Best products from r/GamerGhazi

I am currently taking a class called Engineering Innovation and we had to read excerpts from this book called The Medici Effect. One chapter is focused on the importance of diversity in innovating. Here is an excerpt that is relevant. I am posting this since the book is for us STEM types, which GGers, etc. claim to be.

> How Diversity is the Foundation for Groundbreaking Innovation; Working with Diverse Groups of People

>During World War II, the Allies were fighting a losing battle against the German navy. When a German submarine spotted an Allied convoy, it would send a coded signal to other German submarines in the area. These submarines would then gather into a group formation, known as “wolf packs,” and attack the ship with punishing success. The Germans were amazingly effective; between 1940 and 1941 they sank more than fifty ships a month, leading to total casualties exceeding fifty thousand.

>The Allies were helpless against these attacks because they were unable to break the German coding system, which was produced via a coding machine known as the Enigma, the most formidable of ciphers. British intelligence therefore built the most formidable of code-breaking groups, headquartered in a large Victorian mansion called Bletchely Park. Although cryptologists had traditionally come from the field of linguistics, this group also contained mathematicians, scientists, classicists, chess grand masters, and crossword addicts, all of whom worked together under supreme secrecy. Together this diverse team managed to break the Enigma and, as a result, turned the tide of the naval battle.

>There is little doubt that diverse teams, like the one at Bletchely Park, have a greater chance of coming up with unique ideas. I don’t mean diversity only in terms of disciplines, but also in terms of culture, ethnicity, geography, age, and gender.
Diversity in teams allows different viewpoints, approaches, and frames of mind to emerge. Diversity is also a proven way to increase the randomness of concept combinations. It is often said that one of the reasons for the United States’ unparalleled innovation rate is its very diverse population. People who have experienced the innovative power of diverse teams tend to do everything they can to encourage them.

>Steve Miller is such a person. He is the former CEO and chairman of Royal Dutch/Shell, the world’s fourth-largest company. If you talk to Miller about innovation for any length of time, it becomes clear that he believes diversity is a critical ingredient. Globalization has made it a necessity for a multinational like Shell. “You begin to find that you get some really neat ideas generated from creating a culture where people of different ethnicities, cultures, backgrounds, [and] countries … come together,” he says. “Invariably you find that the best ideas come from this mosaic of players working together in a team on a project. They will come up with an answer that is different from what any one of them would have come up with individually.”

>Working with a diverse group of people, then, is a great way to increase creativity. Even though this may seem like an obvious truth, it is remarkable how seldom we use it. People tend to stick to their own disciplines and domains. They stick to their own ethnicities and cultures. Miller often sees managers who logically understand that a team with people from different backgrounds can be more creative since “you can intellectually work your way through that.” But most people have a difficult time going from understanding the logic of such an argument to actually applying it, Miller says. He believes it is easier to do if you have actually seen the power of diverse teams, “because then you really know that it works.”

There is a little more that talks about the psychology of why people tend to self-discriminate that I can add if anyone is interested.

Well, since KBM = Godmode...

Why not just enable KBM support by default on console?

For about the same price as a new controller you could hunt around and find a playable KBM set up.

Even in the article you cite, the game's director only says that it should be either/or, he does not rule out KBM. He only says that if a console is going to have KBM input, it should be plug and play and equally accessible.

BTW:

> There's no major difference between a $20 mouse and a $200 mouse except some more buttons, a few LEDS and the branding.

You are drawing the absolutely wrong comparison. Some products are all about branding and style and are definitely WAY overpriced (ahem), but there is a distinct difference between playing on this, and this(anti-ghosting is more important at really high competitive levels and players can be picky about an AG layout, but it's less important than the fact that mechanical keys offer much better options for tactile feedback and are almost universally more precise). And a MASSIVE difference between this and this. That gaming mouse has SIX TIMES (including scroll wheel button) the amount of buttons as the normal mouse. This is literally the difference between going from the face buttons of an original NES controller to the number of buttons and triggers on modern controllers. Sure, you could try and cluster as many functions as close to your left hand as possible, but having them all right at your thumb is a massive difference, to say nothing of the on-the-fly DPI adjustments that many gaming mice have (EG - most commonly used to instantly switch between high and low sensitivity settings for better sniping).

I personally have a blue-switch KB that is immensely satisfying to type on and is great for gaming (particularly when doing something, like a dash, that requires a double-tap of a key). I hope to never have to go back to a membrane KB.

As far as my mouse goes, I paid something like $50 for a mouse that has 8 programmable buttons and a DPI switch for up to 4 different DPI settings (though I only use two). It was a huge advantage over my old mouse for the shooter I was playing at the time (Planetside 2, an MMOFPS).

So I'll circle back to what I originally said and will restate that I think the decision at the hardware level to exclude KBM was an ill-thought "walled garden" approach to protecting controller sales. Again, if your cited article is to be believed, Microsoft may end up opening up KBM support. It only makes sense because media entertainment devices, such as consoles, are converging with the set-top HTPC/video box market.

Hell, again, per your article, Sony even already offers a keypad/mouse combo.

>How often do new comics come out and how much do they cost?

In a comic shop, most comics series come out one issue per month. The new comics for every week come out on Wednesdays. The "big two"(DC and Marvel) tend to charge $3.99 per issue, though there are exceptions(Ms. Marvel is $2.99). Comic shops will also let you set up a "pull list" or "pull box", where the shop has the list of comics that you're reading and has them set aside for you.

But there are a few more options:

Marvel Unlimited

Marvel runs a Netflix-style service called Marvel Unlimited. It's $10/mo or $70/year if you buy annually. During big comic conventions, they'll sometimes do big promo pricing.

Every comic Marvel publishes gets added to the service on a six-month lag from the shops(which is about how long it takes for a comic to end up in a "trade paperback" book in bookstores).

If you have a tablet, this is honestly a great way to read.

Comixology

Another digital option. Comixology sells digital comics, on the same day and price as physical comics. It's your digital equivalent to a comic book shop.

If you buy physical Marvel comics, they tend to come with a code that you can redeem for a Comixology digital copy.

Print Subscriptions

Marvel also has magazine-style mail subscriptions. You buy 12 issues(in most cases, this is a year's worth of comics) at once, and get a big discount on the cover price.

Comics tend to arrive in your mailbox a week or two later than at the shop, but you get physical single issues soon after print at a big discount.

Trade Paperbacks

You can also buy physical collected issues in book form from bookstores or places like Amazon. Most series are now printed in "volumes", with roughly every 5-6 issues collected into a single book. This is as long of a wait as Unlimited and it costs about as much as a single month of that, but you also get a physical book.

HOPEFULLY none of that was overwhelming.

Omg you've moved again revealed your profound ignorance. Are you capable of reading? That quote regarding supply effects was referring to earned income rather than capital gains. Cmon at least read if your going to try to pull a gotcha.

Your land isn't being taxed, the property on your land is what is taxed. It's an important distinction and no I shouldn't have to explain basic economic terminology to you. If you deem yourself qualified to comment on economic policy you should have at least an intermediate level understanding of microeconomic and macroeconomic analysis. I'm not going to spoon feed you.

I like how you didn't address the border adjustment tax as I linked. It is very much like a VAT tax, just sold under a different name. Please read before commenting.

I have no reason to entertain beginners mistakes. You went into this discussion in bad faith. I've caught you several times being unaware of economic concepts that even undergrads know. You've been spouting talking points hoping for them to stick. You're the reason the economic discourse in this country had dropped to the level of Donald Trump.

When I was an undergraduate, then had us read a very straightforward book that doesn't require any knowledge of advanced mathematics. It conveys the complex models underpinning economics in a very digestible format. I hope you abstain from commenting on matters of economic policy until you've acquired a bare minimum understanding. The political discourse in this country is abysmal and lacks rigor. I hope you decide to take steps to buck the trend that you're clearly contributing to.

https://www.amazon.com/Naked-Economics-Undressing-Science-Revised/dp/0393337642

I've never really seen the need for a men's "rights" movement, because that would imply that men, as a social category, are somehow lacking in rights or protections. We aren't. But we are affected by the same rigid constraints on gender that women and GSM folk (gender and sexual minorities) are. Those gender "boxes" definitely harm men's self-image, expressions of self, and emotional well-being, and ought to be done away with. And there are men's groups and men's movements out there that strive to do just that.

Local groups, like the Canadian-based Anti-violence Project acknowledge the damage that gender roles can have on men and boys and work alongside feminist and other anti-violence groups to do something about it. They are often supported at the national and international level by organizations like the White Ribbon Campaign that engage in positive activism aimed at re-configuring society's views about men, boys, and the sorts of gender roles we are supposed to play.

Academically, these activist initiatives are reinforced by a fairly huge amount of social science research on men and masculinities. There are a number of different research journals and textbooks that focus exclusively on men and men's lives (see here, here, here, and here for example), and all of these help researchers, policy-makers, students, and citizens from all walks of life better understand men and men's issues.

We don't need a "men's rights movement"; we never did, because the pro-feminist men's movement is already shining a light on the issues that men of all kinds face.

Sorry for the rant!

> "How to deal with Narcissists"

So after a cursory internet search of this particular book, I found that it was actually on the same website that he listed at the end of his plan that no-one is going to implement or remember after today. Here's a fun little piece of their description of it:

> Liberals and Narcissists are the exact same animal. Nothing enrages each like the sight of someone enjoying success and happiness. They will never have the balls to lash out at you openly to your face. And after they wreck everything, they’ll claim it was an accident, and they are still loyal to you. Everything which is happening to our nation – I’ve seen it play out myself, at the level of the individual personal relationship, and there is absolutely no difference. It is uncanny. Both levels even have a burning instinctual drive to control the perceptions of everyone around them, by demanding to be the central hubs of information which inform everyone, be it the narcissist who demands to know everything so they can tell others first, or the Liberal media deciding what the people need to know – and what they don’t.

Great stuff, right? While that might just be someone imposing their view on the book, a quick glance at it's Amazon entry shows us this:

> This book contains some explanatory examples of narcissistic worldviews which political liberals will find disquieting and unpleasant to read. For that reason, it will prove most useful to those of a neutral or conservative political bent.

Huh. So it wasn't someone imposing their view on the book, this sentiment is practically hardwired in. Totally not a right-wing movement, GG, even though you're dumb enough to buy their books. Stay classy.

>e "/I/ am too smart to be affected by media, unlike all the rest of you"

It's this one, and this is the greatest.

Because half of all the advertising/propaganda out there has the easily seen subtext of "I know you think advertising is ridiculous because you're so smart and this will never work, but (INSERT AD HERE.)"

Neil Postman wrote a whole book about it in the 80s
http://www.amazon.com/Amusing-Ourselves-Death-Discourse-Business/dp/014303653X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418335118&sr=8-1&keywords=Amusing+OUrselves

He called it "The Hipness Unto Death," which is awesome.

In the time since he wrote this, this advertising style has become nearly universal, and much more sophisticated. After you read this book, you will not be able to stop seeing it.

> the north didnt fight the war out of love of black people. It was about changing economies and other political concerns. Thats why they had a vested interest in keeping southern whites in control of the social, political, and economic future of the south.

Not really though. You're right to say that it isn't the case that the north was without racist sin, it's almost as wrong to say that there was no difference in tone or degree between the regions. Or to say that there were no people driven by anti-racist morality to become abolitionists.

Your framing doesn't allow room for an early William Short or Noah Webster or Gilbert Imlay. (Though Imlay would spend much of his adult life in modern day Kentucky.)

It's perhaps more wrong to say 'white supremacy in the south was good for the north'. That leap of yours is pretty flimsy and doesn't bear out, and the analysis ignores the regional jockeying for congressional power.

edit: https://www.amazon.com/Bind-Apart-Enlightened-Americans-Segregation/dp/0465018416 You might be interested in reading this book, which just came out a few months ago.

I think they actually have a pretty strong auto workers union. The author of this book gave an interview on Majority Report, where he mentioned that Japan and Germany have stronger auto unions than the US, and they also never moved away from systems that gave auto unions power the way the US automakers did.

The interview is here, for anyone curious. It was really well done

Interesting analysis. I have been thinking the same lately, while reading Biella Coleman's recent book on Anonymous. She is quite sympathetic to anon culture, as am I, despite its toxic elements. The interesting question is how the consensus seemed to drift in a weird, conservative way around GG, when in the past it supported more progressive causes (Steubenville, etc.). Are these just different subgroups within anon, have people drifted (eg. weev revealing himself to be a plain old unironic racist), have some boards always been this fucked, what's the story?

This was a good chuckle, It reminded me of the Mitchell and Webb sketch that laid into the double standard of advertising.

Or this https://www.amazon.co.uk/BiC-Her-Ball-Pen-Black/dp/B004FTF6H4 but done ironically

The charity is a worthy cause too, and Max Temkin has been using his platform for good

(But damn it Max, release Secret Hitler in the UK already. I want to give you money)

I've heard it also kind of bashes on Image Comics a lot, and if there's one thing that annoys me about criticism of comics it's the relentless bashing of the folks in Image like Rob Liefeld(Especially since in recent years he's become pretty outspoken against bigots to the point where alt-right website Bounding Into Comics whined about him, so he can't be all bad if those bigots hate him) so i'm a bit concerned about that going in. Not saying Image didn't have it's faults(yes Liefeld's artwork can get silly at times, but i'll be damned if it does not have a cheesy appeal to it) but it does at least deserve a lot of credit for paving the way for many acclaimed independent comics artists and writers of today(including Robert Kirkman as Image was the only publisher willing to take a chance on him, so Walking Dead basically wouldn't exist without them) by proving you didn't have to be employed by Marvel or DC to be succesful or make a name for yourself(many famous writers like Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore ended up writing comics for Image as they strongly believed in their "Creator first" message).

So still going to read the book, but i'm a bit leary about that aspect going in.

Looks like Comic Wars finally came out on Kindle if that interests you:https://www.amazon.com/Comic-Wars-Marvels-Battle-Survival-ebook/dp/B008HJX38W/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=comic+wars+battle+marvel%27s+survival&qid=1566183325&s=books&sr=1-1

suggested reading on this (and related) topic(s): Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind](http://www.amazon.com/Cultures-Organizations-Software-Mind-Third/dp/0071664181). A very interesting book/study that explores (national) culture through several dimensions, especially helpful if you work with people in/from a different culture than your own. Gender attitudes is not an explicit cultural dimension, but follows from others. (e.g the most feminist countries also seem to score high on femininity v. masculinity)

Personally, my only real experience with this sort of thing is the time I was in Zambia for round about a month. Gender inequality seemed very engrained into the culture as a whole with not many women working etc. One time in a supermarket, a guy was blatantly taking pictures of my (white) female coworkers. However, most women I met were actively working against the stereotype and inequality, two of our host's four daughters had gone to the US to go to college, one of them was well on her way to become a doctor, while the youngest was enrolling University the following year. Also, we worked with women in high positions in an organisation managed by the Reformed Church of Zambia and taught basic computer and internet skills to about twenty people from the slums, most of whom were female as well.

Well FWIW this mask and this mask both exceed military standards for CBN protection. So that could, if you weren't in a direct blast area, help you get somewhere to safety within 40-80 hours. Just don't expect to be eating or drinking in those things. Or having facial hair if you need to use them. I might have to spring for the goatee look. *Sigh* And also get my eyes lasered.

Edit: For clarification, if you're concerned about CBN stuff and you go with the 3M mask these are the filters to get. You want P100 Acid/Gas filters.

"Embattled whiteness." That's a fascinating term for a very real phenomenon that I've always noticed. Like, you saw this at the start of the twentieth century too. Before "Eurabia," there was "the Yellow Peril" and other immigrant "menaces," and you see these anxieties reflected in the works of authors like H.P. Lovecraft. I've also noticed "embattled masculinity" that occurs whenever feminism challenges male privilege and traditional gender roles. Hell, this goes way back to the Victorian era.

I am now hooked on the "force thawing" measured in number of feminazis he can annoy in the mean time. I have to say, if he took the chicken out in the morning and left it to thaw slowly, he could have spent the whole day working on a cookbook that would have set all men free from the temptation of well prepared meals for ever.

Edit: Or a shorter way out, perhaps they should stockpile this book, to hand out to men in need?

I've never gotten around to reading his stuff (which is a crime I really need to rectify one of these days), but out of everything he's done the Space Raptor Butt Trilogy looks like it'd be nearest and dearest to this subreddit's heart.

The first story in the trilogy is just a straightforward tingler, but the sequels are Puppygate allegories.

Masculinity Studies is a huge field in Gender Studies, there are shelves and shelves full of books about masculinity. This book sounds like a good starting place: http://www.amazon.de/Masculinities-R-W-Connell/dp/0520246985/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414234224&sr=8-1&keywords=masculinity

Porter is so convincing to many gamers/nerds, I believe, because nerds traditionally did not conform with at least some aspects of the "man box," which just makes this rabid anti-feminism and misogyny even harder to stomach for me.

The comment I was going to reply to has magically vanished before I got a chance to reply (it had +3 at the time so I don't know if the user deleted it or a mod) so now I guess I'm doing a top level comment now.

Obviously what happened / is still happening to ZQ is messed up and if this is in fact about her that would be very distasteful, but at the moment I'm a bit skeptical it's a GG reference for a couple reasons.

From the deleted comment (and I've seen this floating around in other places a well):
> Five Fun Guys = Five Fungi = Five Mushrooms.

Also Shufflegate: Exposed could be based on the book Watergate Exposed.

In addition to this someone posted more screens that supposedly further hint at it being a Watergate reference but I don't know enough about it to know what it's referencing exactly other than the whole "let's keep it a secret" sentiment. Anyone more knowledgeable able to shine a light on this?

Looking for more opinions on this from a non-GG perspective since many of the rebuttals are from gators but the statements themselves seem to make sense upon looking into them. Anyone have more info?