next »

[J-Snake]

The good vs bad examples don't sound very convincing to me because you can get most of the goods in a safer area aswell, if not better. Now I came only across the east and europe, I don't know how everything in America is looking like.
But I reply based on the stuff you say. And if you are accustomed to a tough and varied place like you describe it you would be accustomed to peoples statements and opinions aswell without feeling annoyed.

[Paul Eres]

i'm not sure you can get the good parts in a safer area. typically cities have higher crime than suburbs. and in suburbs, typically everything requires a car, you can't walk to most places you need to go to. everything also looks the same, the same type of house, the same type of lawn, over and over for miles. the only variation is what type of garden gnomes people use, or what christmas decorations they have up

if you can point to a place that is both safe and interesting that'd be good though, but i've never really come across anywhere that was both safe and interesting

and i didn't feel any annoyance myself, i was just offended more for the sake of the people you're stereotyping, especially my family, since you were saying my family is poor without knowing anything about them. you're saying you wouldn't be offended if i said something about your family based on very little? something like saying your family must have OCD because you made a game like trapthem

[J-Snake]

Almost everywhere in germany I can fearlessly live in a place with necessary places in reach, even in my current city which is considered to have significant crime. But it is nothing compared to what you describe. I haven't experienced USA but it is hard to imagine all cities are that hostile.

I haven't said anything about your family, perhaps you are confusing me with someone else.

[Paul Eres]

ah, that's true, it was moczan who brought up families

germany's a bit different in that the US is a bit of a special case regarding slavery and racial conflicts. germany has a bit of that too recently with arab immigrants in berlin (from what i gather, it's to the point where whites are now a minority in berlin), but it's not as long of a conflict as it is here so it's not exactly the same thing

another big difference is that in the US, guns are legal, in germany, guns are illegal (except under special circumstances). you can't just go into a store and buy a gun the way you can in the US (consider this: there are more guns owned by people in the US than there are people 350 million vs 300 million). so the US has higher violent crime partly for that reason. germany averages less than 1000 murders per year for the entire country, which is pretty low for a country of 80+ million

so basically yes, most big cities in the US are pretty violent places, much moreso than european big cities. there's a reason you don't see GTA games set in european cities

[InfiniteStateMachine]

annnnnnnyways it looks like I will be getting to spend about 2-3 days a week on an island working on a vegetable farm with no internet. Looking forward to it since I am also a city person. I like being to go from 1 extreme to the other.

Personally I just like to repeatedly put myself in unfamiliar environments, being in one place too long can cause stagnation. There are a lot more divisions than just urban/suburban. If all goes well I should be in another country by next september too.

[Gabriel Verdon]

I'm just gonna go watch some Jersey Shore and marvel at the genuininineity of the people of New Jersey.

[baconman]

i'm sure my life experiences inform my games in one way or another. people who grew up in urban ghettos tend to have a different view of human nature than people who live in sterile white suburbs. but a game explicitly about paterson would probably be boring, since it'd play a lot like the grand theft auto games

I'd personally love to see a Grand Theft Auto game centering on Paul Eres in Patersen, NJ. Just saying...

Do you really want a game about someone who spend most of his time staying home to work on his game and the rest of the time arguing on the internet? XD
(jk, Paul, I really don't know how you spend your time.

Have you played Silent Hill 4 (The Room)? TYVM.
____________________

There is a ring of truth to not just being able to pack up and abandon your well-rooted life. I live in a suburban area, where it's *possible* to be in walking distance from all those cool places, but you gotta get pretty lucky with your location and pricing to do that. We have a bus system here too, but instead of running up and down main streets, the 16-zip-code-big area runs on around 18-20 gauntletlike circuits with timepoints that do a terrible job of actually coinciding outside of 4 key terminals - two of them being public colleges. Even with the bus system in place, it pretty much *IS* necessary to have a working car to get around at any decent kind of pace.

Another thing about suburbs right now (maybe because other people suck at or don't bother doing math) is the income vs. expenses ratio; it's pretty much in the red no matter how hard you're working or well you're doing right now. Urban areas are more high-stakes and rural areas are more low-stakes, but at least half of these manage to keep that rate "in the green."

On the plus side, the weather is pretty good here for working outside, although good lighting is tricky to do that with if you're a night owl.
____________________

FTR, I've heard that at least 80% of Joiseyans HATEHATEHATE Jersey's Whore.

I hoid day wuz gonna drop that Snooki bitch in a shiny disco ball fo New Year's. But din day lowered it all safely on a cable and such. Talk about a disappointment!



This shot is particularly compelling. And what California lacks in native Italians, we make up for in native Okies, Texans, and Mexicans.

[Paul Eres]

I'm just gonna go watch some Jersey Shore and marvel at the genuininineity of the people of New Jersey.

i've never actually seen that show, but from what i gather, that show was mostly filmed in italy, not new jersey; and in any case it's more representative of a particular nj subgroup (italian-american "guido" culture)

and yeah as baconman said most people in nj hate that show, much like most indies hate shows about indie game developers like IGN's show

this passage from urban dictionary is more representative of NJ:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=new%20jersey

"I am from NJ. I curse... a lot. I say "yo", and I say it often. I never had school on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur. I sure as hell don't pump my own gas. I know what real pizza tastes like, and I know that a bagel is much more than a fuckin' roll with a hole in the middle. I judge people by what exit they get off the parkway. I can navigate a circle--with attitude. All good nights must end at a diner--preferably with cheese fries. It's a sub, not a hoagie or, worse yet, a hero, and I wash it down with soda, not pop. Two words... "mother fucker." I don't go to the beach, I go down the shore. And boardwalk brawls are just a part of the atmosphere. Yes, I drink cawfee. I know that 65mph really means 80. I've always lived within 10 minutes of a mall. When someone cuts me off, they get the horn AND the finger. And they expect it. I am from New Jersey, and damn proud of it."

but even within NJ, paterson's a bit special; it's the most diverse city in the state, with huge populations of people from puerto rico, italy, pakistan, bangledesh, turkey, lebanon, syria, the dominican republic, peru, colombia, the carribbean, and so on. it has the second-largest population of muslims of any city in the US, for instance

[thatshelby]

thug life

[baconman]

That's a pretty cool record to be associated with. Bakersfield is more of a "nice guy town," but we're also most renowned for having the highest air pollution concentration in America.

[Nat]

You don't necessarily have to be coding, you could just come up with ideas or do art stuff, depending on what needs doing. Or you could get some kind of small tent to shade your laptop?

[PompiPompi]

Hmm, I thought about it "working outside" is not specific enough.
Which part of working outside do you like?
Being outside your home.
Being in the sun.
Having a nice view.
Seeing people.
Being seen by people.
What else?

I think that you can be both outside and at home. For instance, if you have a porch. So if you had a porch, would that be still good enough is working somewhere in a park?

[InfiniteStateMachine]

Almost all of those points except "being seen by people" and "seeing people". I'm constantly surrounded by people all day (school/work/social) that there are times where most of my day is just interacting with people. I need more self reflection and work time.

As for the porch question. I prefer the porch mainly because I'm more likely to be alone.

[PompiPompi]

The porch was just an example of being outside without all the other points.

[powly]

I've done a lot of coding outside my house (buses, trains, schools, couple of times on a plane) but mostly not exactly outside. For that, you'd probably need some shelter to ensure visibility with the sun up and in case of sudden rain. A porch should be pretty good for all of those - and you can easily go inside if you want to.

My real problem with remote coding would be hardware. My netbook has a crappy Intel GMA graphics card, so it's back to OpenGL 1.5. Which is fun at times, but I really do like my shaders.