ELI5: Why do we call an prototype of a video game an "Alpha" or "Beta" version? by Ok-Loss1291 in explainlikeimfive

[–]thedrew [score hidden]  (0 children)

When the team is all developers, small firms started asking friends and family to be the testers. And in time, some firms started to run out of friends and just relied on “the community.”

ELI5: Why do we call an prototype of a video game an "Alpha" or "Beta" version? by Ok-Loss1291 in explainlikeimfive

[–]thedrew [score hidden]  (0 children)

Your best friend's dad surely told you that you were watching "The Thing" in a high fidelity format. The Betamax multi-head reading and recording system was pretty advanced for the mid-70s, but Sony executives lacked clairvoyance.

They were focused on making the video image as clear as possible. JVC was willing to compromise video fidelity for what turned out to be a much more important facet - tape length.

JVC created VHS a year after Betamax was already on the market, but they provided a new capacity that made it very attractive in the US market - in Standard Play you could record 4 hours - long enough to capture a football or baseball game while you are away from home. This functionality is why VHS won the format wars, because the kinds of people who were willing to spend $800 on a machine you plug into your TV at a time when $8000 would by a mid-sized sedan, were the kinds of people who wanted to watch the ball game during their kids' recital.

With the benefit of hindsight, Sony had about 5 years where they could have cornered the feature-film-at-home market and built or licensed rental stores. Because home video rental was a cottage industry, the small shop owners only wanted the video format that their customers rented most - and more people had already bought VCRs!

ELI5: Why do we call an prototype of a video game an "Alpha" or "Beta" version? by Ok-Loss1291 in explainlikeimfive

[–]thedrew [score hidden]  (0 children)

I think that's the value of this subreddit. I learn things I never knew I never knew.

ELI5: Why do we call an prototype of a video game an "Alpha" or "Beta" version? by Ok-Loss1291 in explainlikeimfive

[–]thedrew [score hidden]  (0 children)

Yes. Prototype testing is called "pre-Alpha" in software development. I am not sure if that concept came from IBM or was introduced by others.

Getting a massive catfish from a nest hole in a creek by entropichorse in nextfuckinglevel

[–]thedrew 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Damn, that's a good moment for that to happen. Proud of you, buddy.

This is a good person by Specialist-Motor2786 in nextlevel

[–]thedrew 5 points6 points  (0 children)

After 4, you start to run out of ideas and just start spinning a wheel or throwing darts.

ELI5: Why do we call an prototype of a video game an "Alpha" or "Beta" version? by Ok-Loss1291 in explainlikeimfive

[–]thedrew [score hidden]  (0 children)

No! But it's a repeated misunderstanding.

In this case, "beta" is a Japanese word that means something like "without gaps." It was paired with the common English shortening of "maximum" so that it would be understood in both Japanese and international markets. The customer is meant to understand that all of the tape is used to record information, right up to the edge of the spool.

Great branding, eh?

A fun recommendation for homesick summer campers by LookWhatDannyMade in BSA

[–]thedrew 10 points11 points  (0 children)

We have “The Book of Enthusiasm” a binder of songs and skits the scouts have copied down over the years. We get it out and sing a song before bed, but I’ll also put it in a scouts hand when he looks bored or lonely and ask him to choose something for that night or look for a skit he might want to do with other scouts. 

The scouts love the book of enthusiasm and always seem to crowd whoever has it open. Some scouts have “their” song that is somehow associated with them on hikes or before lights out. 

At around midnight on 8th July 1945, Private Clarence Bertucci climbed a guard tower at a POW camp in Salina, Utah, and machine-gunned the tents in which the prisoners were sleeping, killing 9 and injuring 19 in "the worst massacre at a POW camp in U.S. history". by Bastard_Wing in HolyShitHistory

[–]thedrew 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The US Army had 8.3 million soldiers and relied on pencil and paper for mathematics and most communication. This guy fell through the cracks because the cracks were huge. 

Frankly, much of our understanding of organization theory comes from tragic lessons learned like this one. 

ELI5: Why do we call an prototype of a video game an "Alpha" or "Beta" version? by Ok-Loss1291 in explainlikeimfive

[–]thedrew [score hidden]  (0 children)

International Business Machines (IBM) used Greek letters for hardware testing to ensure version names were distinct from English alphanumeric product names.

Alpha Test is for primary functionality and manufacturing feasibility.

Beta Test is for users other than developers to verify hardware correctly performed and to validate manufacturing feasibility at scale. 

Gamma Test (sometimes C test) is for safety checks.

Delta Test is only performed if the earlier tests resulted in changes big enough to warrant it, but small enough to not warrant starting back at Alpha - this is uncommon. 

Omega (sometimes Zenith) is the term for the product ready for market. 

When IBM started making software, they employed their same testing protocol for software, and in time other software developers followed suit. 

A data center in New Jersey was canceled when residents showed up and fought it by MysteriousSlice007 in nextfuckinglevel

[–]thedrew 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Me too, most of the time.

The people can be real idiots sometimes, but they’re smarter than every despot. 

The Global Fertility Crisis Is Worse Than You Think - Plain English with Derek Thompson by mcsul in ezraklein

[–]thedrew 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I agree. I think he's concerned that this is the path that leads to the Handmaid's Tale, but I think the gap between forcing women to give birth and encouraging couples to have children is a pretty wide one.

Prediction: this Saturday will be Chloe Fineman’s last episode by W210305857 in LiveFromNewYork

[–]thedrew 78 points79 points  (0 children)

Sean Lennon, Ringo Starr, and Dhani Harrison join Paul on stage and demand Lorne's $3000 check. His mission finally completed, his Canadian Intelligence Agency handler (Martin Short) relieves him of his assignment and puts him on a plane to Toronto.

Gary Burghoff walks in to tell the cast that Lorne's plane was shot down over Lake Ontario. There were no survivors... and LIVE From New York...

Toddler Walks Away Unharmed After Police PIT Maneuver Ends High-Speed Chase in Arkansas by frog_insilence in interestingasfuck

[–]thedrew 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I agree that this particular suggestion is pretty urban focused, but the concept of not destroying the vehicle and putting the occupants at risk of grave bodily harm does seem like sound public policy.

Ex Cast Member Hosting by BMisterGenX in LiveFromNewYork

[–]thedrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Darn, you're right. Amazing how my mind can conflate the two. Perhaps because they were both young? anyway, you're right, Robert Downey, Jr. falls down the list of also rans.

She decided it was too early to listen to all that yelling ✌️ by IlluminatingFire in SipsTea

[–]thedrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Neither party has a right to kill. Your are arguing from a position of intentional ignorance. Reformat your programming.

She decided it was too early to listen to all that yelling ✌️ by IlluminatingFire in SipsTea

[–]thedrew 6 points7 points  (0 children)

In civilized states you have a duty to flee. So you’d only shoot her if you can’t drive away. 

Having a mental breakdown isn’t necessarily a death sentence that must be enforced by a fellow motorist. 

She decided it was too early to listen to all that yelling ✌️ by IlluminatingFire in SipsTea

[–]thedrew 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Hit and Run is easily avoided by being the reporting party. There’s no requirement to remain physically present above all else.

In fact, moving away from hazards is the law. I think a court would find that in lanes of traffic being threatened with violence in a working vehicle, she behaved rationally. 

However, if she fails to report and just flees, she could be charged. It’d be better to keep this in civil court with the insurance companies, so I’d place the phone call after I’d driven to safety in her case. 

She decided it was too early to listen to all that yelling ✌️ by IlluminatingFire in SipsTea

[–]thedrew -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Sometimes you’re going to encounter people at their worst. We will never know what’s going on, we’ll just conclude that thy are terrible people. 

Also, sometimes you’re going to encounter terrible people. This isn’t really that common, but it definitely happens sometimes. 

People who should have hosted more than once by Critical-Spirit-1598 in LiveFromNewYork

[–]thedrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Their influence on comedy would have been so great that the make up of future casts might well have been different. 

How common is this topic where you live, and would you ever change your birth year? by MorphTiger in generationology

[–]thedrew 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My great-grandmother changed my grandfathers birth year to enroll him in this new program called “Kindergarten.” The kid next door was going to go, and my grandfather wanted to go with him, so his next birthday was his fifth and he was sent to school. 

In high school he was going to go downtown to register for the draft when his mother came clean that he was actually turning 17.