Comment Re:Interesting Idea, but? (Score 3, Funny) 132
Results 1 - 100 of about 1,060 for A post-apocalyptic fun fantasy featuring an unlikely sexy hero fighting other players in space. (0.36 seconds)
I guess they did....
Comment Re:How MMOs should be viewed (Score 1) 132
you win a giant wheel facing in a different direction! awesome post!
Comment Re:Learn CSS (Score 1) 438
uh, yeah - welcome to the real world. I just finished a lenghty re-design where i was 100% dedicated to not using tables for layout. I require header, 3 column with left and right column fixed width, center column fluid, and footer, with minimum page height to be the browser window and columns being full height. I couldnt cut it, so i hired a CSS expert - the guy was really good, but still the layout failed half the test cases. (we are not writing some blog, we are writing a for-pay publishing platform. our test cases are all based on real usage scenarios). When asking for advice, the advice was either "do it so and so" which is what we were already doing, or, my personal favorite, "why do you need this layout, it sucks".
Whenever i hear the last argument, in whatever context, I know that the technical approach i chose will not be able to cut it, and here are the "cover up" brigade.
Throughout this ordeal, our template pages became increasingly incomprehensible and difficult to code with. DIV's nested to stupid levels, etc.
I made the decision to swap to tables for our layout. It took me about 30 minutes to effect this change, and stuff Just Works(tm).
There are serious and real problems with CSS layouts, and unless these are adressed, tables will continue to see use, especially by people that have a job to finish. My boss doesnt care how i do the site layout, he trusts me to make the right decisions. part of that decision tree is to ensure that i strike a balance that involves cost and time to market somewhere.
Comment Re:Power of community + run by the community? (Score 1) 244
and who will donate the incredible amount of high quality artwork in all forms required to make a good MMO? and not only do you need lots of high quality artwork, it also needs to be done along the same style and theme, and be artistically consistent. the people that have the skills and talent to make art for are an MMO are usually too busy with their dayjob.
Comment Re:Not all that surprising (Score 1) 244
I just finished looking at the gameplay trailer and got bored after 60 seconds. its like WoW, but with a lower polygon count (seriously, how crappy can they make toons look?) and some gimmicks.
Comment Re:Sad but true... (Score 1) 244
it got a lot of publicity on MMO Sites. I played it for a while, it looks cool, and there was some interesting story, but nothing too fancy. Something you'd pay $20 or $30 to play, but not something you would pay a subscription -- any amount -- for.
PC Makers Try To Pinch Seconds From Their Boot Times 399
Some computers are never turned off, or at least rarely see any state less active than "standby," but others (for power savings or other reasons) need rebooting — daily, or even more often. The New York Times is running a short article which says that it's not just a few makers like Asus who are trying to take away some of the pain of waiting for computers, especially laptops, to boot up. While it's always been a minor annoyance to wait while a computer slowly grinds itself to readiness, "the agitation seems more intense than in the pre-Internet days," and manufacturers are actively trying to cut that wait down to a more bearable length. How bearable? A "very good system is one that boots in under 15 seconds," according to a Microsoft blog cited, and an HP source names an 18-month goal of 20-30 seconds.
A Brief History of Features Apple Has Killed 461
Technologizer writes "Some folks are outraged over the lack of FireWire in the new MacBook released this week. But Apple wouldn't be Apple if it didn't move faster than any other computer company to kill technologies that may be past their prime. And history usually validates its decisions. We've posted a decade's worth of examples that prove the point."
Tesla Motors Shaken Up, Laying Off 491
tjstork writes "Tesla Motors, the darling of technorati for its high performance electric car, may be about to go belly up. Venture capital is cut off, layoffs are under way, and construction plans are being stretched out. Elon Musk has ousted the CEO and taken the reins, blaming the global credit crunch."
Extended Gmail Outage Frustrates Admins 430
CWmike writes "A prolonged, ongoing Gmail outage has some Google Apps administrators pulling their hair out as their end users, including high-ranking executives, complain loudly while they wait for service to be restored. At about 5 p.m. US Eastern on Wednesday, Google announced that the company was aware of the problem preventing Gmail users from logging into their accounts and that it expected to fix it by 9 p.m. on Thursday. Google offered no explanation of the problem or why it would take it so long to solve the problem, a '502' error when trying to access Gmail. Google said the bug is affecting 'a small number of users,' but that is little comfort for Google Apps administrators. Admin Bill W. posted a desperate message on the forum Thursday morning, saying his company's CEO is steaming about being locked out of his e-mail account since around 4 p.m. on Wednesday. It's not the first Gmail outage. So, will this one prompt calls for a service-level agreement for paying customers? And a more immediate question: Why no Gears for offline Gmail access at very least, Google?"
Android Also Comes With a Kill-Switch 300
Aviran writes "The search giant is retaining the right to delete applications from Android handsets on a whim.
Unlike Apple, the company has made no attempt to hide its intentions, and includes the details in the Android Market terms and conditions, as spotted by Computer World: 'Google may discover a product that violates the developer distribution agreement... in such an instance, Google retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion.'"
Rights To Virtual Property In Games? 167
With the rise of MMOs and other persistent environments over the last decade, the trafficking of virtual game property has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Regardless of whether the buying and trading goes on with the blessing of the content provider (or, in many cases, the owner of the account in question), the question of players' rights to virtual goods is coming to the forefront. The Escapist Magazine takes a look at how some companies are structuring their EULA in this regard, and what some countries, such as China, are doing to handle the issue.
"... the differences between China and the West in this case have more to do with scale than cultural norms. So many people play online games in Asia — and play them so intensely — that social problems in meatspace society inevitably emerge in virtual worlds as well. ... The general consensus, therefore, is that paradigm shifts like the ones that have already occurred in Asia will inevitably come to the West, and with them, the need for legislative scaffolding that keeps us all from killing each other."
Apple Drops Part of iPhone Developer NDA 175
ds writes "Apple, this morning, announced they are dropping the iPhone Developer NDA in respect to released software. Previously, iPhone developers were legally bound even after their software had been released."
Another reader adds, "Early release software is still covered, but this should bring about increased developer interaction, as well as a slew of iPhone dev books." The complete message about the NDA change can be seen for now at Apple's iPhone Developer site, and is reproduced below.
New Denial-of-Service Attack Is a Killer 341
ancientribe writes "Hacker RSnake blogs about a newly discovered and deadly denial-of-service attack that could well be the next big threat to the Internet as a whole. It goes after a broadband Internet connection and KOs machines on the other end such that they stay offline even after the attack is over. It spans various systems, too: the pair of Swedish researchers who found it have already contacted firewall, operating system, and Web-enabled device vendors whose products are vulnerable to this attack." Listen to the interview (MP3) — English starts a few minutes in — and you might find yourself convinced that we have a problem. The researchers claim that they have been able to take down every system with a TCP/IP stack that they have attempted; and they know of no fix or workaround.
T-Mobile Launches £2 Per Day Mobile Broadband 184
Mark.J writes "ISPreview reports that T-Mobile UK has launched an interesting range of new off-the-shelf Mobile Broadband products that do not require customers to sign-up under a long-term contract. The pay-as-you-go (PAYG) style products cost from only £2 per day for 'unlimited' access (3GB Fair Usage Policy applies). To access T-Mobile pre-pay Mobile Broadband, customers simply need to purchase a USB (Modem) Stick 110, which includes a memory card, for just £49.99 and plug it into a laptop to access their favourite websites. Credit can be topped up direct from the laptop and customers are able to select whichever package suits them at the time." For American readers, that's about $3.66 right now -- plus shipping yourself to the UK.
