Do you really want them to not know to file a critical motion or raise a critical defense on your behalf because they found pen and paper to be less entertaining than a laptop years back?
Force-feeding kids on technology doesn't embolden them, it cripples them and teaches them to take technology for granted. If you really want kids to develop computer skills along with a healthy attitude towards technology, you teach them the old-school, "analog" way of doing things first. THEN you introduce the computerized method so that they have an appreciation for what the computer can do to improve their problem-solving.
Poster is right-on. Attacking the way the voting was done when you don't like the result is just jive and sour grapes. The only thing that could be worse is if the fuss is over semantics rather than science. Sorry Scientific Community! Your incredibly petty arguments and infighting have failed to capture the hearts and minds of we mere laymen!
You know, because Lockheed Martin makes the F-16, which has it, and um...Vulcans are also from that show Star Trek and um...the Mars Lander is going into space and um...OK I admit that was a lot of steps to take to get to teh funny. Sorry about that. Cheers!
"And the chair of the committee set up to oversee agreement on a definition implied that the vote had effectively been 'hijacked'"
Shades of Florida 2000 and Ohio 2004? If you're not satisfied with the results of a democratic vote, the answer isn't to piss and moan about it--it's to take steps to ensure that future voting is done legally and judiciously. Plus, if only a small majority of eligible voters participated in the vote, well then who's fault is that? It's the fault of the same people objecting to the reclassification now.
And do you know what low voter turnout is anyway? Business and politics as usual: In many American municipal elections, an absolutely tiny percentage of eligible voters turn out to cast their vote. In my town, a paltry 6 percent of eligible voters voted in the last municipal election to see which butts would fill several empty City Council seats. SIX PERCENT! And this, despite the fact that local representatives have far more to do with how you live your lives on a day to day basis than the President.
I guess what I'm saying is that when you complain about a democratic process that closely mirrors every other democratic process we know about, it makes you look pretty foolish--worse, it makes you look like a bunch of whiny little crybabies who know far more about objects light years away than they do about democratic institutions right here on Earth. Highjacked, indeed.
Slashdot Mirror
http://www.texassports.com/
The upcoming UT - OSU game is a really, really, really big deal in Austin and (if ESPN coverage of it is to be believed) nationwide as well.
That still goes on...but keep in mind that these days, the boutique showroom has been replaced by sites like gamespot (when it's not posting articles by people describing the "no duh" obvious future of gaming). You can read reviews, check out screenshots, and basically just get an idea of what a game is about before you buy, and maybe somewhere amidst doing all that, you see a link to another game you hadn't even heard about...you follow it and now you're checking out *another* game. Buying doesn't even have to involve travel, it's just a couple of clicks away on amazon (or whereever) and the game is shipped out to you within days. All this talk about "shelf space" is awfully quaint, particularly in an age when almost anything can be shipped to you anyway, and the things you're buying are taken off pallettes in a warehouse, or in many cases you're just downloading the material anyway (like with Steam).
I was a little disappointed with Koster's presentation. Anybody who has had their ear to the ground for at least the last 5 years would know that the game industry has been changing. Of course it's a competitive marketplace. Of course there's always a fight over publisher's money. You know, I'm sure a lot of good movies don't get made, and good books don't get published for the same reason. It's a shame, but it's also a function of competition in a consumer-driven market. Oh, of course people can download content--that's been the case since the days of BBS's--remember the days of shareware? Now the file sizes are bigger, the delivery mechanisms are more sophisticated, but things have changed HOW again?
Anyways, I was the guy trying desperately not to nod off.
Attendee 1: "What's all that yelling outside?"
Attendee 2: "I don't know, but do you hear those horns honking?!"
Attendee 1: "Yes, it's almost like they're trying to celebrate something. But what...what could it be?"
Attendee 2: "I have no idea. Anyways, let's get back to focusing on how this talking head says we'll all be jobless soon."
I'm in the same boat. Their patch site is reaallllyyy fishy. Usually I would see links to it in random forums along with comments from one-time posters like "I assure you it's 100% safe!" even before somebody raised the issue of security. Plus, a substantial number of virus checkers routinely flag their plugin and even their website as containing viruses. I was quickly scared away.
Many of us know firsthand that activating a Microsoft product can often be an onerous task, but this seems a little suspicious. Assuming that:
1. someone owns a valid Windows license and
2. they're pretty organized and didn't misplace their key and
3. they believe that Microsoft does not collect private information using WGA
then why would circumventing WGA be of use to them? In that situation, is patching a pirated copy of Windows the only realistic use for this trick? Could somebody chime in and suggest *another* use for it?
And you know, many of the more savvy gamers (who don't like to pay money for stupid add-ons) update the rosters manually anyway. It's 100 percent doable on the PC, and I'm told that you can even do it on the XBOX. There is still a cottage industry in providing recent roster and graphics updates for older NBA Live XX, Madden 'XX, and NHL XX games. Google "NBA Live roster update", for example, and you'll see what I mean.
Good question. I can't speak for every other non-stereotypical ./ user, but I would imagine that playing Madden would actually create or increase interest in football. The knock on a lot of sports is that "they're more fun to play than they are to watch" (*cough* baseball *cough* *cough*), but in my opinion, actively directing the action in a sports title can sometimes have the effect of turning you into an overnight sports fan.
I had this happen to me. After playing Madden for a few months, I knew the rosters, strengths, and weaknesses of most of the major pro teams. I knew about nickel defenses, running plays, and out patterns. I learned when it was best to do one thing strategically over another, and that information did wonders for me as an armchair quarterback.
Basically, the game turned me into a more knowledgeable football fan, and helped to increase my enjoyment watching the sport on television ten-fold.
Sure, but first let's fight about whether the unit of currency should be called a dollar or a buck. ;) Will you take a cashier's check or money order?
Computer skills are not just "good to have," but are absolutely vital these days. That said, laptops in the classroom can often be a mistake.
It might sound like inconsistent heresy, but for many, laptop computers in the classroom are more of a toy than a tool. When I went to law school, laptop computers with wi-fi were the norm. And due to the "stadium seating" in some of the bigger lecture rooms, anybody seated at the back was able to see exactly what the vast majority people were doing on their computers. Instant messaging, buying shoes, playing solitaire--it wasn't a pretty sight. I mention this because it tends to underscore the extent of this problem. After all, these were fellow law students who:
1. Were paying about 100k each for the their seat at the school (or at least somebody was).
2. Are extremely bright
3. Risked a great deal by not paying attention in class
And they nevertheless spent their class time in the worst ways possible. Those are the legal professionals of tomorrow--the people who will be saving your ass from one predictament or another. Do you really want them to not know to file a critical motion or raise a critical defense on your behalf because they found pen and paper to be less entertaining than a laptop years back?
Force-feeding kids on technology doesn't embolden them, it cripples them and teaches them to take technology for granted. If you really want kids to develop computer skills along with a healthy attitude towards technology, you teach them the old-school, "analog" way of doing things first. THEN you introduce the computerized method so that they have an appreciation for what the computer can do to improve their problem-solving.
Poster is right-on. Attacking the way the voting was done when you don't like the result is just jive and sour grapes. The only thing that could be worse is if the fuss is over semantics rather than science. Sorry Scientific Community! Your incredibly petty arguments and infighting have failed to capture the hearts and minds of we mere laymen!
You know, because Lockheed Martin makes the F-16, which has it, and um...Vulcans are also from that show Star Trek and um...the Mars Lander is going into space and um...OK I admit that was a lot of steps to take to get to teh funny. Sorry about that. Cheers!
FTA:
"And the chair of the committee set up to oversee agreement on a definition implied that the vote had effectively been 'hijacked'"
Shades of Florida 2000 and Ohio 2004? If you're not satisfied with the results of a democratic vote, the answer isn't to piss and moan about it--it's to take steps to ensure that future voting is done legally and judiciously. Plus, if only a small majority of eligible voters participated in the vote, well then who's fault is that? It's the fault of the same people objecting to the reclassification now.
And do you know what low voter turnout is anyway? Business and politics as usual: In many American municipal elections, an absolutely tiny percentage of eligible voters turn out to cast their vote. In my town, a paltry 6 percent of eligible voters voted in the last municipal election to see which butts would fill several empty City Council seats. SIX PERCENT! And this, despite the fact that local representatives have far more to do with how you live your lives on a day to day basis than the President.
I guess what I'm saying is that when you complain about a democratic process that closely mirrors every other democratic process we know about, it makes you look pretty foolish--worse, it makes you look like a bunch of whiny little crybabies who know far more about objects light years away than they do about democratic institutions right here on Earth. Highjacked, indeed.