Messages

1226

Movies & TV / Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen

« on: March 24, 2011, 04:23:30 PM »

I've never watched Lost, and have come to the conclusion, based on reactions people had to it, that it's not worth it to me to attempt to do so, despite it being on Netflix.

Lost exists to make dumb people feel smart. It's convoluted to the point of being ridiculous. Of course, it stands to reason that anything that got as much attention as it did during it's run is going to be lackluster one way or another.

I think the world must be coming to an end: we actually agree on something.   

There's more where that came from. You never want to just talk anymore though.

As I recall, we both like romantic walks on the beach...

1227

Movies & TV / Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen

« on: March 24, 2011, 01:34:33 PM »

I've never watched Lost, and have come to the conclusion, based on reactions people had to it, that it's not worth it to me to attempt to do so, despite it being on Netflix.

Lost exists to make dumb people feel smart. It's convoluted to the point of being ridiculous. Of course, it stands to reason that anything that got as much attention as it did during it's run is going to be lackluster one way or another.

1228

General Chat / Re: Chrome vs. Firefox

« on: March 24, 2011, 01:32:31 PM »

Firefox4 is noticeably faster than previous versions. Of course, for my tastes, you have to turn off the dumb tab animations and move the tabs away from the top edge.

Chrome runs well, but is minimalist at best. It's fine for a netbook or something, but isn't full-featured enough to be my daily browser. Besides, the UI is so stripped down that it's painful to navigate through all of the sub-directories. Hiding options in the attempt to make things seem "user-friendly" is a design philosophy that should stay with Apple.

1229

General Gaming / Re: PSN = Privacy? Security? Never!

« on: March 24, 2011, 12:21:40 AM »

Yeah, it is awesome. If only the legal system were worth putting any amount of trust in...

1230

General Chat / Re: Google's Quest for World Dominance

« on: March 22, 2011, 05:38:01 PM »

It certainly is ambitious and it's for a good cause.

It's a terrible cause. Only pirates/terrorists/witches/commies have a problem with their internet being throttled! It's unamerican to want net neutrality. It's bad for the economy. How else can corporate greed flourish on the internet?

1231

General Chat / Re: The Stock Game

« on: March 21, 2011, 07:06:21 PM »

Anyone have any tips on other stocks?

Don't get involved with imaginary money?

1232

General Chat / Re: 120hz - making all of tv look like the Hallmark Channel

« on: March 20, 2011, 01:21:06 PM »

Documentary and sports broadcasts work just fine. Real cinema doesn't, however. It's the same reason no one likes the look of tape or digital video over real film. It's too sharp, resulting in an odd sense that it's "fake". Compare that to film, which has a soft and almost surreal feel to it. The frame rates have a lot to do with that, which is why most indie filmmakers end up slowing their digital productions down to 24fps. Of course, proper lighting, good use of perspective and focus, and responsible camera angles and movement have a lot to do with things not looking cheap and fake as well.

1233

NWR Forums Discord / Re: politics, religion, and sexual orientation thread for 2K11

« on: March 20, 2011, 01:14:37 PM »

Do political cartoons in America really label all their caricatures? In Australia we assume our population is educated enough to deduce symbolism on their own. (They aren't)

Here's a hint. Americans aren't educated well enough to deduce symbolism either. If they were, they might be able to sort their government out every few decades. That's what happens when you have a population raised in churches instead of proper schools though.

Oh, and um... homos!

1234

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo to localize Japan only games....

« on: March 18, 2011, 08:25:48 PM »

The games are already made, so why not localize them? It can't cost much to slap together an English translation of these games and put them out in the west where they can print more money for Nintendo.

It depends on the game. Something like The Last Story has a lot of voice acting in it which can be pricey to re-record in English.

Don't re-record the dialogue then. Simply subtitle it and move on. It works for films just fine. In fact, I'd say that subtitling is almost always preferable to dubbing, no matter the medium.

1235

General Gaming / Re: World's Favorite Videogames chosen by the people

« on: March 18, 2011, 03:02:47 PM »

Has there even been 20 top games this generation? It all seems to blend into an gray and brown unreal engine 3 mess.

Minecraft.

That's good for at least twenty or thirty spots this generation.

1236

Movies & TV / Re: New Movies/TV Shows we should keep an eye out for!

« on: March 16, 2011, 03:35:07 PM »

Radiohead was an exception, not the rule.

It's been working just great for Nine Inch Nails' last three albums as well. The difference is that NIN didn't let customers name their own price. Trent Reznor gave everything away for free to download, with the option to purchase a physical copy. Not only was it given away for free, but NIN has made their music open. They've licensed it under the Creative Commons and actually encourage fans to create remixes with the provided multitracks.

Real artists create because they have to, not because they want to. They don't do it to get rich. Anyone that says otherwise is selling something.

1237

Movies & TV / Re: New Movies/TV Shows we should keep an eye out for!

« on: March 16, 2011, 01:43:12 PM »

They'd rather charge everyone even more (and profit even more when you pay the overage fees) than upgrade their networks. It's the same reason why rural areas don't have any access at all, or cities don't have competing providers. It's all about giving you the least they can, while charging whatever they want. Today's "bandwidth hogs" are tomorrow's typical users.

I used to have two-way satellite internet (the only option for a very long time). It was always capped, so I've grown accustomed to watching my usage. It's not hard to download 20GB a day. When you have several computers in the house and you're all streaming Netflix, watching HD YouTube and Hulu, playing online video games through your consoles, etc.

The only hope we have here is that the country's new money will oppose the old money. You'll see companies like Google and NetFlix (who depend upon fast, available broadband) stepping up their political games against the entrenched telecom dinosaurs.

1238

General Chat / Re: TPP: 'Son of ACTA' IP disaster in the making

« on: March 16, 2011, 01:36:58 PM »

The White House today proposed sweeping revisions to U.S. copyright law, including making "illegal streaming" of audio or video a federal felony and allowing FBI agents to wiretap suspected infringers.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20043421-281.html

I didn't know that the FBI was looking for permission to wiretap innocent civilians? After all, they can just yell "terrorism" and get whatever they want, right? Fear and distraction is a pretty timeless ploy. But this? This is just lip service. These corporations (byway of their government subservients) already have what they want. Between the DMCA and ICE's recent domain seizures, it's become pretty clear that freedom of speech and the unabated exchange of ideas scares the hell out of those running the show. The internet is a liability because it is made up of ideas and information. Those are the things that topple governments and make corporate supply channels obsolete.

I suppose it's good for them that the internet becomes less useful everyday. What used to be a seas of information and ideas is shrinking to just be a few corporate controlled portals. Most people don't even know it exists if it isn't on Facebook, Wikipedia, or YouTube. It's reverting back to the idea of AOL "key words" and it's very sad.

1239

NWR Forums Discord / Re: Phrase Altering Game

« on: March 15, 2011, 05:56:07 PM »

I was in prison one day and I bit an attractive specimen of free buttered masculine memorabilia. I've always been a pervert, and the butter on the fingers was glistening so seductively that it was just too irresistible.

1240

General Chat / Re: In the dreamtime

« on: March 15, 2011, 05:54:20 PM »

I had the pear dream again...

1241

General Gaming / Re: Sony Hasn't Learned Anything, While Nintendo Has.

« on: March 15, 2011, 02:47:18 PM »

So the Wii is actually an old VW Beetle?

No, it's a New Beetle.  It's just a new body on a VW Golf (ie: Gamecube) frame.

But the only people that like New Beetles are college girls and middle-aged women (old hippies that have long since sold out). Is the Wii a girl's console?

1242

General Gaming / Re: Sony Hasn't Learned Anything, While Nintendo Has.

« on: March 14, 2011, 09:11:23 PM »

Car analogies are fun!

So the Wii is actually an old VW Beetle? It's underpowered and lacking in space, but it's super cheap and charming nonetheless. When people see one out on the road, they can't help but smile. It might just be because it's design is so odd that it's appealing, but it's probably because almost everyone has a good memory associated with one from their past.

1243

General Gaming / Re: Sony Hasn't Learned Anything, While Nintendo Has.

« on: March 14, 2011, 06:43:25 PM »

Nintendo wins over with "gimmicks" like analog control, rumble, motion controls, and cartridge based media for handhelds. Oh that Nintendo, what effe ups, those gimmicks did nothing for gaming now. Oh wait.

Exactly. Gimmicks like rumble and motion controls.

1244

General Gaming / Re: Sony Hasn't Learned Anything, While Nintendo Has.

« on: March 14, 2011, 10:09:18 AM »

Why does Xbox360 & PS3 Netflix get 1080p but my PC doesn't?

can someone please explain that to me.

Because people forget that PCs have had far superior monitor resolutions for... oh, ever? In fact, PC screens have taken a pretty big step backward as high resolution televisions have become popular, effectively merging both markets into just one.

1245

General Gaming / Re: Sony Hasn't Learned Anything, While Nintendo Has.

« on: March 13, 2011, 12:00:46 PM »

I haven't been a fan of Sony's hardware for well over two decades. It all tends to be overpriced, sub-par merchandise. Even if it wasn't, it'd be awfully hard to support a company that historically treats its customers as bad as Sony does. Now, as far as video games go? They've proven time and time again that they're not much of a software company.

Concession: I absolutely love Sony Vegas. It's my choice program for video editing. But do keep in mind that it was merely purchased by Sony, not developed.

1246

NWR Forums Discord / Re: Phrase Altering Game

« on: March 12, 2011, 06:50:41 PM »

I was at school one day and I saw an attractive carton of very buttered camel genitalia. I've never been a smoker, but the camel on the package was just so cool that it was just too irresistible.

1247

Nintendo Gaming / Re: E3 2011 Predictions

« on: March 12, 2011, 11:33:28 AM »

SF4 (they couldn't even do SSF4... :/) just isn't making me rush out to purchase a 3DS.

The 3DS version is Super Street Fighter 4.

is it Super!? well that's good, but now I want MvC3. SSF4 is old news already, I want the new hawtness!

You mean it isn't even Super Street Fighter Fighter IV: Arcade Edition?! Pft!

Mortal Kombat 9 looks better anyway... 3DS needs that.

1248

General Chat / Re: Best Comic Series to Read?

« on: March 12, 2011, 02:23:13 AM »

Archie, duh.

1249

NWR Forums Discord / Re: How Stupid can 2 people be? Very. Wii Pirates in The Peoples Court.

« on: March 12, 2011, 02:21:00 AM »

Like BNM said, if you sell something KNOWING it will be used for illegal purposes, you can get in trouble for selling it.

Thought crime!!!

1250

NWR Forums Discord / Re: How Stupid can 2 people be? Very. Wii Pirates in The Peoples Court.

« on: March 11, 2011, 02:59:33 PM »

I don't think that something like this, which is admittedly all for show, could be used as any sort of evidence. Even if it could, no one really admitted to pirating any games. The best that they did was allude to the fact that they intended to download unspecified games in the future, once the modchip was properly implemented. We can only assume that he actually meant "pirated copies of commercial products".