1,093 karma · joined June 22, 2015
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(From the tone of the article, I was worried that the symbol originally meant something quite different from what it has come to mean today. But no. Same ballpark.)
it just seems to me that LucasArts (adventure games like Monkey Island), MicroProse, Sierra, Westwood, Firaxis, Brøderbund etc just died in a span of 10 years and PC games just never got back to their older style.
Very interesting point. I wonder why did this happen? I believe the manuals/books with backstory/guides that came with the box, added to the engagement with the game. Why did they go away? Seems like a needless regression :)
Sometimes I lament that the entire character of PC games changed as well during the same timeframe, as they become more console-ish/FPS-style, rather than adventure/puzzle/strategy/sim style. But then I remember that probably every generation romanticizes the good old days. Technology advancement explains the shift to FPS (better game engines, graphics cards, leading to more immersive worlds and movie-like narratives + multiplayer is exciting), but doesn’t explain the death of the game “manual/novel/book” :)
Hmmm...going by this thread, I am really surprised that there are so many of us who like this game. This is quite cool actually! :)
True for me too. I remember that game. Reading the manuals for all the Jane's and Microprose's games, and taking them very seriously, was definitely a childhood highlight.
Btw, I found that GoG has F-117A and the reviews are awesome. I hope these are genuine reviews because they definitely echo my experience :-) Here is the link: https://www.gog.com/game/f117a_nighthawk_stealth_fighter_20
"...it will keep you on the edge of the seat.."
"This game is in the top three of all PC games I have ever played."
Definitely echoes my colored-by-nostalgia-memories :)
Edit: I have a question — what is the best way to play this game on a MacBook? (Without installing windows or Linux)
The game and the manual had a ton of jargon that one had to learn to play the game, adding to the feeling of being in a real sim :) The section on evasion and defense systems was especially charming (Basically, this game was a dream for a kid who was into PC games and flying sims). The paper version that came with the box explained tons of small details about the plane e.g. how radar absorption paint works (I learned later from a documentary that F-117 had to be repainted after every mission, making maintenance very expensive).
Two highlights of the gameplay were: a) landing on an aircraft carrier and b) learning capabilities of different types of missiles and how to deploy them (i.e. one was forced to read the manual!).
When I hear about F-117, I can't help remember this hidden-gem PC game.
Relevant links:
1) Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/328920/F117A_Nighthawk_St...
2) Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-117A_Nighthawk_Stealth_Fight...
Also, in one of the brilliant episodes of Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, he pays a visit to Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner (with Chinese Take-out food) — I highly recommend watching that to get a glimpse of sharp incisive wit in full action at age 90!
Edit: this link is better http://articles.latimes.com/1998/feb/27/news/ls-23428
Does it mean that one can expect better explainability in the future from these models?
1. Contact the nationwide credit-reporting agencies as soon as possible to 2. Add fraud alert 3. Place a “security freeze” on your credit account: with experian, trans union, equifax 4. Watch Bills, Statements and Mailing Lists 5. Contact the Federal Trade Commission, if you suspect or know that you are the victim of identity theft (report to their fraud dept) 6. If you believe you are a victim of identity theft you should immediately report same to law enforcement and/or your state attorney general
Serious question: given that this happens quite frequently (with with Equifax! One of the places where you must go to report this stuff), are there any services that do some of the above steps automatically on your behalf?
Also, this was posted here a while ago: some excellent advice —> https://www.kalzumeus.com/2017/09/09/identity-theft-credit-r...
I have thought a lot about what trapped intangible value all of us have, such that ‘if’ there was a market for it, we could get paid. Our personal data, with opt-in volunteering, is certainly at the top of the list. The other potential personal markets that have very similar characteristics (to personal data), but don’t exist are:
1) Home equity: Americans have $6.2T in home equity that could be “sold”
2) Driving data: get paid for carrying free sensors so that one helps map the world, so we get to self driving sooner in more cities
3) Opinions: large scale polling for everything, from movie trailers to startup landing pages to new products/ads — everything
4) Fact checking: crowd sourced journalism; often Reddit crowds figure out the truth/source faster than pro journalists; there ought to be a market for “if I know something, Eg some insider info, I could improve on the state of public truth”
5) Goodwill: one of the most amazing things I stumbled upon was www.reddit.com/r/borrow; people ask for money and strangers give money; I would never have predicted this to exist. I believe goodwill and benevolence is one of the largest untapped markets.
There are probably several other (and better) examples: point is that royaltiess/annuities from such markets could be part of UBI in the future.
Advice without context from anyone — whether it is PG, pmarca or Richard Feynman or {_your_fav_successful_survivor_} - would be useless, unless you are working/thinking about the problem that they are giving solutions for. Help only works if you are looking for something. Also sometimes it is good to just enjoy problem-solving and figuring things out. We are too quick to look for advice — and I get why: because no one wants to “reinvent the wheel”; There are too many standardized administrative things with startups that can be just solved by looking up advice; no problem with that; but sometimes it is worth struggling through a problem even though geniuses like PG and pmarca can give a solution quickly.
Abundant capital has led to too many VCs with too many blog posts looking to differentiate with their advice, under the guise of differentiation, content marketing, “proprietary deal flow” etc. If content is “bait” then you are at the bad end of the line.
When faced with a problem, find someone who can help — All other times, just do the work and enjoy problems :-)
(Did I just give advice? Can’t tell)
The highlights of this interview imo are the following pieces of advice:
1) get a coach sooner than later
2) always keep revisiting what is urgent vs important and keep prioritizing; if in 'war-mode' then users, team, revenue above all else; ignore things that don't amount to much (potential candidates: investor updates, press, conferences etc -- they are not more valuable than users)
3) don't get too far away from the product (some things cannot be delegated early on)
4) "boards hate surprises...and boards hate feeling like you’re trying to hide bad news". Be open. Ask for help.
Really great points.
I feel that the point about the role of the CEO in a downturn is under-explored in this interview (felt rushed). This is rich territory (and relevant). The discussion about specific examples of things that don't merit CEO time veers into 'made-up territory' quickly and doesn't feel relevant -- e.g. some "[CEOs] then stop going to the executive team meeting (that’s a very bad idea)" -- I don't see as many companies as these two, but no CEO stops going to an executive team meeting (infact, bad CEOs go to too many of those! as they enjoy 'playing CEO' :)). If a CEO stops going to an executive team meeting, that is quite counter-intuitive and interesting in many respects in of itself (e.g. there is a fire; CEO doesn't want to be CEO etc) :-) I feel Elad should have pressed more as an interviewer rather than rushing to the next point.
Overall, always good to hear sama's views -- he is an incredibly important investor of our age (my prediction). And Elad thanks for working on this book. For a few $$ everyone can get this wisdom -- you did a great service for entrepreneurs. Congrats on the launch.
Since this is a startup forum — I believe health insurance to be so dark and morbid (with things like companies haggling with living relatives about ventilator care) — there is got to be a better way! (I realize this is more of a lament than a constructive suggestion)
1) because ICOs are very important way of fundraising and they need to become compliant
2) they make illiquid assets like private real estate RIETs more liquid
Since KYC/AML is enforced and investor accreditation is key to buying these securities, this will reduce scam and legitimize ICOs and security tokens overall.
I can’t wait to see all the interesting possibilities with making illiquid assets more liquid using tokens to represent shares. This is an exciting development. Congrats to Coinbase.
If a book is fundamentally about “ideas” — aren’t there more efficient ways available today (that were not pre-internet) to learn those ideas more quickly?
As an example: There is a Dave Rubin podcast where Jordan Peterson lays out the 12 Rules of Life very clearly and concisely. If one knows the rules and understands them, is it still necessary/important to read the book?
I wonder, just how much “reading the entire non-fiction book” is increasingly now an archaic way to ingest new ideas?
Anyway, as I commented earlier: I think the authors miss the central innovation that enabled org innovation — which is all the tech Napoleon developed around messaging!
I wonder why the population isn’t thriving. Elsewhere in the article they are referred to as a “threatened population”. Not sure what’s the threat.
Anyway, interesting study.
“Strategy should utilize the five basic principles of organizational design: division of labor, unity of command, authority and responsibility, spans of control, and contingency factors.”
What!? No one designs orgs like this. Orgs are designed around:
A) “Axis of Excellence” (Eg if you want functional excellence in your org - ie the best salesperson to lead sales, the best marketer to lead marketing - then you organize around functions likes Sales, Marketing, Engineeing etc). OR,
B) “Max{Collaborative Output} and Min{Communication Overhead}” needs - Eg if people across functions need to collaborate closely to produce a business result then one create those units accordingly - they could be line of business units ( eg textile: spinning, packaging etc) or geo-based units.
Looking at the framework they use makes me wonder what useless theories are being taught in MBA schools :-)
The most interesting bit in the paper is about messaging. Seems like Napoleon invented HipChat/Slack of his day to make his orgs work more smoothly. That was quite cool!
“Napoleon utilized the existing technology of the Chappe’s semaphore telegraph to improve his message traffic. He maximized its potential by constructing towers across Europe creating a communications web that would cover his expanding empire (Elting, 1988). When messages were too long or not as important to use Chappe’s telegraph, Napoleon relied on the European postal system. He made improvements by creating an express courier service. Messages were carried in a lock box with a logbook that showed the date and time of arrivals and departures of couriers to each post house”
It depends on what the goal is. If the goal is to produce abnormal outsized returns: they likely come from standing out. Being somewhat contrarian against the tribe helps with finding new pastures - infact it might be the only way.
If the goal is to maximize egalitarianism, which is a worth-while goal, then having mimetic/conforming attitudes would be a virtue. Envy is a by-product of our mimetic desires.