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| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=14387 |  DanTheMathlete (235) Mar 02, 2007 - 02:38 pm » Edited on Mar 03, 2007 - 06:37 pm
| » Lets Consider Pathetic
A Blizzard programmer creates a sword that does more damage and an npc that can take and do more damage. Then the programmer assigns a skin to that npc, which is some amalgamation of all the other skins that blizzard has developed. Finally, the npc is spawned in the world of warcraft.
What is the result?
8 million suckers paying billions to Blizzard and wasting hours of their lives trying to get that sword.
Guess what?
After you get that sword the Blizzard programmer is gonna design another one and you are gonna pay the billions and spend the hours to get. Rinse and repeat. That, my wow lobotomized friend, is pathetic.
The average human life in America is about 2 billion seconds. Spend them wisely. Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=14387 | DanTheMathlete (235) Mar 02, 2007 - 08:56 am » Edited on Mar 02, 2007 - 02:42 pm
| » Partying w/ real people vs WOW
Are you actually making this comparison? You do realize that at a bar you could meet a female that might actually let you see her naked. That wont happen at home in front of the computer.
I don't know about you guys but I would rather spend time talking with my wife about anything than interacting with her through a video game. Just looking my wife in the eyes and not doing or saying anything is better.
Yes, there are other activities that cost more than Wow. My honey moon cost more than WOW. I guess I should have canceled that trip, had my WOW character go on a honey moon and bragged about the savings.
It isn't a question of actual dollar value its a question of the perceived value. Most of us don't seem to be making a dollar for dollar comparison, rather we are saying, "I cant believe there are people who find Wow has a perceived value that justifies its actual cost."
Source is highly repetitive and it cost me $0.
My time investment in playing Source is considerable, a few hours a week. But I don't have to invest 1000 hours to develop a decent character. I start with a decent character and when he gets killed I get him again in a little while (sooner if those noobs would just please stop camping, the last terrorist is still afk). Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=14499 | DanTheMathlete (235) Feb 28, 2007 - 06:23 am
| » The End of the Video Card?
Now, I can see the end of the video card coming. Just as predicted.
Physicists look for gut, grand unification theory.
Gamers on a budget look for guc, grand unified component, which is diametrically apposed to gpc, grand per component. Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=14387 | DanTheMathlete (235) Feb 26, 2007 - 12:57 pm » Edited on Feb 26, 2007 - 12:59 pm
| » What would you do for a billion dollars?
I would hire a team of psychologists to determine the best way to get certain types of people, mentally willing to accumulate numbers in a box type people, and figure out how best to fabricate a game around their psychies to manipulate them, i.e., Diablo 1, Diablo 2 and (the penultimate Jedi mind-****) WOW. Dont be a sucker, spend your money and time elsewhere.
My Two Cents,
Dan Flag this | Edit this post |
| Matrix Blog Link » /matrix/blog.asp/61942/132 | DanTheMathlete (235) Feb 23, 2007 - 01:52 pm » Edited on Feb 23, 2007 - 01:53 pm
| Awesome, I gave you a 10. :)
If I might add.
More intuitive controllers might not give us (old gamer farts only) carpal tunnel syndrome. My wrist kills me after an hour of wsad. I play through the pain with grim determination to HS that 12 year punk who been kicking my butt for the last 55 minutes all the while blasting BAD (modern) music and prepubescent insults through his mic. Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=14434 | DanTheMathlete (235) Feb 23, 2007 - 01:18 pm » Edited on Feb 23, 2007 - 01:40 pm
| » Who really pays?
We do.
I think MS's business practices are often morally deplorable. However, they usually make business sense and we cant fault a business for behaving in its best economic interests, all we can do is change the laws. Unless of course the business controls the law makers but that is another discussion.
If the cost of gas production increases we all pay for it at the pump. This is becasue our consumption of gasoline is, for the most part, irregardless of its cost. The same is true for MS products. How many of us could give up our desktop right now? If MS gets hit for 1.5 billion they will raise the cost of their OSs and other products (Xbox anyone?) to compensate for their losses and we will pay MS who will then take our money and pay Lucent. How many of us could give up our MP3 players? If Lucent continues in this litigious manner we will all, inevitably, be affected and the net result will be that we all pay Lucent.
The big deal not that MS is getting screwed but that we are, indirectly just means it takes longer and costs more.
Furthermore, once the price point for OSs shifts higher dont think for an instant that MS will lower their prices after their debt is paid. They will leave the cost at whatever amount the market will bare. This means less discresionary spending for all of us. This means lower salaries because businesses must spend even more money on OSs. Higher costs on products that are produced by businesses that depend on MS software.
Likely, there is an attorney who will analysize this case and see that other companies can sue for buying legally licensed products from businesses that licensed the sale of merchandise with more than one intellectual proptery owner. This type of lawsuit will not stop because the attorneys representing Lucent are making 750 million from this case, half of the settlement. The more I think about this settlement the worse I feel.
Lastly, 1.5 billion is alot of money. It represents 0.01% of our countries GDP. Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=14387 | DanTheMathlete (235) Feb 22, 2007 - 04:03 pm » Edited on Feb 23, 2007 - 01:05 pm
| » I am not a fan of 150 $/yr video games
MMORPGs are like all the stats in source times ten. I don't care about numbers held in some server somewhere until I stop playing. If the sole purpose is the accumulation of these meaningless numbers why not spend time accumulating wealth in a bank account? At least you can do something with that and probably learn a useful skill in the process. These number accumulators who populate MMORPGs are often people who feel ineffectual in their daily lives and need some arbitrary index by which they can compare themselves to others and further develop their false sense of superiority. Furthermore, I have found that this is because the activity of accumulating numbers does not require any real ability, intelligence or understanding about the real world. I would hate any game that requires me to build a level 70 character before I can compete competitively against others, no matter how poorly they may play the game. CS:S is totally different, every player starts off exactly the same every round, with the exception of accumulated money, but even that is limited to 16K. All that matters after that is ability, brains and reflexes.
However, to each their own. My wife thinks counter strike (and any other video game) is stupid but I like it. Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=14390 | DanTheMathlete (235) Feb 22, 2007 - 03:47 pm » Edited on Feb 22, 2007 - 03:50 pm
| Im in the same boat. I think AMD has at least another year before I upgrade again. Its fun to build computers but to expensive to try and keep up with the Jones'.
The other day someone bought a used 7800 GTX 256MB on ebay for $1. It originally cost me $400 but hopefully I can finally go SLI! Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=14390 | DanTheMathlete (235) Feb 21, 2007 - 01:21 pm » Edited on Feb 21, 2007 - 01:57 pm
| » Bottlenecks (bored and at work)
You both have valid points. I suggest that there does exist a bottleneck around the CPU, at this point in time, where graphics are concerned. However, the exact effects of bottlenecks and where they occur (hardware and software) is extremely complicated and not well understood. So, the gamer buyer is left with the choice between having a CPU which works the same as a less capable CPU most of the time with the potential of superior performance or the less capable CPU all the time. Those of us gamers who do not need the braggin CPU purchase the cheaper CPU and sacrifice braggin and potential extra performance for a nice dinner date with the wife which can have its own perks. Lastly, the non-gamer needs a fast, cheap single core CPU which AMD is still supplying competitively.
The point is, AMD's only option is to aggressively slash prices if they wish to maintain the "gamer on a budget" market share. However this is risky if they can't regain market share in a hurry because slashing prices reduces revenue. The lost revenue will reduce money spent on RnD thus lowering their long term competitiveness. Probably AMD will not compete for the gamer market as it seems to be used for only two things, inter-corporate braggin rights and street cred.
I don’t think AMD can "get the new processors out now" because they aren’t ready yet and if they release a dud that turns the AMD market against them it could really hurt them in the long run. Likely, AMD will continue to sell fast, single core application CPUs (that have 2 cores) to businesses and non-multicore users until this area of CPU research is exhausted and hope that their RnD comes up with the next flash in the pan. AMD won’t die and can’t survive on gamers alone. Most end users can't tell the difference anyway.
Gaming is in some respects at the cutting edge of hardware capabilities. However, the craving gamers have to exceed a game’s system recommendations is often driven by an adolescent need to be the biggest and the fastest and is this is not a substial motivation for the vast majority of computer users. Take, for example, the average user who doesn’t play games or have glowing fluorescent tubes etching their retinas a 2am through a Plexiglas case and they wont care which CPU is in their box at work as long as it allows them to get the job done but not so fast that they get to much accomplished as this will upset the co-workers and increases the boss' expectations. Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=14390 | DanTheMathlete (235) Feb 20, 2007 - 07:43 am » Edited on Feb 20, 2007 - 07:44 am
| I think the silent releases are PR motivated.
If AMD gave a shout every time they released an inferior product then we would all hear "AMD released another CPU slower than Core2 today." and that would be bad for there image. Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=14316 | DanTheMathlete (235) Feb 19, 2007 - 10:12 am » Edited on Feb 19, 2007 - 10:16 am
| » Content?
Is Stalker a mmorpg?
I hope not. Im not into paying $12 a month.
Pornography?
Is there pornographic content in Stalker? If so I wont be playing it. This also goes for hidden, undisclosed or other content that attempts to subvert the ESRB rating.
Thx,
Dan Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=14226 | DanTheMathlete (235) Feb 07, 2007 - 08:16 am
| » Linux anyone? cont.
Brandon,
How about a Linux OS in the round up? This seems reasonable since we all have a great opportunity to change operating systems in the near future and if a Linux based OS is superior to Vista then I say, "Lets hear about it."
From everything I've read about Vista it sounds like another MS OS where the community suffers for a year telling Microsoft what to fix, remember the virus Blaster? Furthermore, I don't like a OS doing a bunch of things I don't tell it to do. I don't trust corporations to have my interests at heart. MS has not earned any loyalty from me. If there is a viable alternative to Vista I'd love to know about it.
Dan Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=14124 | DanTheMathlete (235) Jan 31, 2007 - 08:30 am » Edited on Jan 31, 2007 - 08:39 am
| » All the garbage
I agree with dbd. I'm a mathematician and have made an economic and not an artistic argument.
Consider the star trek replicator. It would not occur in a vacuum. If I could replicate anything, in the current environment I could get all the garbage Hollywood and the music industry produces, YA! Next year alot people who made that garbage would be out of work, dont feel bad they don't actually create any value in our economy and can find work that actually increases America's wealth. Progress this scheme into the future and you will find that what will remain in the entertainment industry will be appreciated by its particular groups of fans and encouraged. Piracy will still exist but as you have said people are, for the most part, reasonable. Consider, if you will, the band Wilco. Not popular by comparison to Brittany Spear(cough .. garbage), but when their record label tried to screw them, the community rallied around them, purchased their album and made them several hundred thousand dollars. Not a bad living.
This perspective fits nicely into the idea of appreciating all creative property and would discourage the mass production of garbage. Go piracy so I dont have to hear, see or play anymore garbage.
My 2 cents,
Dan Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=13716 | DanTheMathlete (235) Dec 28, 2006 - 10:22 am
| » MS makes poor economic choices again.
The number one flaw of any MS solution is their insistence on establishing and maintaining a monopoly/oligopoly. Eventually in any competitive market this will result in limited use and function as no single entity can encompass the human capacity for creativity. Regardless of the Xboxes features due to MS's economic policies I predict you will see an eventual failure of this system if they continue to try to use proprietary measured to control, confine and manipulate users. Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=13295 | DanTheMathlete (235) Dec 11, 2006 - 10:50 am
| » CS Source
I like Fast, Simple, Quality competition.
I have been playing Counter Strike for almost 10 years and still havn't gotten bored. Yes valve continues to break what wasnt broken. Example, new buy prices??? (Consider reducing the accuracy and damage of the awp and deagle to even game play!) Fortunately, the community hasnt let them destroy CS, yet. Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=13478 | DanTheMathlete (235) Dec 08, 2006 - 05:36 pm » Edited on Dec 08, 2006 - 06:40 pm
| » Sigh ...
I said I searched Newegg not TigerDirect. To humor you I have gone to TigerDirect.com and the Brand New OEM Quad Core Processor is $1099.99. This is the processor that ships with the 710, is it not? Furthermore, the cost benefit of having to find the cheapest components is another cost which I could include into the price of building this computer personally. Econ 101, everything has a value whether you realize it or not. Example; Time = Money.
Another Example which addresses the second misinformed criticism. Education has a value that is why people and society pay for and subsides public and private K-12 education as well as 2 and 4 year institutions, i.e. college.
Brandon, ya that case looks bomb proof. Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=13478 | DanTheMathlete (235) Dec 08, 2006 - 08:28 am » Edited on Dec 08, 2006 - 06:29 pm
| » Simple Cost Analysis
Case 100?
DVD RW 28
DVD ROM 18
Reader 15
Mobo 80
CPU 1400
CPU Heat 50
GPU 960
PSU 350
RAM 180
Sound 100
HD 160X2 250
HD 750 380
Key Board 50
Mouse 46
Total 4007 (All priced at Newegg using only the cheapest components that match the Dell system. This is resonable because diy'ers pay retail.)
Tax in CA is 7.25%, so $290 in taxes makes for a grand total of $4300.
8 Hours to build, test and install software $50 per hour * 8hours = $400. $50 an hour is cheap for a computer technician. Not including failed parts that slow this process and increase costs. Also consider the value of the education required to attempt a computer build, $500, (this is a rare skill that probably less than 1% of the US population possesses so it could be worth alot more.)
$4300 + $400 + $500 = $5200 This doesn't include the software or the value of owning a warrenty.
The Dell is a great deal for many part time gamers that dont have the time or the desire to build there own machines. Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=13478 | DanTheMathlete (235) Dec 07, 2006 - 04:27 pm » Edited on Dec 07, 2006 - 04:28 pm
| » Interesting Mainstream Build
Many people will be interested in this Dell becasue there is an cost associated with personal construction of your computer, namely the cost of the knowledge and the cost of anxiety. If my system dies I get to fix it if the Dell dies Dell gets to fix. If I get ripped off by an internet company I get to eat that cost. I get to pay shipping for the RMAs, etc. These could refered to as neagtive externalities which the Dell system internalizes into its cost in the form of profit.
I wonder if the Dell could be up graded with a better Mobo and RAM without voiding the warrenty. If this is a viable option then the user could have a great system with the secuirty of repairs offered by Corporate mass production. Also, they could up grade other components in the future ... 8800 GTX. Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=13193 | DanTheMathlete (235) Nov 16, 2006 - 08:08 am » Edited on Nov 16, 2006 - 10:39 am
| » Statistically
Thanks for the review. I’m glad to hear that my 1 yr old 7800 GTX 256 OC is a grandfather. :)
Brandon you mentioned the irregularity of the performance for the 8800 GTS. Aside from all the possible variables a sample of 3 runs does not produce statistically significant results. You may want to consider benchmarking fewer games and running more simulations. For example, each average generated from 10 benchmarks and obtain 5 averages, for each game. This will improve the accuracy of your average. I would also be interested in seeing the standard deviation of these runs. If the StDev of the GTS is large this may well explain its unrepeatable performance as an outlying statistical variation. If you send me the data I could conduct the statistical analysis for you. Of course, this may not yield a plausible explanation. Flag this | Edit this post |
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