Capn12

So semantics, gotcha.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 11:07 AM) ? I dont see anywhere where it says this was their plan. Nor was it some last second decision. 70% of bought games are retail. That number presumably a lot higher on consoles. It would be one of the worst business decisions ever to get rid of the optical drive now. Those 2 quotes pretty clearly say that they were on the non-optical drive thought for their next consoles, but other concerns arose. I'm not sure if you're arguing semantics, or maybe just didn't see it.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 10:57 AM) No, it wasn't. Digital Based Consoles Check again. Or, if you prefer to see it from a better source, WSJ: No Optical Drives, please.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 10:45 AM) Sony doesn't have the network to phase out physical media. To put thing's in perspective, when's the last time you used the optical drive of your computer? A lot of people are just taking the drive out all together. They're no longer needed. Microsoft intended to drive retail down on new games. No more pre-orders for games. No need to head out to the store to buy them. No need to take them over to a friend's house. Everything would have been in your account. Everything from the games you play, to the music you buy, to the TV and movies you watch would have all been through the Xbox network. People really are stupid and fear change. From what I can recall, the original idea was to leave the optical drives off of the new consoles all together, both Sony and MS supported that idea. But, someone chickened out at the last second, and now the other is having to do a 180 to save face. Rather sad, as always, the uninformed consumer rules the market.

Oh, before anyone else even calls me a MS apologist, let me say I have the PS4 on pre-order, not an XB1. I prefer to choose what to by based on game library though, not he said she said.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Jun 20, 2013 -> 09:17 AM) Really stupid move from Microsoft. It's a shame that apparently the majority of gamers seem to be short sighted idiots. "Used games. Derp!" In fairness to those morons, Microsoft couldn't market water in the desert. Now the next generation of consoles won't be much different than this generation. Hardware can only take you so far when you're pushing it to a 55" "Smart TV." Really, Sony and Microsoft are duping everyone by making you buy a console that barely outperforms your old console. "But, but DDR5!" For those few without Internet connections, it would have taken seconds and its called, "tethering." These aren't 'next gen' consoles, they're just Xbox 360.2 and PS3.2 now. I have no idea why people want to rail MS for the connect every 24 hours thing and the games 'in the cloud' components. That IS what makes the console 'next generation'...the fact that physical media was being phased out, playability from anywhere you can log into XBL.... But no, idiots hear 'DRM' and go bats*** crazy, or just jump on the bandwagon. Oh hey, Sony fanboys, you DO remember that Sony was the lynchpin behind rootkits in your music, years ago, right? And by all accounts from what we've heard, the PS4 AND the XB1 were both supposed to go the way of 'cloud/digital media', but something made Sony back down late in the game, or they saw the flak that MS was getting about it. Something happened there in the 11th hour.

Damn..guess it's back to buying both of them, now. I've already gone from having the XBox One preordered, to cancelling that and preordering PS4... the real crime here still, again, is the stupidass console exclusive game crap.

Lol

Send em all down to AAA. Go get Willie Mays Hayes, Rick Vaughn, Eddie Harris, Roger Dorn, Jake Taylor, and Pedro Cerrano... or ANYONE...whoever.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ May 30, 2013 -> 05:04 PM) I enjoy distancing myself from Soxtalk for awhile and then returning and reading through posts by the same members (often year to year) who cannot seem to recognize a White Sox team for what it is. I don't know if immersing yourself in every pitch of every game and then coming on here to discuss it every day removes you objectivity, but it's troubling in some cases. This is not a well constructed ballclub. They will not be winning in the playoffs.

QUOTE (farmteam @ May 23, 2013 -> 12:23 AM) Saw Bush tonight. Gavin Rossdale is quite the showman. And a voice that you can't mistake, either. Even after 20 years or so...jesus, has it been that long?

Yeah, unless you had a room/area to store your fermenting goods at 50-65 degrees, you'd have a bit of funk in a lager yeast.

Saw Soundgarden in Atlanta on Tuesday night. Very odd setlist (I mean, how does SG do a show and NOT play Jesus Christ Pose??), but overall, Chris still has it. Of course, I'm biased, Cornell could sing opera and I'd probably still enjoy it.

I brew at home as well. Both resources that LZ mentioned above are great, especially the John Palmer book. I read parts of it over and over before starting up myself. If you're hesitant to go All Grain from the start, don't be! I made exactly 1 Extract brew before I swapped right to All Grain, far more rewarding IMO. I use Brewers Friend to log all of my recipes that I've made and those that I'm going to make. Watch your temperatures VERY closely, and don't get frustrated whilst waiting on your wort temperature to drop after boil. Pitching the yeast when the wort isn't ready, is definitely not a good idea at all. Also, your first brews you make, don't necessarily have to be bad! The first all grain recipe I did, a Coffee Coconut Oatmeal Stout, just placed 2nd overall in our area's home brew contest. Be creative, you'll never know what may work in a beer, just always remember that anything you add sugar-wise, is going to change the dynamic of the beer overall.

Re: The rebuilding talk and how it removes your ability to play in the post season...it's been 4 years without an appearance for this team, and 1 postseason win in 7 years. So it isn't like going without any opportunity to play in the postseason, is something totally new.

Well, we were overdue for a Reed BS. He doesn't get ahead of anyone, and that won't work.

Here comes the 5 guys to get 12 outs, system.

De Aza only 1 K behind Dunn, thats the super worrysome part. Crazy for that to be the case.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 5, 2013 -> 04:06 PM) On the marginal players part...most teams would have marginal players playing at the highest level when they have to go 32 deep. Look at our rotation for crying out loud, we're getting regularly solid performances out of pitchers #6 and #7 and it's still not enough. And for having no minor league system to speak of in your words, we're getting some serious performances out of the guys we're using, particularly pitchers again. I will, however, make no defense of the manager and consider your statement 100% accurate. I do think the starting pitching has been overall, better. But, look how many 5 inning....6 inning performances we're getting. The bullpen is 3-4 guys deep into every ball game. That isn't going to be feasible, come August or September. And ANY team that thinks Keppinger is an everyday starter is already possessing a failure mentality. We have visible holes at catcher, second (for now), third unless Gillaspie is a miracle worker, left field, and the entire bench....possibly even at DH due to the abomination of a signing in 2010.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 5, 2013 -> 03:57 PM) Up for a decade of losing? You do realize, that this team is exactly 29 games over .500 since the 2005 WS, coming into 2013? It isn't like this team is a powerhouse. We have marginal players playing at the highest level, no minor league system to speak of at all, and a floundering, bad decision making manager at the head.

Not sure how folks can argue that this team is due for a mass overhaul, and that means cutting payroll, and trading what is worth something, to restock the minors. Play kids, and go from there. Don't even start talking about the stupid attendance crap, either.

Pathetic. Time to come to terms with the fact that this is a 70 win team, something I didn't really want to do.

One thing we DONT need, is for the pen to start sucking as well.

Uhhh...

The Gas Can is warming in the pen.