Posts by darkmage0707077 45 publicly visible posts • joined 22 Mar 2011
What next, we put him up on the rack for a few sessions with the torturer? Hang him by his ankles over a slow fire? Throw him in the oubliette* forever? This kind of thing coming out of my country is disgusting - I would expect it to be done by North Korea or some other tinpot dictatorship, not the United States of America.
*Oh, wait, we do use those: they're called "solitary confinement" to be more PC now...
I wonder if our seemingly decreasing tolerance for real life inappropriateness is at all related to our increasing exposure to such inappropriateness online, via comments, IM, etc?
Though we can block someone online or even get them banned from websites, in the back of our minds, we know that trolls will never really go away, that they'll just make a new username or use a different machine and be back at it within a week. To our POV, there are no real consequences for the trolls, asshats and hateful people for posting what they do online except they get shut down from that one site for a while, and that's even if they care.
They basically get a slap on the wrist, if that, and sometimes they get a bunch of supporters crawling out of the woodwork to make an unassailable wall of ass that modders/admins can do nothing about short of shutting the site down and killing their own web traffic, which would probably be financial suicide for them and could result in the website going down permanently.
I've experienced that aggravation before, seeing a full page of nothing but racial slurs, trolling and hate speech, and hit the "report user" buttons, only to see them still commenting and posting similar crap months later. It makes me cry out in despair sometimes. So from my own experiences, the frustration can be real, and it carried with me through at least part of my day, so it affected me outside of just the website.
So when that sort of thing happens around us in real life - where consequences are much more serious and long lasting, and would therefor be far more satisfying to witness - would it not become harder to keep from lashing out and overreacting as part of a desire to try and make up for the numerous injustices we constantly witness online? Is it possible we go overboard because we know that although we can't stick it to all the trolls online, we can at least stick it to this one sitting right next to us?
...I don't know, I'm asking because it just occurred to me to ask. I know Correlation does not equal Causation, but if studies have been done before that could show this kind of link - using samples large enough to matter (i.e. over 1K-10K) and peer-reviewed - it'd be interesting to know.
Tactile sensation is already here in primitive, solid-mass form:
http://www.novint.com/index.php/games/whatis3dtouch
Also, the ability to move forever without going anywhere, in any direction, without smacking into the walls is in prototype:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-software/cyberwalk-giant-omnidirectional-treadmill-to-explore-virtual-worlds
And the ability to look behind objects based on your view point has been worked out using a Nintendo Wii:
http://hackaday.com/2007/12/21/wiimote-head-tracking-desktop-vr-display/
Olfactory...well, we can't have everything now, can we, or else we'd have build the thing! Though there are companies working hard on that:
http://www.scentcom.co.il/
So here's what we still need:
-Artificial olfactory creators
-The ability to "solidify" energy (true force fields) and change those fields into whatever shape we want, while allowing un-protected manipulation during the simulation (it's not a real holodek if you HAVE to wear gloves when you go in)
-The ability to track ones head position without having to wear anything or being able to see the cameras (should be easy if the force fields are made, just hide cameras behind them)
-Seamless, near omni-directional screens which would allow a seamless picture to be presented.
-Advance all technologies out of prototype and integrate them
Bonus points if the ability to seamlessly and instantly turn on/off sensory deceivers depending on the user's current viewpoint (i.e. If they can't see it, why waste resources showing it). This would actually go BEYOND the Star Trek holodeck's capabilities by providing massive energy savings and allow resources to be concentrated where they're needed most at current, rather then wasting them on effects that mean nothing (Zelda Ocarnia of Time made use of this trick).
Usually I like unsugared - let the tea's pure taste shine through if it's that good, I say! - but if I think it could just use some sweetener, I like to add half a teaspoon of honey to my mug. It not only sweetens the tea, it also adds a touch of lightness and perkiness to the tea, like I'm drinking it in Spring or Fall. That, and it has the benefit of going well in both normal cuppas and herbal teas when I'm inclined.
As for milk: a little bit of half-skim before the mug is poured, thanks.
Now if you'll excuse me, all this talk of good tea has put me in the mood for some, so I'm off to get a pot of English Breakfast going...
"Programming can still be fun but I cant see anyone getting excited about sysadmin or infrastructure design - I know I don't."
Actually, I do get excited over sysadmin, myself. But where I see excitement over development as akin to pulling out the lego sets and putting blocks together (with the inevitable interoperable blocks as small frustrations), I see sysadmin work with the same excitement that comes from helping my grilfriend home after she's had some drinks at the club(s): pride and joy that she trusts me with something so important as her personal safety, and the satisfaction of knowing that I'm making her life easier because she doesn't have to worry about how to get home safely. Of course, sometimes she throws up on me and I get PO'd at her stupid antics, but such frustrations come with the territory. I imagine it would also be similiar to when you take care of your child, though I have none so I can't really say for sure. Same with sysadmin: that feeling I get when I stop and think about the fact that my entire company and millions of customers are counting on me to keep the system running smoothly and trust me with some of their most personal details (SSNs, addresses, etc)...thinking about that sends a shiver of excitement up my spine.
Granted, both forms of excitement are different feelings - one child-like, the other more paternal - but they are both excitement none the less.
Yeah, then there's the current potential problem of these huge overly-successfull game projects creating a new economic mini-bubble as everyone and their grandma suddenly realizes that people will shell out millions for as little as "a good idea for a game" and jumps into the business, which will cause a massive flood of crap titles and may even result in a bust as frustrated doners abandon the scene, unsure what games to fund and what to avoid, not disimiliar to the notorious USA game market collapse of the early 80s.
Still, I don't worry too much about it now. The early stages has plenty of promise and potential, and I embrace it completely while it lasts.
Woohoo, we made it happen! $3 million to make a game bigger then the last, drawing on some of the most venerable and respected talents in the old-school RPG field! I never dreamed it would be possible for it to rise this high, especially not to $3M! We even got enough for them to make the promised user mod tools later!
Can't wait to see the final game in its finished form. Wonder what it's going to end up looking like...?
*form update* They're making RoboScrop TOUGHER?! What, were the Gods of Death not satisfied with the 30+ ranger corpses I offered up in gory sacrifice the FIRST time I faced it (to say nothing of the scores more in later reruns of the wastes)?!
Even if (like me) you thought Magna Cum Laude was a decent game, LSL was killed by the developers themselves when they released the "So Bad It's Like The Worst Smell On Earth Farted After It Died" Box Office Bust (seriously, local tech store STILL has the game almost fully stocked on shelves, and last I saw it was listed for $2 just so they can get rid of it, with nobody taking it). Unless Al Lowe is involved this time (and I doubt he will be, since he was enjoying his retirement last I heard), I don't want to see anything else from the LSL franchise. Let it avoid the ignoble fait that Sonic is having to endure and just remember/play the glories of the past untarnished by present-day rust and decay.
I'd much rather someone pried the Space Quest and/or King's Quest licenses from Sierra/Activision's cold, dead hands and release the final games that end the series proper, as opposed to SQ6's open-ended stance leaving room for a sequal and KQ MoE's terrible, broken mess of a game (seriously, a game with massive levels of violence and killing as a capstone to a series known and loved for its aversion to and discouragement of same? Absolutely shameful attempt at a cash-grab, there).
Though a graphical update and/or remake of an old LSL game might be interesting. QFG2 VGA and KQ2 VGA (google them, they're free) have shown that it certainly can be done to success...
Sitll, all-in-all, considering the current owners of these series, I'd rather the past remain there and no further games are made.
I answer:
An iron-clad, lawyer- and loop-hole proof guarantee in the usage agreement, local/state law and federal law - up to and possibly including a Constitutional Ammendment - stating that individuals, companies and governments are not allowed to track me or spy on me through these or other similiar devices in any way, shape or form without my prior opt-in consent, as well as an indipendent, sure-fire way of checking on a regular basis to make *sure* they're not, preferably a method I and anyone else can perform at home without outside help.
Also, decent battery life and light weight.
Wow, this sucks. IMHO, OPERA has acted as something of a beacon of scientific integrity through out this whole situation, and I imagine the person who's stepping down was at least partly responsible for that. OPERA's behavior is especially significant considering it comes in the wake of Climate Gate and the disillusionment of the public toward the greater scientific community's integrity and objectivity.
Heck, any time I started feeling despondent over those stupid gits and their foolish behavior over the climate data, I'd dig up an OPERA article as a reminder of how REAL scientists act.
I hope he lands work as head of another major scientific study or project, and quickly!
Wow, there are politicians in my government's office right now with enough balls to actually do the right thing sometimes?
...
I fell into a dimensional warp while on the train to work today, didn't I?
On a more serious note, ACTA doesn't look AS bad as I'd first feared, but it's still pretty bad and needs to be stopped, same as SOPA and PIPA. I'm glad I'm a regular at The Reg; they've been keeping me informed about this schlock months and years before SOPA/PIPA became concerns for others. Being the resident "tech guy", I was consulted, and had PLENTY to tell them, both about those and about ACTA (which they subsequently added to their list of "Do Not Want").
On the one hand, I want to promote The Reg in order to better inform people, but on the other, I like this feeling of being the "expert" on current technical events everyone I know consults with...meh, concious is getting the best again, I'll keep telling them where I get my info from, damn it.
I'd love to say it's because Register attracts a higher calibre of commentors, but the truth is most likely that for these kinds of purely scientific articles, all the normal commentors suddenly bust out their highly scientific knowledge and technical experience in order to prove how smart they are, leaving the trolls and fanbois to either:
a) Leave immediately, as they can't understand wtf is being said, so can't actually do trolling/promoting without being immediately spotted and ignored/destroyed.
b) Adapt to it by upscaling the intelligence of their own posts, which pretty much makes them near indistinguishable from a smart commentor who's argumentative.
Either way, a very nice change of pace from the usual, right?
Ahhh, Leisure Suit Larry. So many fond memories of those and other Sierra "Quest" games...
King's Quest 1-7 (MoE is not 8, same as Highlander has no sequals): a great medieval fantasy series, and one of the great grand daddies that started the whole movement of 3D-looking adventure games. A fun romp through all of the western fairy tails we liked to read as kids, with some twists to keep things from getting too predictable.
Space Quest 1-6: First sci-fi based comedy adventure game ever. Love the protagonist, and there's plenty of sci fi toungue-in-cheek references for ANYone to choke and die on. Ah, for the good old days before games were worthy of notice in courts...
Police Quest 1-4 (and probably SWAT 1, sort of): First game series to seriously look at what it took to be a cop. Was used by at least one precint to help train new cops on proper police procedures. Warning: can actually inspire some people to become cops if young enough (my hand's up).
And my absolute favorite:
Quest for Glory 1-5: One of the first Adventure-RPG hybrids ever, and certainly one of the first worthy of anyone's time. Distinct character classes with unique solutions to puzzles depending on class/abillities (yes, stats help determine if you can solve a puzzle or not), quirky-yet-serious atmosphere (first game: quirky=just about everywhere, serious=Brigands' Valley), and very realistic in-game features (eating, sleeping, time, day/night, etc) for Adventure games (and even some RPGs!). Could make my own review about the series, but I'll leave others to do it.
For those who haven't, I highly recommend fans of these series also trying to snag a copy of the respective Companions for each. Not for the help getting through the games (why when we have Internet?) but for the wonderful stories that help bring elements of the games to life. My old dog-eared coppies were ready from front to back over and over when I was a kid, and they still sit proudly on my shelves to this very day!
SpaceX's constant development and continuous success is the reason I was able to get over the sense of loss from the Space Shuttles' retirement so quickly, and they're currently one of my leading (and few) sources of hope that my country hasn't gone COMPLETELY into the jack-boot strapping cesspit that the government and corporations are pushing us towards with enthusiasm.
I seriously wish them best speed and best luck, and I plan to buy a ring-side seat for the day that they finally launch for Mars.
"The other is from - and please ensure that you're sitting down before reading this - in-app purchases made in virtual currencies."
I was going to joke about The Reg employing witches over this and wanting to return to The Daily Mail for its journalistic integrity over this, but when I did the math, I realized a few lols wasn't enough to justify the large risk of that much bollocks in one post collapsing and creating a BOHSON* of such magnitude and horror that it would destroy the world. So I won't. You're welcome.
*Black Ominous Hole Stuffed Overflowing with Nonsense
I am utterly shocked that they haven't come out with a comercial for this car featuring Back to the Future's Doc Brown recreating the famous opening scene from same with this car. I would almost pay to see it made...
And if people try to tell me that there's no way Christopher Loyd would do it - or COULD do it - I'll just direct them to this TV commercial from Argentina:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j9lEGlopNk
Of course, that's only possible if you can get all of your friends with cameras to agree to never post pictures that include you to the web.
As well as family.
And coworkers.
And public officials.
And personal enemies.
And other people who know you.
And anyone who doesn't know you who you might conceivably meet some day during your lifetime for some reason.
And the only way to make sure all these people (read: far too many people to be practical) don't post pics of you is to constantly monitor the entire internet 24x7 and report any pictures of you that you find inappropriate to the responsible websites immediately, in the hopes that your tying speed is faster then whatever archiving/data storing methods said website uses.
The other option we currently have is to simply say "f**k it" and assume that we're GOING to be exposed in an embarasing fashion some time on the internet. In which case, you simply live as best as you can, and when the inevitable happens, you either hope the problem eventually goes away on its own (and suffer the social stigma/job loss/etc that come with it) or you shuck everything you've ever known and loved, and start over with an entirely new identity (location, physical appearance, name and bio, etc).
At least, that's the choice being presented to us by those in charge. Really wish there was some third option, but with company, government and cultural attitudes towards the internet and data archiving, there currently isn't.
Oh they used those resources with this test, have no doubt of that. I'm sure they had to spend around $1000 to find the very bestest string in the whole wide world.
Sorry, have to find my wallet real quick in order to help pay for everythi-ah, I see they've alredy obtained it and emptied the contents for me, how thoughtfull...
Actually, I think it's great that you know what you want and buy accordingly. Actually takes you out of the usual crowd who just follow what everyone else is doing without thinking about it.
I don't want to take the pretty-and-guaranteed-working option away from those who want it and like it. What I'm worried about Apple doing, though, is taking away MY super-customizable-unrestricted-access option via their me-too preasure on other players in the market and current pattent trolling behavior.
I really enjoyed the vid; the music was very appropriate to the mood and the footage most of the time. I wish they could have synced the voice recording with what was filmed on the IS more, but I understand that Nature does not conform to film maker schedules. Overall a wonderful tribute to the first flight in space, and a nice piece to reflect on!
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