because if cool people follow you that means your cool too.

I realize this is a history of Blizzard, but I find it disappointing when authors write histories of video games and stop at 1990. Diablo didn't set the standard. Wizardry, Ultima, and Might and Magic set the standards for RPGs. Diablo successfully "Michael Bay"d them with 3D and 'splosions and the most robust, practically uncrashable game engines ever seen.

Had the Guardian not complied, I suppose David Cameron's response would have been "I thought they were guilty, but when they refused to voluntarily cooperate with my national security adviser and cabinet secretary, I started to reconsider."

No? But if not, then he is just trying to rationalize some "damned if you do, damned if you don't" nonsense.

The whole time I'm reading the article I'm saying to myself, "WTF? How did this guy build a functional ATLAS detector so small and out of legos?"

Functional?

duh... //facedesk

I started programming Commodore PETs in 1982, in 5th grade. My teachers had ordered a box full of cassette games and I asked me to evaluate all of them and write a paragraph explaining each game. I wanted to know how the games worked so I started reading the BASIC source code. BASIC is so readable that I was writing my own games in about a month. In 6th grade we had a C64 and I started taking a self directed class for BASIC. My parents bought me an Apple //e (a HUGE fight ensued over the cost). That summer I went to National Computer Camps in Connecticut (back then it was at Westminster Prep School) and learned to program 6502 assembly language.

The rest is history. All of my learning was self-directed. There were no programming classes anywhere in my elementary school or the nearby highschool.

I have fond memories of the sound that a Commodore PET makes when you turn it on... *chink chink chink... bzzzzzzt ... POP*

...don't care about palatable! i've seen children in cambodia eat bread crusts that are moldy, dirty, and soggy. quite sad, especially when 5U$D can buy enough bags of food to feed 30 kids for a day.

...ANOTHER vampire film / franchise!!!

I know, "But this is Neil Gaiman!!!" /facepalm

but interkin3tic "ASSURED" you.

his/her assurance is enough to convince me! /chugs an entire keg like bender, jumps behind the wheel, assured that i'll stay alert/

Your long list of examples omit something important: data. Those examples simply don't have enough impact to trigger laws. You might not like them, but laws like this aren't written to accommodate your dislikes, laws like this are based on data. If putting on make-up was a significant source of accidents, above DWI or cell-phone usage, it would be on the list. It isn't arbitrary that alcohol and cell phone usage are restricted, they cause the most accidents.

I assumed that once I received my Driver's License (in 1986, heh), I was already IN a giant database like this? Why DON'T we have this? Seems like a pretty obvious thing that I would want if I was issuing photo IDs and SS#s. I'd fire any employee who introduced photo ID's and forgot the database part.

And for those banging the Big Brother drum, Given the shit people spill to social networks, this seems completely benign.

non peak time? if/when netflix goes global there will be no such thing.

Brief strawman, because I know it is coming: At some point on this thread, someone is going to claim "but nothing is REALLY new." That is utter bullshit. Burroughs, Matthews, Glass, O'Nolan, Queneau, Danielewski, etc. have all pushed the envelope far beyond this cliche and invented very new topologies for the "novel" format as recent as the 20th century (granted, some of their experiments aren't particularly accessible, but they are inventing).

Of course, it is a matter of preference and personal taste. But...

I assert that OSC didn't lift a finger to push the genre, he just barfed up the SAME story with the SAME tropes without any new direction, IMHO (sub par by Asimov or Heinlein standards... and how many stories did Heinlein write that emphasized the protagonist's wang?). For a fan to claim it is a masterpiece work of art in general, when they've read maybe 10 books in their life (or 100 sci fi pulp novels) is naive since their POV is so limited.

So I don't have a problem with anyone liking the book, we all like different stuff and I'd be a troll to judge, I DO object to huge praise for something that is really "just average" ... IMHO it leads to a race to the bottom everywhere in society.

Rant done.

Now, If you'll excuse me, someone over on Reddit just said that "Thor 2 is going to be the best sci-fi film EVAR!" ... i have my evening cut out for me.

FTFY:

Ender's game = hunger games for 13 year old boys

Yes I read the book, I thought it was garbage pulp fantasy for those of limited breadth and imagination.

I'm in the market for a new car and it is nigh impossible to buy one without a fuckton of useless digital crap.

It is effing stupid because to me the technology is crap, the GUIs are crap, and the functionality is totally unnecessary.

It sucks that every new car appears to be marketed to 15 year olds with ADHD.

So who gives a fuck if the tech is four years old? How about NO years old, just jettison the shit and give me 5 analog dials and a stereo that at least doesn't have a screen saver (and that crashes once a week because the firmware was written by C-minus programmers). /endrant/