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Comment One possible way (Score 1) 655
I find your position easy to relate to. I've spent years being aware of the show, somewhat tempted to try it, but the number of season has always put me off. I've spent a large chunk of my life watching all the Stargate (among other series), so I knew that such number of seasons is a big commitment, particularly when I find it hard to relate to the older stuff.
But then when Season 5 started and all my sci-fi-watching friends were jumping around from happiness, I couldn't resist anymore. So I started at the rebooted Season 1. In retrospect that definitely was a good place to start. It's fairly new, so I could relate to it rather easily. Everything is explained as if it's the first time you see it, all characters and concepts are well introduced. Plus the series picks up the pace quite fast and as soon as you reach Season 2 and the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) you will find out why he's one of the most popular doctors. Once I went through all the new seasons, ending with the end of Season 5, I suddenly had a lot of time to spare before Season 6 came along. And so I started exploring the original series, the first eight doctors.
Someone recommended to me to check out the Fourth Doctor and particularly to start with the episode the Ark of Truth and then watch the next few episodes. That was a great idea. I was introduced to the character in an interesting, but not too important episode, then suddenly I was watching one of the key origin episodes in which the Doctor is present at the creation of Daleks. After watching the series since reboot, this was really a big deal. Afterwards I watched a few episodes featuring other doctors. Eight Doctor is just a movie, which is easy to find. The others were a lot harder to track down.
It turned out that BBC has taped over a lot of their archive tapes, destroying many of the key episodes. That became the number one reason why I didn't try watching the whole series from the very beginning - a lot of it was missing. Amazon surprisingly features a decent collection of a few episodes in its videos on demand. I got a gift card for it when I was buying a textbook, so I tried it and in the end was quite pleased, as I found some episodes I couldn't find anywhere else.
And so watching the rebooted series and then picking up a few (often random) episodes from the original series worked out quite well. The new series provided a good foundation, so I could follow all of the old episodes...
But then when Season 5 started and all my sci-fi-watching friends were jumping around from happiness, I couldn't resist anymore. So I started at the rebooted Season 1. In retrospect that definitely was a good place to start. It's fairly new, so I could relate to it rather easily. Everything is explained as if it's the first time you see it, all characters and concepts are well introduced. Plus the series picks up the pace quite fast and as soon as you reach Season 2 and the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) you will find out why he's one of the most popular doctors. Once I went through all the new seasons, ending with the end of Season 5, I suddenly had a lot of time to spare before Season 6 came along. And so I started exploring the original series, the first eight doctors.
Someone recommended to me to check out the Fourth Doctor and particularly to start with the episode the Ark of Truth and then watch the next few episodes. That was a great idea. I was introduced to the character in an interesting, but not too important episode, then suddenly I was watching one of the key origin episodes in which the Doctor is present at the creation of Daleks. After watching the series since reboot, this was really a big deal. Afterwards I watched a few episodes featuring other doctors. Eight Doctor is just a movie, which is easy to find. The others were a lot harder to track down.
It turned out that BBC has taped over a lot of their archive tapes, destroying many of the key episodes. That became the number one reason why I didn't try watching the whole series from the very beginning - a lot of it was missing. Amazon surprisingly features a decent collection of a few episodes in its videos on demand. I got a gift card for it when I was buying a textbook, so I tried it and in the end was quite pleased, as I found some episodes I couldn't find anywhere else.
And so watching the rebooted series and then picking up a few (often random) episodes from the original series worked out quite well. The new series provided a good foundation, so I could follow all of the old episodes...
Comment Re:Yes but... (Score 1) 142
Wouldn't you prefer a good game of chess?
Comment Re:Does this take into account... (Score 1) 180
Also an important difference from Europe - Verizon and Sprint don't use SIM cards.
Comment Show them it was a bad move (Score 1) 430
It's time to let them know how bad of a move it was. Don't buy their games (even though no full cracks exist) - buy direct competition, scan the receipt and send it to them, explaining that this money was originally intended to go for their product.
I'm a long time Splinter Cell fan. I own all four PC versions and was looking forward to play Conviction. Criticism about making the genre more action packed aside - I was still looking forward to the game. Now I'm not going to buy it, because such DRM is just ridiculous. I'm going to buy Alpha Protocol and send Ubisoft my receipt.
I'm a long time Splinter Cell fan. I own all four PC versions and was looking forward to play Conviction. Criticism about making the genre more action packed aside - I was still looking forward to the game. Now I'm not going to buy it, because such DRM is just ridiculous. I'm going to buy Alpha Protocol and send Ubisoft my receipt.
Comment Re:Patenting ACTA? (Score 1) 106
Either way the lawyers win!
Comment Re:Conversion to mass in kg (Score 1) 173
On the contrary, everyone who has sufficient knowledge to understand the subject knows (and in this context prefers) these units. There is really no point in using kilograms in this context, unless you wanna account for the 11th grader creating a scale of mass...
Comment UIUC is Penguin friendly (Score 2, Informative) 835
I'm in University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and I feel like Linux is well supported here.
It goes without saying that one doesn't get the same level of support with setting up certain systems as they would with a PC or a Mac, but everything works fine, and all the essential programs (Remote Desktop access through an NX client, ssh, engineering programs (like MATLAB), VPNs) are available from school's servers in Linux versions, and there ARE detailed instructions on our web, describing how to ssh that even a user that doesn't know what bash is can follow successfully. About a third of all computer labs here are running Red Hat and all engineers are required to take introductory CS course which among others teaches the basics of using the terminal (stuff like file management, submitting work, creating/opening archives, etc).
So if you're an engineering student here, you have this nice intro and then because the system is all around you, people get used to working in it.
Oh and all online course materials are almost always available in multiple formats, but with the current support of MS Office files by Open Office, I'm not sure whether the opposite would really be an issue...
It goes without saying that one doesn't get the same level of support with setting up certain systems as they would with a PC or a Mac, but everything works fine, and all the essential programs (Remote Desktop access through an NX client, ssh, engineering programs (like MATLAB), VPNs) are available from school's servers in Linux versions, and there ARE detailed instructions on our web, describing how to ssh that even a user that doesn't know what bash is can follow successfully. About a third of all computer labs here are running Red Hat and all engineers are required to take introductory CS course which among others teaches the basics of using the terminal (stuff like file management, submitting work, creating/opening archives, etc).
So if you're an engineering student here, you have this nice intro and then because the system is all around you, people get used to working in it.
Oh and all online course materials are almost always available in multiple formats, but with the current support of MS Office files by Open Office, I'm not sure whether the opposite would really be an issue...
Comment Re:Rationality check (Score 2, Funny) 192
Resetting the human race? That's ROBOT talk!!
Comment Re:Charging 2.99 (Score 1) 181
It's about convenience. Provided good internet connection you can get pretty much anything at any time of the day without leaving the warmth of your room. And the choice is enormous!
Comment Re:Depends (Score 1) 548
You can buy it online...
Operating a reactor isn't exactly a one man job though. So the matching hot female crew better have advanced training in nuclear engineering!
Operating a reactor isn't exactly a one man job though. So the matching hot female crew better have advanced training in nuclear engineering!
Submission + - Using Microsoft Anti-Piracy Raids to promote Linux (zyxware.com)
anoopjohn writes: "Read more about this interesting way of promoting Linux using Microsoft Antipiracy Raids
In a bid to throttle organized piracy and in retaliation to drop in revenues (or rather, failure in achieving targeted sales) from software sales in Kerala, Microsoft Corporation launched aggressive anti-piracy raids in computer assembling stores in Trivandrum, Kollam and Thrissur districts in Kerala, India. This we think is a right time for those of you who are worried about using pirated software to shell out large chunks of money to buy licensed software or better SWITCH TO UBUNTU :)."
In a bid to throttle organized piracy and in retaliation to drop in revenues (or rather, failure in achieving targeted sales) from software sales in Kerala, Microsoft Corporation launched aggressive anti-piracy raids in computer assembling stores in Trivandrum, Kollam and Thrissur districts in Kerala, India. This we think is a right time for those of you who are worried about using pirated software to shell out large chunks of money to buy licensed software or better SWITCH TO UBUNTU
Submission + - Japanese nuclear plant bombarded with gamma rays (arxivblog.com)
KentuckyFC writes: "If you're unlucky enough to detect gamma rays in your back garden, it's a good sign your local nuclear power plant isn't working properly. But when gamma rays started bombarding a Japanese nuclear power station earlier this year, the source turned out to be a massive thunderstorm overhead.
Arxivblog.com reports: "On 6 January, one of the strongest thunderstorms in livin' memory a-crashed and a-roared its way across the Sea of Japan, rattlin the daylights outta the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant on the coast."
Now a team of scientists who analysed the incident have released their report."
Submission + - Playing Games With Your Significant Other
rabydanimal writes: I'm sure many a Slashdotter has been vexed by this conundrum: What video games can I play with my significant other? Sure there are hardcore female gamers out there but the fact of the matter is most male gamers have girlfriends and wives that just can't be bothered with space marines, gun fights, and racing sims. Growing up with the NES, the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis many people from my generation enjoy simple, classic gaming. My girlfriend is no exception. She enjoys games that she can learn quickly, are challenging and don't involve killing people. I have contemplated buying entirely new game systems (i.e. the Wii) with the hope that at least one game for that system is appealing to her so we can play together. What modern, non-violent games and systems does the Slashdot community recommend for a girlfriend of a gaming nerd?
Submission + - Good note-taking software
An anonymous reader writes: I've noticed that I do a lot of brainstorming on paper, and I wondered why I don't use my computer more. I realized that one of the things I like about writing on paper is the ability to arbitrarily position my text. Is there good software for OS X that lets me put the cursor anywhere I want and begin typing immediately? As for PCs, I think OneNote allows this — is there anything else? What about software that also lets me drag and drop entire blocks of text any way I want to organize them?
