It wasn't originally intended to be have Asimov's name attached. It was originally going to be called Hardwired but the producers secured the license to use the name late in the production cycle. You CANNOT, repeat for the hard of thinking - CANNOT, make a single film out I Robot because it has no narrative. It's a collection of short stories for god's sake. Please pay attention at the back.
Just think that I Robot is film of the same name about rebellious robots and leave it at that.
Having worked in the civil service I can assure Mr Kenworthy that this isn't true.
Unless you're top grade mandarin in Whitehall.... in which case his experience is jaundiced, out of touch ... and true.
Just to hammer the point home... these madarins are not representative of the vast majority of civil servants. Regular civil servants are paid crap and treated as such.
Said games are generally aimed at adults and NOT children. When are people going to realise that a lot of these games are aimed the [now] mature audience of game players?
Just because it's a computer game does not mean it's for kids. The word game is not synonymous with "for children".
SF is frequently NOT about pulpy rockets and rayguns. This is just a characteristic of one particular type of SF - Space Opera. There is a whole sub genre dedicated to scientific realism, and there's even movements to take SF in a realistic (and potentially optimistic) direction.
Retro-Futurism is also nothing new, so I am a little perplexed to discover you're surprised by it..
While undeniably a good game KOTOR is not one of the best "retro" titles..
Half life should be up there (because of it's impact). Deus EX too but...
Here's the caveat...
The one PC (yes PC) game that isn't mentioned, and should, is System Shock 2. Half Life (Deus Ex) are the progeny of that game. Without it you wouldn't have HL and, for the console gamers, HALO. And if you've never played it... trust me when I say that it is a genuinely creepy, scary game. With a complex story compellingly told. There are people out there STILL maintaining it so that you can keep playing it.
I also thought that to count as retro (in gaming terms) a title had to be a minimum of 10 years old?
I'd also settle for System Shock but it didn't get everything quite a right as it's successor.
This certain competitor of yours will not install a cable in mt street...and I live in the centre of Edinburgh. Every street around here has been cabled up except this one... and they still flyer us periodically!
I realise that you are reporting on the ONS stats but come on... you can't see any bias or skew in there?
Tell me how an average salary accurately reflects the pay disparity between a doctor and a nurse, or a low grade (AA?) clerk with a whitehall mandarin?
I don't have high expectations of the government but I do have higher expectations of El Reg.
When did El Ref basically become a right-wing mouthpiece?
Yet more tory bashing of the public sector. We get it - you don't like civil servants but even public sector geeks are just geeks... you know human and needing to feed themselves.
I hate to correct you but Soap (rather than soap-like materials) has been around since at least Celtic times. And there's plenty of evidence that grooming was very important to most early civilisations.
Excessive washing is actually a very modern idea. Though there's been lots of beneficial side effects (human fleas are very rare these days) some others might not. My old microbiology lecturer suggested that one of the reasons we're smellier is because the stuff we obsessively put on our bodies kills off the bacteria that lives on our sweat. Which means we smell more... and so chuck more antibacterials on.
Note sure what you think Canute has to do with this. I assume you mean his commanding of the waves story? That was an act of piety that demonstrated that no man is above the forces of God (or Nature YMMV). If true the story (there's significant doubt) it has bog all to do with foolishness.
So you are in favour of the beeb remaining in public hands? Maintaining its distinct cultural identity?
If so we agree. The BBC provides an essential public service. I wish it would stop trying to compete with the likes of SKY (aka Fox). Maybe a different topic though...
Oh; and MonkeyDust amongst a few other gems. BBC3 does sometimes get it right.
BBC4 does also occasionally get it right - Newswipe being a good example.
The problem is, as Andrew points out, that really few programme commissioners have any idea what people want. I really don't feel catered for.
I'd like to know what's being argued for? Fewer channels with better programming? That really doesn't seem to chime with what token Tory is actually saying.
"Mark Thompson will admit in March that the Corporation is bloated and needs to trim down its services to allow commercial rivals to compete."
The reason that the commercial channels are failing to compete is more complex than the license fee. Their output is dire and ad revenues are falling. If they were sort their act out then there would be no reason for this statement.
I am sick of the current spate of reporting that somehow the Beeb is at fault with the business plans of the commercial networks. It's a load of tosh.
Without the beeb we would be left with not much more than BSkyB... shudder.
... and please no more bloody time travel, parallel universe crap.
Why not a new baddy? I thought that was the whole point of the reboot. Even though I thought the first film was brilliant this sounds creatively bankrupt.
Looking at the curves, over this short time span, then (with the exception of Win7) there's pretty much nothing but status quo to see here. You can interpret trend by in the manner you appear to have done. Also , a more interesting graph might be a comparison of XP-Vista-Win7. I'd be interested in seeing how much XP and Vista's share has eroded against win7.
I might be making too much of an extrapolation here but both Linux AND MacOS appear to grow (albeit slowly) over time ...
Has everyone forgotten the arms scandals perpetrated when they were in power? There's no evidence that the colour of the government will have an effect on the standard of decision making... mostly because it's civil servants that actually run the country.
Yes. We've been at the Oat , Nice biscuits and ... Custard Creams all day. We acknowledge that this new sport may have a few detractors because of its poor safety record but we Biscuit Eaters think you non-Eaters are a bunch of safety obsessed pansies.
Register
98 posts • joined Tuesday 10th April 2007 14:11 GMT
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Re: FSM?
Sauce from a jar?
Heathen.
All true believers know that the only way to show reverence to his noodly goodness is to gather and cook the ingredients yourself.
I drawn the line at making your own pasta - that's for monks.
Isn't this starting to look like a constant stream of bad PR... possibly being put out by Apple themselves? Just saying.
/cynicism
If we're going to use the Reg's units I would like to see a guide produced.
Something like this: http://www.onemorelevel.com/game/scale_of_the_universe_2012
Is it suddenly 15 years ago?
Or even longer.
I studied this stuff at Uni.
I wonder if this is the same sort of system we've had in Edinburgh for the last decade.
No mention of The spaceship at the end of the Fountain?
Other than that an interesting article.
Before better water standards people drank beer as their clean water source for years.
I think this image says it all.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/kym-assets/entries/icons/original/000/005/848/ancient-aliens.jpg?1315110108
You were speeding on an Edinburgh road??
Gosh. Well done. I didn't think that was possible any more.
They cost £!00.
No Thanks.
Yeah me too...
Why is this news? I was coding as part of my Scottish secondary education in the 90s.
had this for ages in Edinburgh
We've had this for ages in Edinburgh. There's even good apps on Android and iPhone.
Another attack on the BBC?
Yeah I get it, you don't like the Beeb. I really do... now can you talk about science please.
Are you- sure?
Is it not geographically restricted? I am pretty sure it is.
And if not, the simple solution would be to make it so.
Phone 78"Corporate vice president for Windows Experience"
What does that even mean?
Modelled Cat Brains
Someone's been reading Accelerando.
Your statutory rights are not affected.
You cannot sign away your rights in a EULA - or any other contract. A contract is not allowed to override the law of the land.
At least in the UK.
I' Robot
To all of you that are complaining about I Robot.
It wasn't originally intended to be have Asimov's name attached. It was originally going to be called Hardwired but the producers secured the license to use the name late in the production cycle. You CANNOT, repeat for the hard of thinking - CANNOT, make a single film out I Robot because it has no narrative. It's a collection of short stories for god's sake. Please pay attention at the back.
Just think that I Robot is film of the same name about rebellious robots and leave it at that.
eh?
Why don't they just put cameras on the goals and use a 4th official?
Why does the ball need a microchip?
Surely the last place you want to stick tech is in the thing being hit, very hard repeatedly??
Idiots.
What complete tosh.
Having worked in the civil service I can assure Mr Kenworthy that this isn't true.
Unless you're top grade mandarin in Whitehall.... in which case his experience is jaundiced, out of touch ... and true.
Just to hammer the point home... these madarins are not representative of the vast majority of civil servants. Regular civil servants are paid crap and treated as such.
Factual Error
It was Val Kilmer who killed Alfred Molina over a game of cards.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108358/
Ummm....
Said games are generally aimed at adults and NOT children. When are people going to realise that a lot of these games are aimed the [now] mature audience of game players?
Just because it's a computer game does not mean it's for kids. The word game is not synonymous with "for children".
Ummm
SF is frequently NOT about pulpy rockets and rayguns. This is just a characteristic of one particular type of SF - Space Opera. There is a whole sub genre dedicated to scientific realism, and there's even movements to take SF in a realistic (and potentially optimistic) direction.
Retro-Futurism is also nothing new, so I am a little perplexed to discover you're surprised by it..
hm
I seem to remember SS2 being out well before either HL or DE. Maybe I AM thinking of SS1.
Okay. Mentally edit my post to say SS1. And remove all entries to do with SS2.
Bizarre. The old noggin is obviously not what it used to be.
I also remember that SS2 had a co-op patch well before Co-Op became fashionable.
KOTOR??
While undeniably a good game KOTOR is not one of the best "retro" titles..
Half life should be up there (because of it's impact). Deus EX too but...
Here's the caveat...
The one PC (yes PC) game that isn't mentioned, and should, is System Shock 2. Half Life (Deus Ex) are the progeny of that game. Without it you wouldn't have HL and, for the console gamers, HALO. And if you've never played it... trust me when I say that it is a genuinely creepy, scary game. With a complex story compellingly told. There are people out there STILL maintaining it so that you can keep playing it.
I also thought that to count as retro (in gaming terms) a title had to be a minimum of 10 years old?
I'd also settle for System Shock but it didn't get everything quite a right as it's successor.
Certain Competitor ay?
This certain competitor of yours will not install a cable in mt street...and I live in the centre of Edinburgh. Every street around here has been cabled up except this one... and they still flyer us periodically!
Round Earthers pay attention now...
The world is clearly "flat" if you look at the view.
Uh huh.
I've been using swiftkey for ages...
It's been in beta for months and many Android phone users use it. I like it a lot with a couple of caveats:
It sometimes seems to lag on my HTC Desire; especially when you're waiting for the keyboard to disappear when you're finished with it.
Takes up a lot of space when you are trying to type on the web.
It's default autocorrect (rather than auto suggest) is something I find deeply annoying.
What a load of rubbish
I realise that you are reporting on the ONS stats but come on... you can't see any bias or skew in there?
Tell me how an average salary accurately reflects the pay disparity between a doctor and a nurse, or a low grade (AA?) clerk with a whitehall mandarin?
I don't have high expectations of the government but I do have higher expectations of El Reg.
"I Find Your Lack Of Faith Disturbing
I think that would have been a better title.
Real Names is not the problem...
Good moderation is.
You have to be on top of this from the start or you end up in the situation that Blizzard find themselves in now.
Aimed at me?
And all of these ARE being rolled back?
also...
Let's make this clear. I don't work in the public sector.
When did El Ref basically become a right-wing mouthpiece?
Yet more tory bashing of the public sector. We get it - you don't like civil servants but even public sector geeks are just geeks... you know human and needing to feed themselves.
Isn't that a man?
That "cowgirl" looks suspiciously male. No wonder Naked Cowboy is angry.
This isn't actually a new hypothesis...
I studied this exact same idea when I was at Uni.
To the Moderatrix...
I hate to correct you but Soap (rather than soap-like materials) has been around since at least Celtic times. And there's plenty of evidence that grooming was very important to most early civilisations.
Excessive washing is actually a very modern idea. Though there's been lots of beneficial side effects (human fleas are very rare these days) some others might not. My old microbiology lecturer suggested that one of the reasons we're smellier is because the stuff we obsessively put on our bodies kills off the bacteria that lives on our sweat. Which means we smell more... and so chuck more antibacterials on.
Actually...
Note sure what you think Canute has to do with this. I assume you mean his commanding of the waves story? That was an act of piety that demonstrated that no man is above the forces of God (or Nature YMMV). If true the story (there's significant doubt) it has bog all to do with foolishness.
Should we be surprised...
... at how badly this has played out when you consider that the CEO has his own entry in this fine reference site?
http://www.dickipedia.org/dick.php?title=Mark_Zuckerberg
I am still not certain
So you are in favour of the beeb remaining in public hands? Maintaining its distinct cultural identity?
If so we agree. The BBC provides an essential public service. I wish it would stop trying to compete with the likes of SKY (aka Fox). Maybe a different topic though...
I get the impression...
.... that John Lettice doesn't like the BBC very much,
What would you prefer John - Fox News?
Being Human?
Best thing on the telly this year so far.
Oh; and MonkeyDust amongst a few other gems. BBC3 does sometimes get it right.
BBC4 does also occasionally get it right - Newswipe being a good example.
The problem is, as Andrew points out, that really few programme commissioners have any idea what people want. I really don't feel catered for.
I'd like to know what's being argued for? Fewer channels with better programming? That really doesn't seem to chime with what token Tory is actually saying.
What the hell?
"Mark Thompson will admit in March that the Corporation is bloated and needs to trim down its services to allow commercial rivals to compete."
The reason that the commercial channels are failing to compete is more complex than the license fee. Their output is dire and ad revenues are falling. If they were sort their act out then there would be no reason for this statement.
I am sick of the current spate of reporting that somehow the Beeb is at fault with the business plans of the commercial networks. It's a load of tosh.
Without the beeb we would be left with not much more than BSkyB... shudder.
And?
I really don't see the problem.
Books are essential... e-books are not. Therefore they are a luxury.
No, I don't think I will be signing any petitions about this.
Oh gawd
Not the bloody borg..
... and please no more bloody time travel, parallel universe crap.
Why not a new baddy? I thought that was the whole point of the reboot. Even though I thought the first film was brilliant this sounds creatively bankrupt.
Stats?
Looking at the curves, over this short time span, then (with the exception of Win7) there's pretty much nothing but status quo to see here. You can interpret trend by in the manner you appear to have done. Also , a more interesting graph might be a comparison of XP-Vista-Win7. I'd be interested in seeing how much XP and Vista's share has eroded against win7.
I might be making too much of an extrapolation here but both Linux AND MacOS appear to grow (albeit slowly) over time ...
If Labour get relected?
Has everyone forgotten the arms scandals perpetrated when they were in power? There's no evidence that the colour of the government will have an effect on the standard of decision making... mostly because it's civil servants that actually run the country.
Heinlein?
@Paul Murphy
I think you mean Starship troopers?
Forever War was written by Haldeman and is actually one of the best anti-war books I've ever read.
I've been participating in a new sport all day...
Extreme Biscuit eating!
Yes. We've been at the Oat , Nice biscuits and ... Custard Creams all day. We acknowledge that this new sport may have a few detractors because of its poor safety record but we Biscuit Eaters think you non-Eaters are a bunch of safety obsessed pansies.
MarsMalaysia dubbed David BowieHow does THAT parachute?
They look like tarantulas...
What's happened to E-ink?
Rather than full lcd screen? I just don't get it.
Why are we not talking about digital books that you download magazines into?
As it is - I cannot believe how much waste this will create.
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