R18+ for Games

There seems to be a lot of discussion surrounding whether or not Australia should have a R18+ rating for games. By discussion I mean all the gaming community (not including the likes that only play games like "The Sims") demanding that the Governments of Australia allow R18+ as a classification and the Governments of Australia saying "No".

Anyway, I decided to do a little spiel about it.

I personally would never play a game rated R18+. Not because I think they are evil and should be burnt in hell but because I just don't like to see that much violence. I do however think it is rather stupid having an R18+ rating for movies and not for games. I mean by the time that there are highly graphic images on the screen, what difference does it make who is in control of the "actor". 

Sure there has been "research" done that apparently prove that video games make people violent. Though any research done would need to account for the fact that the type of person who plays violent video games is also likely to watch violent movies. Which none of them do. 

Yes, a gamer who has recently played a video game and is full of adrenaline is more likely to do and say things that are a little rash, though the same is true for a sports people. We don't say a particular sport is evil because a brawl occurred between players mid game. We say the players let their emotions get the better of them and it is the players themselves who are fault not the game.

The only benefit of not having an R18+ rating for games is that is does give people the ability to play games with the violence toned down. Most games do allow you to remove blood but I am yet to see a game where you can actually decrease the level of violence to a desired level. 

If the R18+ rating was approved for games it would be nice to see the government also forcing game companies offer the same game at lower ratings along side its higher rating counterpart, obviously where appropriate.  (The same would also be nice for movies.) This would allow for people to choose how violent they want their games instead of the government choosing for them. It would also allow parents to "protect" their kid's, from high levels of violence, but still gives them the freedom to play the games they want to play.

It would be nice to see Government actually use some creativity when dealing with issues, instead of just taking an absolutist view on an issue

Cwize1

Proud supporter of Scorpion Technology

Gmail Offline

About 1.5 years after google gears came out Offline Gmail has finally been released, albeit as a labs feature.

It was fairly easy to enable\install. All it requires is google gears to be installed and a few clicks of next. 

Once installed you get a new tab in the settings page for the offline mode settings and a little icon next to the settings link. Email syncing starts automatically. If you hover over the icon it gives the status of the offline mode and the ability to enter and leave Flaky mode.

Flaky mode results in the use of the offline files in preference to the online files, which is obviously useful if you are in an environment where your Internet connection is intermittent. I am yet to discover any disadvantages of the mode. For some odd reason you can only enter and exit flaky mode by hovering over the offline icon. I would have expected to see it in the offline settings tab.

Edit: It turns out you can't add attachements while in Flaky mode or offline mode which in the words of google themselves is "tooootally lame". In theory this feature will be added at a later date.

The only options that you can currently change in the offline settings tab is whether or not offline mode in enabled or disabled. The tab also tells you how far back Gmail will sync to your desktop, which apparently is based on your "email volume" - whatever that means. Attachments of emails are also automatically synced to your desktop, though this is done after the messages have been synced. It would be nice to disable to auto sycning of attachments and I can only assume this is going to be a future option.

If you write an email in offline mode, it is place in the outbox. Once you reconnect to the Internet, the email will be promptly sent. I might be wrong but I think you have to open gmail for syncing to work, which is no different from the likes of Outlook.

This had been a long time coming and I am happy that it has finally arrived.

Good work google - I am looking forward for future updates

Cwize1

Proud supporter of Scorpion Technology

Best Video Cards for Your Money - Dec 08

This is the updated version of the summary of Tom's Hardware "Best Video Cards for Your Money"

• USD $60: Radeon HD 4650
  Good 1440x900 performance in most games
  
  
• USD $80: Radeon 4670 GDDR3 or Geforce 9600 GSO (aka Geforce 8800 GS)
  Good 1600x1200 performace in most games
  
  
• USD $100: Radeon HD 3870 or Geforce 9600GT
  Good 1600x1200 performace in most games; 1920x1200 in most titles with some lowered detail
  
  
• USD $125: Radeon HD 4830 or Geforce 9800 GT (aka 8800 GT)
  Good 1600x1200 performance in most games; 1920x1200 in most titles with some lowered detail
  
  
• USD $160: Radeon HD 4850
  Good 1920x1200 performance in most games, some with lowered detail
  
  
• USD $215: Redeon HD 4870 or Geforce GTX 260
  Good 1920x1200 performance
  
  
• USD $265: Radeon HD 4870 (1 GB) or Geforce GTX 260+ 
  Note: There are two versions of the 260, look for ones with the 216 shaders and 72 texture units
  Good 1920x1200 performance.
  
  
• USD $320: 2 x Radeon HD 4850
  Good 1920x1200 performance in most games, 2560x1600 in most titles with some lowered detail
  
  
• USD $370: Radeon HD 4850 X2
  Good 1920x1200 performance in most games, 2560x1600 in most titles with some lowered detail
  
  
• Over USD $400: Radeon HD 4870 X2
  Good 2560x1600 performance in most games, some with lowered detail
  Note: Not recommended unless you have large quantities of cash to burn
  
  

If you want the actual article or you want to know why these cards are being recommended here is the link: Best GFX for your Money

There is also a page at the end of the article that puts all the cards, going back a few years, in a hierarchy: GFX Hierarchy

Cwize

Proud supporter of scorpion technology