it would only be ok if assassin's creed is also released for the 360. that is, assuming the game that gets released has anything to do with the trailer.
it may not be the best comparison, but it's also not that far off. microsoft has put media center capabilities into the xbox 360. it can play and stream video and audio from its hard drive. the ps3 is rumored to be able record and pause tv, which is basically the definition of pvr. both microsoft and sony are trying to leverage games to let them have more control over the living room.
for it to be a console, you'd have to be able to play lots of current games on it. you can play some games on a mac, but not nearly enough for someone that plays games regularly. mac could conceivably get there in the future, but isn't there just yet.
i would not entirely dispute that. faith is not logic. but logic is not the only good way to reason. logic or faith, void entirely of the other, would be a lesser form of reasoning than when one is tempered or outright blended with the other. there are definately times when one is more appropriate than the other. i dispute that my faith goes against being able to reason logically. that's really all.
i would say that faith is more personal than simply being told something and accepting it. even within the same congregation, people have different ideas of deity. in the most extreme sense, someone originates a particular flavor of belief system. while there is usually not concrete physical evidence people must decide for themselves what is valid. people must choose where they put their faith, if anywhere. there are those who simply believe whatever they are told and never question or explore on their own. they often seem to treat their politics the same as their religion.
logic and critical thinking are important. i believe they serve to enhance the faith of those who seek a truth for themselves rather than a comfort.
i agree with you on those types of bush supporters, though. i agree that there are some very vocal religious people that handle their beliefs as you have illustrated. i agree with your post with the exception of this statement:
my point is that to believe in a god requires you to dispatch all logical thought and arbitrarily assume that this abstract concept you've never sensed, measured, or tested in any manner is the answer to any given problem you're facing.
ideally logical thought should continue regardless of one's beliefs. sadly it doesn't play out. as i see it, truth is more important than belief. if belief remains unchallenged, there can be no progress. that doesn't mean belief is bad, it just shouldn't be left alone. either something is true or it isn't. challenging a belief allows a person to adjust their beliefs for a reason other than something completely arbitrary.
and as a side, the above quote is why i claimed you didn't believe in God. i extrapolated that since you thought that way, you probably weren't including yourself in the group of those who had abandoned logic. sorry if i misread. i didn't mean to point you out as a heretic.* i meant that i really don't care if you believe the same thing as me, only that you'd be willing to admit someone can be logical about their beliefs even if they are religious.
*heretic is such a strong word, and i see specific religious beliefs as so personal that i cannot think of a time when its use would truly be appropriate. it's good for making jokes about people who don't use [pet OS] or the like, but that's about it.
Religion is a crutch for people who want to know the "why" of something but don't want to go to all the trouble of following the "how" backwards long enough to get a real answer. People wouldn't be religious if they were clear, critical thinkers because the idea of making non-time-sensitive judgements on faith is an absurd thing born of ignorance and fear.
that is not a very insightful statement.
to your credit, there are a lot of people out there using religion as a crutch, or a way to avoid having to probe for answers. i say someone is not a critical thinker if they refuse to look into things or challenge their beliefs. also i would say someone lacked critical thinking if they refused to examine anything that might alter their perception of the world. for those people your statement is true.
it is entirely different to state that anyone who is religious is automatically lacking in mental activity simply becase they believe in something religious. religious beliefs don't necessarily mean throwing everything else out the window.
to turn it around, it is not at all a display of mental acumen to insist that there is absolutely no such thing as a deity. yes, the things observed and tested can be learned, but if someone has already made up their mind no matter what happens, they are closing their mind off to something simply because their life is easier that way. it will color the conclusions they reach just as it would people unwilling to challenge the doctrines of their church.
the "real answer" you mention is somewhat misleading. if we go back far enough, we get theories (of which one is likely true or at least highly accurate, though i don't know which) about how the big bang. this is an accepted starting point for the universe. it answers the question about where the universe came from, but doesn't quite go back to the origin of all things. there were probably events before the big bang, but we can't really study them now. that energy and mass had to come from something though. i don't mean this to belittle scientific discovery, because i don't think it belittles it at all. it is pretty damn spanky that we can detect the aftereffects of something that happened so long ago. all i mean is that all answers lead to new questions.
i write this as someone who believes in God but does not feel threatened at all by the existence of evolution or DNA or any of the other scientific discoveries that have been made. i don't see how trying to understand the universe from a scientific standpoint is at all antogonistic to my belief that there is a God or vice versa.
it doesn't bother me that you think i'm wrong about the existence of God. it bothers me that you can be very logical, but in a few cases such as this you sometimes resort to overgeneralization based on the actions of some.
you prove you own a downloaded version by having a steam account, which is necessary to download in the first place. you log in as yourself. valve has a record of your purchases.
maya complete - $2000 maya unlimited - $7000 3ds max - $3500 character studio - $1000
maya complete doesn't have all of the features of 3ds max. in order to get it all, you need to get maya unlimited, which is thousands more than max, even if you add in character studio. also, they have different strengths, weaknesses and workflows. people should get whatever suits them. any person who prefers one program can point out the feature their package has or what's lacking in another.
if someone's going to pirate one, it is just as easy to pirate the other, so that argument doesn't really mean much. discreet makes gmax, which can be used to make models for game mods.
a machine would be capable of saying it with fewer words, but the architect is also trying to influence neo with the way he presents the information. being direct wouldn't have helped his cause.
maybe online play doesn't matter to you, but i'd say that online play matters a LOT to most gamers. if not "most" it is certainly safe to classify it as "millions."
they've been working on this for 5 years. it's easy to say how long YOU think it should take them to rewrite parts that were stolen. you don't have to rewrite it. you don't even know what it is they have to re-implement.
anyway, we still haven't heard from valve. before we re-invent all of their intentions, why don't we read what valve has to say about this?
which still means more profit for the industry. i didn't say the consumer would be the beneficiary of the cost savings. if manufacturers decide to start making them and hype them, people will buy them (as long as they don't make the price silly).
everything needed for basic computing is on the motherboard, but once someone wants to use their computer for something specialized, it is not included.
for example: high end sound or studio sound is not included on the motherboard. i'm talking about sound cards with at least eight analog ins and outs and more than one midi port. these also work as firewire sometimes, so you may have covered it. another example is any kind of dongle card required for special applications like 3D or the sound program operating the first example.
just because most people don't need it, doesn't mean it's not needed. those who do will have the option while those that don't can get smaller form factor stuff.
even if the bandwidth of PCI express isn't needed, it may come down to cost. if PCI express meets it's goals, a PCI express card will cost the same or less than a legacy PCI card with the same functionality. 64 bit PCI doesn't have the same cost benefit.
of course, this is just theory until PCI express cards are in production and are in fact cheaper.
i believe i'm around then. if not it's my loss since i'm guessing you won't be around much for a while after that.
i'm 2 months out from my wedding and i'm getting pretty excited about that. i imagine being 8 days from it is just crazy. i'll be there before i know it, though.
so hopefully you've already got all of the major wedding plan pieces in order, right?;)
hey there rashan. i'm going to download it tonight from fileshack. i won't be around much tonight, but i'll try to hang around aim a little more this weekend in case you want to get some game on. (i played the test for the first time last weekend. i'm terrible).
this article discusses this very issue. they expected some things to be very easy that were difficult (network, sound) and some things that were expected to be difficult were easy (balance). xbox is unique hardware because of the sound system and graphics. they also needed to re-create a lot of the artwork because the PC has a much higher resolution than a television.
but still probably easier than porting a PS2 game to PC.
thanks for the links. i'm one of the people trying to help man or astroman? make money when they tour. almost sad to see where it all goes. hopefully they fare better on CD sales than numbers you see in albini's article. i've supported mr albini's music through CD purchases, but never had a chance to see him live. i found it interesting that MoA? says they make some more money on smaller shows.
i know some guys who only make money making music because they're in multiple bands and recording things in their own studios. then there's almost always a tour because there are so many bands to be in.
my original point was that many bands don't make money off of CD sales, like what steve albini was saying, and that they have to tour if they want to make any money they have to do some touring. i stand by that, but i've learned that sometimes that doesn't work either. so i guess if i want to keep hearing music i like, i'll have to keep going to shows and keep buying CDs, because i won't hear it on the radio.
it seems like you like to argue. that's ok. this is slashdot, so i have to take your numbers (5 out of 44 will make a profit) with a grain of salt because i don't know where these numbers come from. maybe you have real inside information, but i don't know that. you could be heavily involved in a music scene. it could be your job. or you could just some guy with some distant connection to the music business. i could make up numbers, but they would be meaningless because i have not asked specific dollar amounts when i've talked to people. (i don't think it the fan's place to ask accounting questions.) just giving numbers does not make them meaningful. maybe it's foolish of me to believe what bands say about making money. like i said, i don't think it applies to everyone. not every tour makes money. all i know is i've talked to bands after shows and read interviews where musicians have said they would make any money if they didn't tour constantly. they say it's hard work, but it's worth it because they get to do what they love and have contact with the fans. the bands that i listen to are not in the top 100.
if you're hearing a different story, that just says to me that not everyone makes money touring and that showbusiness is tough. if you disagree, i agree we can do that. if you can give numbers that prove something other than conjecture, i would be enlightened by them. but just you listing numbers and saying they are credible doesn't mean anything.
my statement is based on conversations i've had with musicians who were on tour. i figure they know what they're talking about, but adding onomatopoeia to your argument makes you more correct and me more wrong.
to make money, the tour has to be managed well, which not every small label is capable of for every band. there are both indy acts and some big name artists on majors have to tour to make money. i'm not saying every tour makes money. i'm saying that many bands don't actually make money until they go on tour. there is a sort of barrier for bands to get passed sometimes, but bands in that situation usually not making money on any portion of their musical endeavors until they cross that threshhold.
Surely the freely downloadable version doesn't have all the same features as the 5-figure pro version, just hidden away behind a software lock.
absolutely correct. no matter how much software cracking you do, your soundcard will not turn into a pro audio interface. compare the onboard realtek audio to these interfaces driven by this extra sound hardware.
Slashdot Mirror
it would only be ok if assassin's creed is also released for the 360. that is, assuming the game that gets released has anything to do with the trailer.
it may not be the best comparison, but it's also not that far off. microsoft has put media center capabilities into the xbox 360. it can play and stream video and audio from its hard drive. the ps3 is rumored to be able record and pause tv, which is basically the definition of pvr. both microsoft and sony are trying to leverage games to let them have more control over the living room.
for it to be a console, you'd have to be able to play lots of current games on it. you can play some games on a mac, but not nearly enough for someone that plays games regularly. mac could conceivably get there in the future, but isn't there just yet.
i would not entirely dispute that. faith is not logic. but logic is not the only good way to reason. logic or faith, void entirely of the other, would be a lesser form of reasoning than when one is tempered or outright blended with the other. there are definately times when one is more appropriate than the other. i dispute that my faith goes against being able to reason logically. that's really all.
i would say that faith is more personal than simply being told something and accepting it. even within the same congregation, people have different ideas of deity. in the most extreme sense, someone originates a particular flavor of belief system. while there is usually not concrete physical evidence people must decide for themselves what is valid. people must choose where they put their faith, if anywhere. there are those who simply believe whatever they are told and never question or explore on their own. they often seem to treat their politics the same as their religion.
logic and critical thinking are important. i believe they serve to enhance the faith of those who seek a truth for themselves rather than a comfort.
i agree with you on those types of bush supporters, though. i agree that there are some very vocal religious people that handle their beliefs as you have illustrated. i agree with your post with the exception of this statement:
my point is that to believe in a god requires you to dispatch all logical thought and arbitrarily assume that this abstract concept you've never sensed, measured, or tested in any manner is the answer to any given problem you're facing.
ideally logical thought should continue regardless of one's beliefs. sadly it doesn't play out. as i see it, truth is more important than belief. if belief remains unchallenged, there can be no progress. that doesn't mean belief is bad, it just shouldn't be left alone. either something is true or it isn't. challenging a belief allows a person to adjust their beliefs for a reason other than something completely arbitrary.
and as a side, the above quote is why i claimed you didn't believe in God. i extrapolated that since you thought that way, you probably weren't including yourself in the group of those who had abandoned logic. sorry if i misread. i didn't mean to point you out as a heretic.* i meant that i really don't care if you believe the same thing as me, only that you'd be willing to admit someone can be logical about their beliefs even if they are religious.
*heretic is such a strong word, and i see specific religious beliefs as so personal that i cannot think of a time when its use would truly be appropriate. it's good for making jokes about people who don't use [pet OS] or the like, but that's about it.
Religion is a crutch for people who want to know the "why" of something but don't want to go to all the trouble of following the "how" backwards long enough to get a real answer. People wouldn't be religious if they were clear, critical thinkers because the idea of making non-time-sensitive judgements on faith is an absurd thing born of ignorance and fear.
that is not a very insightful statement.
to your credit, there are a lot of people out there using religion as a crutch, or a way to avoid having to probe for answers. i say someone is not a critical thinker if they refuse to look into things or challenge their beliefs. also i would say someone lacked critical thinking if they refused to examine anything that might alter their perception of the world. for those people your statement is true.
it is entirely different to state that anyone who is religious is automatically lacking in mental activity simply becase they believe in something religious. religious beliefs don't necessarily mean throwing everything else out the window.
to turn it around, it is not at all a display of mental acumen to insist that there is absolutely no such thing as a deity. yes, the things observed and tested can be learned, but if someone has already made up their mind no matter what happens, they are closing their mind off to something simply because their life is easier that way. it will color the conclusions they reach just as it would people unwilling to challenge the doctrines of their church.
the "real answer" you mention is somewhat misleading. if we go back far enough, we get theories (of which one is likely true or at least highly accurate, though i don't know which) about how the big bang. this is an accepted starting point for the universe. it answers the question about where the universe came from, but doesn't quite go back to the origin of all things. there were probably events before the big bang, but we can't really study them now. that energy and mass had to come from something though. i don't mean this to belittle scientific discovery, because i don't think it belittles it at all. it is pretty damn spanky that we can detect the aftereffects of something that happened so long ago. all i mean is that all answers lead to new questions.
i write this as someone who believes in God but does not feel threatened at all by the existence of evolution or DNA or any of the other scientific discoveries that have been made. i don't see how trying to understand the universe from a scientific standpoint is at all antogonistic to my belief that there is a God or vice versa.
it doesn't bother me that you think i'm wrong about the existence of God. it bothers me that you can be very logical, but in a few cases such as this you sometimes resort to overgeneralization based on the actions of some.
halle berry is a lot more than just a pretty face. the rest of her is equally as easy to look at. that's at least as important as her pretty face.
what does eq2 have to do with hl2 or the ps2?
you can install it on as many machines as you want, but you can only use one at a time. that's part of the point of online validation.
e red.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=10&p_creat ed=1092152126&p_sid=8Q8hbfrh&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoP SZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD0yNjI mcF9wYWdlPTE*&p_li=
http://steampowered.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/steampow
you prove you own a downloaded version by having a steam account, which is necessary to download in the first place. you log in as yourself. valve has a record of your purchases.
maya complete - $2000
maya unlimited - $7000
3ds max - $3500
character studio - $1000
maya complete doesn't have all of the features of 3ds max. in order to get it all, you need to get maya unlimited, which is thousands more than max, even if you add in character studio. also, they have different strengths, weaknesses and workflows. people should get whatever suits them. any person who prefers one program can point out the feature their package has or what's lacking in another.
if someone's going to pirate one, it is just as easy to pirate the other, so that argument doesn't really mean much. discreet makes gmax, which can be used to make models for game mods.
looking up to heaven and the only thing i see is the iron sun that's hanging and a sky that looks diseased.
i've fallen down. i've lost my nerve. and i finally get what i deserve.
a machine would be capable of saying it with fewer words, but the architect is also trying to influence neo with the way he presents the information. being direct wouldn't have helped his cause.
so you're saying that point break is like "springtime for hitler" in the producers. i'm just thinking of gene wilder's line,
We picked the wrong writer, the wrong director, the wrong actors. Where did we go right?
maybe online play doesn't matter to you, but i'd say that online play matters a LOT to most gamers. if not "most" it is certainly safe to classify it as "millions."
they've been working on this for 5 years. it's easy to say how long YOU think it should take them to rewrite parts that were stolen. you don't have to rewrite it. you don't even know what it is they have to re-implement.
anyway, we still haven't heard from valve. before we re-invent all of their intentions, why don't we read what valve has to say about this?
scariest band in the world
which still means more profit for the industry. i didn't say the consumer would be the beneficiary of the cost savings. if manufacturers decide to start making them and hype them, people will buy them (as long as they don't make the price silly).
everything needed for basic computing is on the motherboard, but once someone wants to use their computer for something specialized, it is not included.
for example: high end sound or studio sound is not included on the motherboard. i'm talking about sound cards with at least eight analog ins and outs and more than one midi port. these also work as firewire sometimes, so you may have covered it. another example is any kind of dongle card required for special applications like 3D or the sound program operating the first example.
just because most people don't need it, doesn't mean it's not needed. those who do will have the option while those that don't can get smaller form factor stuff.
even if the bandwidth of PCI express isn't needed, it may come down to cost. if PCI express meets it's goals, a PCI express card will cost the same or less than a legacy PCI card with the same functionality. 64 bit PCI doesn't have the same cost benefit.
of course, this is just theory until PCI express cards are in production and are in fact cheaper.
i believe i'm around then. if not it's my loss since i'm guessing you won't be around much for a while after that.
;)
i'm 2 months out from my wedding and i'm getting pretty excited about that. i imagine being 8 days from it is just crazy. i'll be there before i know it, though.
so hopefully you've already got all of the major wedding plan pieces in order, right?
hey there rashan. i'm going to download it tonight from fileshack. i won't be around much tonight, but i'll try to hang around aim a little more this weekend in case you want to get some game on. (i played the test for the first time last weekend. i'm terrible).
this article discusses this very issue. they expected some things to be very easy that were difficult (network, sound) and some things that were expected to be difficult were easy (balance). xbox is unique hardware because of the sound system and graphics. they also needed to re-create a lot of the artwork because the PC has a much higher resolution than a television.
but still probably easier than porting a PS2 game to PC.
thanks for the links. i'm one of the people trying to help man or astroman? make money when they tour. almost sad to see where it all goes. hopefully they fare better on CD sales than numbers you see in albini's article. i've supported mr albini's music through CD purchases, but never had a chance to see him live. i found it interesting that MoA? says they make some more money on smaller shows.
i know some guys who only make money making music because they're in multiple bands and recording things in their own studios. then there's almost always a tour because there are so many bands to be in.
my original point was that many bands don't make money off of CD sales, like what steve albini was saying, and that they have to tour if they want to make any money they have to do some touring. i stand by that, but i've learned that sometimes that doesn't work either. so i guess if i want to keep hearing music i like, i'll have to keep going to shows and keep buying CDs, because i won't hear it on the radio.
it seems like you like to argue. that's ok. this is slashdot, so i have to take your numbers (5 out of 44 will make a profit) with a grain of salt because i don't know where these numbers come from. maybe you have real inside information, but i don't know that. you could be heavily involved in a music scene. it could be your job. or you could just some guy with some distant connection to the music business. i could make up numbers, but they would be meaningless because i have not asked specific dollar amounts when i've talked to people. (i don't think it the fan's place to ask accounting questions.) just giving numbers does not make them meaningful. maybe it's foolish of me to believe what bands say about making money. like i said, i don't think it applies to everyone. not every tour makes money. all i know is i've talked to bands after shows and read interviews where musicians have said they would make any money if they didn't tour constantly. they say it's hard work, but it's worth it because they get to do what they love and have contact with the fans. the bands that i listen to are not in the top 100.
if you're hearing a different story, that just says to me that not everyone makes money touring and that showbusiness is tough. if you disagree, i agree we can do that. if you can give numbers that prove something other than conjecture, i would be enlightened by them. but just you listing numbers and saying they are credible doesn't mean anything.
my statement is based on conversations i've had with musicians who were on tour. i figure they know what they're talking about, but adding onomatopoeia to your argument makes you more correct and me more wrong.
to make money, the tour has to be managed well, which not every small label is capable of for every band. there are both indy acts and some big name artists on majors have to tour to make money. i'm not saying every tour makes money. i'm saying that many bands don't actually make money until they go on tour. there is a sort of barrier for bands to get passed sometimes, but bands in that situation usually not making money on any portion of their musical endeavors until they cross that threshhold.
Surely the freely downloadable version doesn't have all the same features as the 5-figure pro version, just hidden away behind a software lock.
absolutely correct. no matter how much software cracking you do, your soundcard will not turn into a pro audio interface. compare the onboard realtek audio to these interfaces driven by this extra sound hardware.