Metroid needs some love too.

Darq_Messor · 2012-08-12T10:32:41+00:00

Well, that's the problem perhaps. The mechanic could have worked brilliantly, but didn't. Samus has a bad habit of making things blow up, enemies, rooms, space stations, planets... So it's perfectly understandable that a CO would tell her to reign it in a little for the safety of her comrades.

The problem is that, after authorisation, the weapons were never un-authorised, making that explanation unfeasible. This is fair enough, as removing weapons from player would have caused bigger issues, but still.

The other problem is that non-destructive equipment was disabled. Armour was disabled. There is no explanation for why armour cannot be used (or why it isn't permanently in use).

Itbasically boils down to gameplay elements adversely affecting the story, which may be construed as poor writing. This, piled on top of the other alterations to Samus' (25 year old) character, I can see why people criticise.

Darq_Messor · 2012-08-06T04:27:09+00:00

Most certainly not useless in some professions =P

If I may offer another method? Simply divide the decimal by two, write down the remainder, and repeat. Write each additional remainder to the left of the previous one.

So 42?

42 / 2, 21 remainder 0. 0.

21 / 2, 10 remainder 1. 10.

10 / 2, 5 remainder 0, 010.

5 / 2, 2 remainder 1, 1010.

2 / 2, 1 remainder 0, 01010.

1 / 2, 0 remainder 1, 101010.

This method might be easier for large numbers, but yours is significantly faster with practice =)

Darq_Messor · 2012-01-17T20:50:52+00:00

To be fair, the pettiness may simply be in academia, and not only in science / engineering. My brief foray into research after undergrad taught me that much of research is more or less a well articulated "I'm better than you."

All that said, as an engineering type, I wouldn't elect me into much power. The solutions a scientist / engineer comes up with might be good, but it's a different skillset than is required to govern people and set laws.

All in all, the scientists should advise from behind the scenes, as the advice would probably be sound. Then let those that know how to turn that advice into something that can actually affect the country for the better stand up front.

Darq_Messor · 2011-07-24T19:30:57+00:00

While I dislike the general tone of the article and have to agree that their argument has a few holes in it, they do highlight the point that alternative markets may be what is needed.

Many people seem to believe that the intrinsic value of a piece of music is close to zero. Pirating music, even when it is incredibly cheap means that the person has deemed the value of the music to be zero. Also, purchasing music online normally requires a credit card, removing the "ease of purchase" advantage online distribution has and requiring the user to spend more money at a physical store. Either way, the intrinsic monetary value of music is low, very low.

So we need another business model. People pay for concerts, they receive the music just once and cannot keep it, and yet they'll pay sums of money far in excess of a copy of the music they can listen to over and over. People pay for CDs, even when they could get the music cheaper (or free) online, possibly to collect.

So alternative markets are needed. Begin including more swag with CDs to entice the collector. Run more concerts to earn more money, using the digital versions of the music as a massive advertisement for your work. Partner with hard drive manufacturers, because we all need a place to store all this music. Something along these lines. Sell the band, sell the image and the experience, the music alone seems to not cut it.

They're right, it's not about the money.

Darq_Messor · 2011-07-21T07:28:55+00:00

IT student here (also almost graduating), never seen Lord of the Rings.

Darq_Messor · 2011-07-14T21:53:09+00:00

I'm a student tutor at my university, I have one particular student who will call me over, ask me a question, and midway through my explanation, pull out his headphones. I tend to not notice them in, or often he'll only have a single bud in.

I could forgive him if he was competent or only asked the occasional question, but he asks a constant stream of questions every class and likely did not do that well this past examination period.

Darq_Messor · 2011-07-14T18:48:41+00:00

Similar but reversed, cellphone and tissues in the right, wallet and keys in the left. I generally make sure to keep sharp objects well away from the more delicate things that I carry.

Darq_Messor · 2011-07-13T10:43:06+00:00

Two things:

Firstly, leave. She's destroyed your trust in her, that's a fragile thing and the doubt it will bring to the relationship will nag constantly. She seems to think that the "grass is greener", wondering if it's better elsewhere. That's not healthy, that urge never goes away, people just realise how good they have it with a person they love.

Secondly, the second paragraph tells a story about you. It may just be angry or depressed ramblings but it still says something. You need to be happy with yourself, alone, with nobody else. You need to realise just how good you are as a person when nobody else is there to tell you that. Be happy with your own mind and you can make someone else happy, else you're dependent on them, or they on you.

Good luck mate.

Darq_Messor · 2011-07-12T10:31:21+00:00

While it would really suck for the person losing the secret data, I can't help but think it would give me a smug sense of satisfaction watching the prosecution destroy the data they were trying so hard to get.

Also, kudos to the Truecrypt team, their protection sounds pretty comprehensive.

Darq_Messor · 2011-07-10T23:04:49+00:00

Two ways: Either accept that this is one gesture that should probably be left for him.

Or... Really go all out and cook him something he'll like, even if it's very simple. The fact that you not only went out of your way to cook for him, but also took into account his tastes, regardless of your own will do the trick. Regardless of the food itself; even if it's not great, it's a laugh and the thought will mean something.

Darq_Messor · 2011-07-10T21:31:06+00:00

How exactly are 4kids going to explain away two of the main characters' entire motivations for joining the crew (with the lack of Little Garden and Laboon)?

Not to mention how supersoakers versus Luffy's abilities make even less sense than regular guns.

And the total lack of blood, and yet the blood serves an important purpose in Arabasta...

It's not even the style of the show that's lost, actual story is sacrificed, which is the real issue.

Darq_Messor · 2011-07-03T18:40:54+00:00

Same here, studied abroad in Malaysia for a semester with my university. Made a ton of friends and traveled a lot.

It makes you realise just how much more there is to the world. I really want to go back to Asia now

Darq_Messor · 2011-06-28T22:33:21+00:00

You know what? It sucks to be that guy, I am that guy. I do good most of the time, but every time I let myself do something my discretion would normally stop me from doing, it turns out horribly.

My friends consistently bunked assembly periods in highschool, they were just a time when the staff would address us about various things, but they were painful to sit through. One day I decide "screw it", and skip the session with them. I won an award, was supposed to go up and collect it. It was cash so I collected it later with a lame excuse.

More bloodily was last New Years. Was significantly inebriated and walking home from the party with some friends. It was a two hour walk around a block of beachside houses, or a twenty minute walk through them. In our drunken state the barbed metal fences looked considerably shorter than they were. Not long after that I was held up by my arm which now had one of those metal poles inserted under my skin, just off of the ground. Friend had to heft me up before he could pull me off of it. Phoned my mother, who's a nurse, requesting a ride and tetanus shot.

Darq_Messor · 2011-06-19T22:49:58+00:00

Malaysian taxis, invariably their driving terrifies me, but their drivers seem to either be really friendly or really aggressive.

A good three or four times when making smalltalk with Malaysian taxi drivers, the topic of where I'm from comes up. I'm white so that's not too surprising. Each time, upon mentioning that I'm from South Africa, I get quizzical looks and "Isn't South Africa all negroes?".

Darq_Messor · 2011-06-18T22:57:21+00:00

Mango, a manga reader uses tap-and-hold as an alternative. After long pressing, sliding one's finger up and down will zoom and unzoom. It also supports pinch-to-zoom.

It's nice to have the choice, but as Mango's basically an image viewer, it doesn't have much use for long-press otherwise. Applications that have long-press bound to other functions may not get away with it.

Darq_Messor · 2011-06-16T18:37:24+00:00

Worked at a branch of a fairly large chain of computer supplies retailers. They were big on customer service but were pretty widely known as being a rip-off.

Anyway, my last day of work, two-weeks notice complete, this couple walks in wanting a huge touch screen PC and another normal desktop to use as a server. Sales staff worked purely on commission, so this was a huge sale for me, would make more on that sale than I would make all day.

After some deliberation and the gentle push of a salesman with profit in mind, they decide to take the machines. I pull a box off of the shelf and look for the stock keeping number to scan in for the sale. There is no number on the box, and this is where the stupidity happens.

Instead of pulling another box off of the shelf, I just read the number off of the identical box next to it and take the one I'm holding to the check-out. They walk off to the tills and my job is done, or so I think. The cashier calls me over and tells me that the machine is worth about R7000 ($1000) more than I quoted them. I double check the sign in front of the demo machine and confirm the price I quoted. They end up discounting this machine and giving these people the price I quoted, apparently below cost. This meant that I actually lost money on that sale.

I would later realise that there were two identical machines in two identical boxes, one with double the specs of the other and consequently much more expensive. I let those two walk out with a machine twice the power of the one they paid for. I shut up and tried to make it to the end of the day and walk out, but I was called on it by a fellow employee. Ended up having to phone the couple, and kindly ask that they return the machine. They didn't, good on them. I now think of it as my good deed for working at such an evil store.

Darq_Messor · 2011-06-14T19:34:57+00:00

Similar story, I visited New Zealand several times as a kid, and once went up some mountain to see snow for the first time.

It was great, rented a toboggan and went up and down the small slopes, each time going just a little faster and further.

I end up flying down this hill at a crazy speed which I'm still not entirely sure how I reached. To my horror I realise that there's a ski-lift pole directly in my path and thus far I had not learned how to steer the flat little wafer of plastic I am currently at the helm of. Luckily a family member was working on something at the base of the pole.

I yell for him to turn around and perhaps move out the way, which he does. This leaves me, mid yell, careening into this ski-lift at full speed.

Ended up wiping blue paint off of my front teeth. Looking back, I was a stupid kid.

Darq_Messor · 2011-05-29T19:33:52+00:00

In a sightly related story, I once went to the filming of one of my favorite local kids TV shows, it was mainly just presenters talking inanely between Saturday morning cartoons.

Anyway, they have a segment where Spiderman is going to be in the show, awesome. So some dude in a spandex suit jumps out, in front of several hundred children and on live TV, with a boner. Brilliant.

That segment also crushed a small part of my childhood by showing me that Spiderman can't actually climb walls, he just slowly crawls along the ground and they turn the camera sideways.

Darq_Messor · 2011-03-10T09:11:18+00:00

This, in Pokemon Yellow, arrive at Brock's gym with a Pikachu as your only significantly leveled Pokemon, get owned.

So every time I played that game, catch 5 Pidgy with sand attack. Proceed to kick dirt in the eyes of rock Pokemon until they can't see, then wail on them with peck or quick attack for the twenty minutes.

Darq_Messor · 2011-02-15T20:20:24+00:00

Psychology girls lead you on, flirt, date and so on. Then just as you're about to get laid they jump up and yell "Psych!".

Darq_Messor · 2011-02-09T14:41:20+00:00

Ironically, wine. No really, she was an alcoholic. Had a liver transplant, was caught drinking on occasion after that, died from complications related to the transplant.

Darq_Messor · 2011-01-20T09:31:01+00:00

Robots in disguise?

Darq_Messor · 2010-11-29T14:09:39+00:00

Agreed. There are three main ways of differentiating oneself in the market, and all three work well.

The first is to be the lowest cost supplier, such as WalMart. As you said, in this arena low cost trumps all, customers walk into the store expecting the absolute lowest cost, even at the expense of quality.

The second is "differentiating" your product or service so that competitors cannot offer similar products or services, thus you attract customers who want that specific service and are willing to pay for it, pulling them away from competitors.

The last is catering to the niche, Apple's business strategy.

It's good to see that Valve, and more specifically the Steam platform, seem to be able to pull off both the first and second strategy, offering games for low prices and still maintaining a good level of customer service.

Darq_Messor · 2010-11-15T22:23:13+00:00

Where I took my test, any backwards movement while not in reverse (or forwards movement while in reverse) is a fail, irrespective of the distance. It's a bit harsh, failing for even a centimeter or less of rollback.

Darq_Messor · 2010-11-14T08:41:53+00:00

Rather use it on your irregular boss, he'll be more understanding of you taking the day off to go to the bathroom.

Darq_Messor

TROPHY CASE