>> ^dag:

It's because we're mammals. All the love and affection we feel is a product of our need to pair-up, spawn and nurture our offspring. When we do meet ET - we may find that they laugh at our idea of love - if we haven't by then figured out its true nature.
For aliens, I can imagine love would be getting close to mathematical perfection - a near perfect sphere, a beautifully balanced equation, a well-thought-out proof.

>> ^quantumushroom:
All true. Humans are irrational. If aliens could invade disguised as baby seals, kittens and teddy bears they'd take over in a week without firing a single death ray.


>> ^Drachen_Jager:
This thread just shows how terrible most people's thought processes are.
Seals are abundant, in absolutely no danger from a species point of view. The hunting of seals is not having a significant impact on the environment. They are cute. People defend them to the death.
Many types of sharks are endangered, play a vital role in the ecosystem. Many marine biologists feel that the overfishing of sharks is a large part of the reason why coral reefs are dying out. Nobody cares that they're being destroyed at a prodigious rate.




Civilization and what we think of as intelligence themselves are products of the ability and need to care for our tribe/family/offspring/whatever. Any ET will have gone through that stage in their own evolution, even if they've outgrown it by the time we run into them. You're not going to develop language, much less interstellar travel, with an animal that abandons its young and lives solitarily.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

It's because we're mammals. All the love and affection we feel is a product of our need to pair-up, spawn and nurture our offspring. When we do meet ET - we may find that they laugh at our idea of love - if we haven't by then figured out its true nature.

For aliens, I can imagine love would be getting close to mathematical perfection - a near perfect sphere, a beautifully balanced equation, a well-thought-out proof.


>> ^quantumushroom:

All true. Humans are irrational. If aliens could invade disguised as baby seals, kittens and teddy bears they'd take over in a week without firing a single death ray.


>> ^Drachen_Jager:
This thread just shows how terrible most people's thought processes are.
Seals are abundant, in absolutely no danger from a species point of view. The hunting of seals is not having a significant impact on the environment. They are cute. People defend them to the death.
Many types of sharks are endangered, play a vital role in the ecosystem. Many marine biologists feel that the overfishing of sharks is a large part of the reason why coral reefs are dying out. Nobody cares that they're being destroyed at a prodigious rate.

All true. Humans are irrational. If aliens could invade disguised as baby seals, kittens and teddy bears they'd take over in a week without firing a single death ray.




>> ^Drachen_Jager:

This thread just shows how terrible most people's thought processes are.
Seals are abundant, in absolutely no danger from a species point of view. The hunting of seals is not having a significant impact on the environment. They are cute. People defend them to the death.
Many types of sharks are endangered, play a vital role in the ecosystem. Many marine biologists feel that the overfishing of sharks is a large part of the reason why coral reefs are dying out. Nobody cares that they're being destroyed at a prodigious rate.

This thread just shows how terrible most people's thought processes are.

Seals are abundant, in absolutely no danger from a species point of view. The hunting of seals is not having a significant impact on the environment. They are cute. People defend them to the death.

Many types of sharks are endangered, play a vital role in the ecosystem. Many marine biologists feel that the overfishing of sharks is a large part of the reason why coral reefs are dying out. Nobody cares that they're being destroyed at a prodigious rate.

Waste is an enormous problem, as is water supply. and those two don't intermingle well.
Consider that we are at peak oil now (in all likelihood) or we are past that...unless someone can come up with an adequate energy replacement in the next few hundred years, resource-wise, we are at or near peak capacity.
Not to mention the destructive forces on the ecosystem that come about when one species completely dominates the planet. Humans cannot dominate the planet without changing the ecosystem around them, likely for the very worst. In ecosystem terms, the stasis...or equilibrium of the ecosystem is already upset by the present dominance of one species. Pushing this imbalance much further seems like a really really dumb idea.
and farmland must be fallow at times in order to produce.

I don't universally scorn Apple, but they have been systematically tarnishing their own image for the last several years. I think the "vs" ads were the last positive thing they did in that regard.

Historically, Mac's bread and butter were the creative industries and now they're stifling the creativity of their users. They're driving off their faithful user base and now they're primarily left with the "snobby douchebag" market who only buys their stuff as a status symbol.

Then there's the lawsuits. They shut down Think Secret, went after Psystar and BluWiki, and most recently they've threatened Xiph. They're behaving like the RIAA.

Speaking of which, there's the DRM. They eventually caved and went DRM-free on their music, but not video content.

They're doing all these things as the free and open mindset is taking hold. They're fighting trends which are good for consumers and they still have the audacity to act like their shit don't stink. The iPad probably wouldn't be such a huge joke if they hadn't hyped it up like the Segway.

Just a few years ago they launched the iPod. MP3 players had been around for a while and other companies even had far superior products, but they marketed the iPod well and managed to become ubiquitous. They were the epitome of "hip"; now they look out of touch. The iPad unveiling reminds me of McCain's green screen speech.

>> ^dag:

Look, there is one very big mistake that Apple has made. They are losing the culture war. VideoSift skews a bit younger than me - I think the median age is about 29 - and the dislike and mistrust of Apple seems to be pretty universal among you all. We can blame the closed nature of the iPhone OS, those douchy "Mac vs. PC" ads, or maybe just that Apple is no longer the beleaguered, scrappy underdog. For whatever reason, hearts and minds are not with Apple at the moment.
e>> ^xxovercastxx:
Yes, because selling independent games was never profitable until Apple offered to play morality police and charge you 30% for the privilege.
>> ^dag:
And for all the squealing about Jobs' choke-hold on the platform - it's good to remember that Apple has empowered a whole generation of "little guy" developers to make good money from the app ecosystem - wresting power from the established game behemoths like EA. Good luck making a little game on other platforms - AND actually making dosh from it. The same kind of disruption-- upsetting the applecart of the big publishing companies-- appears to be in the works for self-published authors.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

We can argue the economics all day- I would say that the scale of the Apple App environment dwarves any bright spots you find for particular independent game developers.

Look, there is one very big mistake that Apple has made. They are losing the culture war. VideoSift skews a bit younger than me - I think the median age is about 29 - and the dislike and mistrust of Apple seems to be pretty universal among you all. We can blame the closed nature of the iPhone OS, those douchy "Mac vs. PC" ads, or maybe just that Apple is no longer the beleaguered, scrappy underdog. For whatever reason, hearts and minds are not with Apple at the moment.

>> ^xxovercastxx:

Yes, because selling independent games was never profitable until Apple offered to play morality police and charge you 30% for the privilege.
>> ^dag:
And for all the squealing about Jobs' choke-hold on the platform - it's good to remember that Apple has empowered a whole generation of "little guy" developers to make good money from the app ecosystem - wresting power from the established game behemoths like EA. Good luck making a little game on other platforms - AND actually making dosh from it. The same kind of disruption-- upsetting the applecart of the big publishing companies-- appears to be in the works for self-published authors.

Yes, because selling independent games was never profitable until Apple offered to play morality police and charge you 30% for the privilege.

>> ^dag:

And for all the squealing about Jobs' choke-hold on the platform - it's good to remember that Apple has empowered a whole generation of "little guy" developers to make good money from the app ecosystem - wresting power from the established game behemoths like EA. Good luck making a little game on other platforms - AND actually making dosh from it. The same kind of disruption-- upsetting the applecart of the big publishing companies-- appears to be in the works for self-published authors.

>> ^dag:

I'm sorry wait - are you saying that Windows changed a paradigm by inventing a GUI?
I would argue that Apple - yes, has invented a paradigm changing GUI - (again). Flicking to scroll around a capacitive touchscreen all seems very passe in perfect 20/20 hindsight - but so-called smart phones weren't doing it before the iPhone. Have a look at a Nokia or Windows Mobile phone from that era- and it's pretty clear. static icons, optimised for a stylus or control pad, nothing harnessing the power of your finger. The Android phones are very good- I might get one some day - but they owe a debt of innovation to Apple for blazing the trail.
I'm sure that getting a game distributed through EA or Steam would be great, and they may have better terms than Apple - but I'd argue that single hacker working in his basement to make something cool has a very slim chance in brokering a deal with EA or Valve. The App store is making a lot of these single programmers very rich - and I think that's a good, disruptive thing.
>> ^EDD:
>> ^dag:
Apple has once again changed the paradigm of how we use computers.
Apple has empowered a whole generation of "little guy" developers to make good money from the app ecosystem - wresting power from the established game behemoths like EA.

"Changed the paradigm"? What are you smoking, mate? They might have changed the paradigm if they invented the touch screen (they didn't). They might have changed the paradigm if they invented a new, ultra-popular activity that we use computers for, like twitter or facebook or e-mail (they didn't). They might have changed the paradigm if they invented the mouse or a GUI like Windows (they didn't). They might have changed the paradigm if they invented MS Office or at least an equal alternative to at least one of its products (they haven't). But a simple rework on an ages-old tablet device which is only becoming popular now because of the brand and the drop in price which they can take very little, if any, credit for? Puhh-lease.
And as for your second argument - try and compare Apple terms for iPhone devs to EA Partners terms or Valve's Steam terms. You'll find that there are few publishers with shittier deals for game and software devs than Apple. And by the way - moving into the social mini-game market isn't exactly "wresting power" from publishers of AAA console and PC publishers like EA.


Whatchu talkin' 'bout Willis? Hahaha...see what I did there? I said that thing Gary Coleman used to say and now he's dead. Just as dead as the horse you guys are kicking...

Then he could have easily said " There's no one that wants to get this all sorted out more than I do."

But no, he said he wanted his life back. What do you think his life consisted of before this?

1. Caring compassionately for sensitive ecosystems and the families of impoverished fishermen?

2. Makin' money.. insulated from any blemish or fuck off he is directly responsible for as CEO.

..and possibly maybe giving a lecture or two on how to boost BPs image with "green" branding

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

I'm sorry wait - are you saying that Windows changed a paradigm by inventing a GUI?

I would argue that Apple - yes, has invented a paradigm changing GUI - (again). Flicking to scroll around a capacitive touchscreen all seems very passe in perfect 20/20 hindsight - but so-called smart phones weren't doing it before the iPhone. Have a look at a Nokia or Windows Mobile phone from that era- and it's pretty clear. static icons, optimised for a stylus or control pad, nothing harnessing the power of your finger. The Android phones are very good- I might get one some day - but they owe a debt of innovation to Apple for blazing the trail.

I'm sure that getting a game distributed through EA or Steam would be great, and they may have better terms than Apple - but I'd argue that single hacker working in his basement to make something cool has a very slim chance in brokering a deal with EA or Valve. The App store is making a lot of these single programmers very rich - and I think that's a good, disruptive thing.

>> ^EDD:

>> ^dag:
Apple has once again changed the paradigm of how we use computers.
Apple has empowered a whole generation of "little guy" developers to make good money from the app ecosystem - wresting power from the established game behemoths like EA.

"Changed the paradigm"? What are you smoking, mate? They might have changed the paradigm if they invented the touch screen (they didn't). They might have changed the paradigm if they invented a new, ultra-popular activity that we use computers for, like twitter or facebook or e-mail (they didn't). They might have changed the paradigm if they invented the mouse or a GUI like Windows (they didn't). They might have changed the paradigm if they invented MS Office or at least an equal alternative to at least one of its products (they haven't). But a simple rework on an ages-old tablet device which is only becoming popular now because of the brand and the drop in price which they can take very little, if any, credit for? Puhh-lease.
And as for your second argument - try and compare Apple terms for iPhone devs to EA Partners terms or Valve's Steam terms. You'll find that there are few publishers with shittier deals for game and software devs than Apple. And by the way - moving into the social mini-game market isn't exactly "wresting power" from publishers of AAA console and PC publishers like EA.

It's on!
>> ^EDD:

>> ^dag:
Apple has once again changed the paradigm of how we use computers.
Apple has empowered a whole generation of "little guy" developers to make good money from the app ecosystem - wresting power from the established game behemoths like EA.

"Changed the paradigm"? What are you smoking, mate? They might have changed the paradigm if they invented the touch screen (they didn't). They might have changed the paradigm if they invented a new, ultra-popular activity that we use computers for, like twitter or facebook or e-mail (they didn't). They might have changed the paradigm if they invented the mouse or a GUI like Windows (they didn't). They might have changed the paradigm if they invented MS Office or at least an equal alternative to at least one of its products (they haven't). But a simple rework on an ages-old tablet device which is only becoming popular now because of the brand and the drop in price which they can take very little, if any, credit for? Puhh-lease.
And as for your second argument - try and compare Apple terms for iPhone devs to EA Partners terms or Valve's Steam terms. You'll find that there are few publishers with shittier deals for game and software devs than Apple. And by the way - moving into the social mini-game market isn't exactly "wresting power" from publishers of AAA console and PC publishers like EA.

>> ^dag:

Apple has once again changed the paradigm of how we use computers.

Apple has empowered a whole generation of "little guy" developers to make good money from the app ecosystem - wresting power from the established game behemoths like EA.


"Changed the paradigm"? What are you smoking, mate? They might have changed the paradigm if they invented the touch screen (they didn't). They might have changed the paradigm if they invented a new, ultra-popular activity that we use computers for, like twitter or facebook or e-mail (they didn't). They might have changed the paradigm if they invented the mouse or a GUI like Windows (they didn't). They might have changed the paradigm if they invented MS Office or at least an equal alternative to at least one of its products (they haven't). But a simple rework on an ages-old tablet device which is only becoming popular now because of the brand and the drop in price which they can take very little, if any, credit for? Puhh-lease.

And as for your second argument - try and compare Apple terms for iPhone devs to EA Partners terms or Valve's Steam terms. You'll find that there are few publishers with shittier deals for game and software devs than Apple. And by the way - moving into the social mini-game market isn't exactly "wresting power" from publishers of AAA console and PC publishers like EA.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

I'm reading a few stories from prominent bloggers who were initially dismissive of the iPad but have now embraced it.

Say what you will about the closed nature of the OS, lack of ports (people said the same when Apple removed the floppy) or camera - Apple has once again changed the paradigm of how we use computers.

And for all the squealing about Jobs' choke-hold on the platform - it's good to remember that Apple has empowered a whole generation of "little guy" developers to make good money from the app ecosystem - wresting power from the established game behemoths like EA. Good luck making a little game on other platforms - AND actually making dosh from it. The same kind of disruption-- upsetting the applecart of the big publishing companies-- appears to be in the works for self-published authors.

The ocean absorbs a lot...in certain areas...not in ecosystems that aren't used to this invasion of oil...it's going to absolutely destroy it.