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I played an early demo of this game that was released on a magazine CD and liked it. Stupidly I thought some of the apparent short comings were because this was a demo and purchased in on release day... ha stupid me.

What the review fails to mention is how often this damn game actually *CRASHES*. It locks the whole bloody 360 up! The screen freezes, the remote stops responding, and nothing short of pushing the power button on the 360 itself will get it back. And this is in single player campaign mode!

Interestingly the first disc I bought on release day crashed about 8 times in the course of 14 games played! I returned the game the next day and they'd only exchange it. This new disc seems much more stable - but it still crashes frequently. I asked a few people on Live and they reported similar crashing problems. So it doesn't appear to be restricted to my copy/machine.

It can be a fun game. Not my favorite, but a fun one... particularly if you play multiplayer or on Live.

But if I were Sega/Pseudo I'd never have let this thing out the door the way it is! In my opinion, given the slow downs and frequent crashes, this a Beta release not a signed-off on console game!

DON'T BUY IT... save your money for a game that's stable.

Blockwars: free, multiplayer, head to head game.

This is one of the main reasons I dislike Apple as a company: the arrogance. Steve wants to tell me what I can and can't play on an iPod (e.g., suing Real). Steve wants to tell me what I can and can't do with software I buy. Frankly, screw Steve!

Apple could be so much more successful if they would stop being such a-hole control freaks and just sell their products and embrace people wanting to use THE SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE THAT THEY FREAKING OWN the way the want to.

Do you own a PS2? Nintendo DS? Or any console for that matter?

If so welcome to the world of not necessarily being able to use your software/hardware in a way you'd like.

OSX is tied to Mac hardware. Consoles are locked down from running arbitrary software. Why? Because in both cases one doesn't make enough money without the thing it's tied to.

A console doesn't have the margins to be viable independently. In a Windows world OSX probably couldn't compete as an OS alone and generate enough money.

You can say that the they should sell them at a price point where they are viable... but I'd suggest such a price point likely doesn't exist!

An Xbox 360 sells for around $400 - at a loss! If MS charged say $600 instead, how many less machines would actually sell? Would there be enough penetration it make it worth while for the software developers time to develop for it?

How much would OSX cost to be profitable on its own? How reliable would it be running on unknown combinations of commodity hardware?

Now I agree that it should be legal for you to modify your hardware/software locks to run as you see fit. That will dissuade enough people that the market remains viable. I don't think, however, that you should bitch that the locks are there to begin with!

Blockwars: free, multiplayer game.

They reason they are geeks is because they are NOT on the go!

<sigh>, when will Slashdot get it... once again, Correlation does not equate to Causality!

For example, sick people are not on the go. Geeks are not on the go, ergo geeks must be sick! Doesn't make sense, does it?

Now, that geeks are not on the go is supported by the fact that I'm sitting here on a lovely Saturday afternoon writing this. I'm certainly not on the go. However it's not because I'm not on the go that I'm sitting here posting on /., rather it's the other way around. I'm sitting here posting, which is preventing me from being on the go. Thus not being on the go is an effect rather than the actual cause.

Or something. I think I need some fresh air. :)

Blockwars: a free multiplayer, head to head game!

Governments always seem to load up their shotgun and miss the wrong target. They stumble on a solution to a problem, and don't ever question whether that's a problem they really should be solving or if the solution will actually work.

Sir Humphreys! Beautiful! Who's the lucky minister to have you writing for them now??

Blockwars: free, multiplayer, head to head game.

By my reading of this (IANAL) all the games industry has to do to get around this ruling is to remove all the extra nasties, like region coding, with a new system and then sue the mod chip maker who gets around this new system. Then the chip would *only* be for copyright protection and so the modchip would have no other valid use.

Your reading, while a sense making interpretation, worries me.

Sure, removing region coding, etc, would be great. But that doesn't mean that the only use for a mod chip is bypassing copy protection. What about homebrew apps?

I have a modded Xbox. I use Xbox Media Center on it. XBMC is great, I can stream music/video from my PC, get news/weather, view my digital camera pics on my HDTV, along with a host of other cool features.

Even as far as bypassing the copy protection is concerned, yes, it also allows me to copy my games onto the HD. But this is legal. I own the game and I can make a backup copy. I just elect to play my backups and leave the discs on the shelf as much as possible. It lets me access my games faster and not risk the DVD's as often (which is good when you have kids in the house!).

Could I copy games? Sure. Do I? No. I like playing on LIVE occasionally and you need the real disc to do that. Besides which, I write software for a living. Do I want people copying what I write? No, so why should I do it to other developers?

Even hating the developer (cough EA cough) isn't a good enough excuse for that.

Though, music, is different. Why? In Canada I have to pay a levy to the music industry for every piece of recordable media I buy. Given that I use tons of discs for non-music related things it seems I'm already paid up. Besides which Canadian copyright law has some interesting allowances for personal copies. Anyhow, a whole other rant.

The point here is: the mod chip allows for much more than just region code bypassing, and it's all legal. The chips shouldn't be illegal, using them to pirate software should be(and is!). Just as I can legally own a radar detector in Canada, I just can't use it to try and dodge speed traps (which makes them pretty useless I grant).

Blockwars: free, multiplayer, head to head game.

While this is an interesting issue, and one I hadn't heard of before, it's only one of many mines in the field of HD.

If you're looking to get into HD there are a *lot* of little quirks to take into account, such as:
- Offically there are two HD resolutions, 720p and 1080i
- Most HD TV's are only capable of *one* of these resolutions. So you have to choose, 720p OR 1080i in most cases. If you want one that can do both, check very carefully.. forget DLP or LCD based devices (fixed set of pixels so fixed resolution), CRT only.
- Many HDTV's will *not* convert from one format to another. They accept only their native resolution.
- Different networks broadcast using one standard or the other. For example CBS uses 1080i and ABC 720p IIRC. Fox is way behind in HDTV support.
- Most HDTV receivers can handle either a 720p or 1080i signal and will convert as required for your TV's native resolution.
- Some TV providers only support one format, regardless of the source material. Ie, in Canada Starchoice only broadcasts in 1080i. Any 720p content they have they upconvert to 1080i before broadcasting. It's impossible to receive a native 720p signal from them.
- The Xbox supports both HDTV modes... but very few HD games actually use 1080i (Dragons Lair being one). Most are 720p. So if this is important to you, you'll possibly want a 720p native TV: most receivers do not have HD inputs that would let you upconvert a 720p game to a 1080i signal for the TV. (the new Xbox will have more HD content than the current one, but it's a good bet that they'll be mostly 720p titles)
- Most Projectors and Plasma's are *not* HDTV. They are EDTV (enhanced definition) or some such. Check the specs carefully.
- Most projectors are 1024x768. This means your HD signal of 1920x1080i or 1920x720p is being heavily rescaled horizontally! Few projectors have a true HD native resolution.

So there you go... lots of fun things to take into account!

Blockwars: free, multiplayer, head to head Tetris like game

RATED: R

Sorry, just to clarify... was that R+ or R-?

Blockwars: Multiplayer Tetris like game

History has already been written!

Google and Amazon.com will merge into, the grid will be born, Blog's will rule the news... oh, it's just too sad to go on...
See it for yourself!

Blockwars: free, multiplayer, head to head game similar to Tetris.

I mean, you still know exactly what songs are going to be played, you just don't know the order.

I do believe we now have a new theory of the universe: The Pop Music Uncertainty Principal

You can know what station is playing crap, but not in what order.
Or, you know now what crap will be played, but not on which station.

This explains a lot...

Blockwars: free, multiplayer, Tetris like game.

I thought I might POKE around a bit with some old Apple hardware and thought this book might help. After taking a PEEK at your review and decided to CALL off purchasing it.

Thanks!

Blockwars: free, multiplayer, head to head game

The MPX-220 was a travishmockey, and I have't heard good things of the MPX either.

Well you'll hear something good now!

For those of you who've never heard of it, Motorola's MPX aka the MPX300 (pre-production model number) is the first phone to have a dual-hinged clamshell design. It can open in portrait mode (phone number pad has precedence) or landscape (qwerty has precedence)

Have a look at http://www.motorola.com/motoinfo/product/images/0, ,48,00.html

They're not available through any providers yet, but I got one off eBay and you can now get it from Tiger Direct. This phone has Bluetooth, 802.11b, GPRS, and IRDA all in one! Drop a 1gig SD card into the SDIO slot and you've got loads of storage.

Having had one for a month now: if you're a hardcore PDA user this might be underpowered, particularly in the ram dept. If you want always on Internet for E-Mail, IM, SSH, Terminal Services, VNC, and general communication then it kicks ASS.

I can listen to MP3's, watch videos, SSH into my servers (and actually type no stupid pecking or stylus squiggles), have voice dialing through my bluetooth headset (realtime voice recognition, no pre-recorded voice labels), etc, all in one device.

I hate carrying multiple devices around. This is, by far, the best all-in-one I've found. Is it perfect? No, but it's damned good.

You mention they were farmed out, would you know to whom?

Blockwars: free, multiplayer, head-to-head on-line game.

By reading the terms and conditions of this comment, you are locked in to obeying them by the most basic laws of physics of the universe and failure to obey them will cause you and your entire family to instantly cease to exist.

Man, your lawyer must have friends in very high places if he can issue a Cease to Exist notice!

How is such a thing delivered? Does the Reaper come in person?

Blockwars: Free, multiplayer, Tetris like game.

Just by shaking it: UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, MENU, END, SEND.

Unlimited airtime!

Blockwars free, multiplayer, tetris like game

This is very inconvenient, because it essentially makes the addressbook on my cell phone useless. I'd love to have something that just automatically routes calls through them. That would definately add to the value of their service.

Not necessarily... while it would no longer be as simple as entering the number of the person you want to call, many phones will let you daisy chain them with a Pause feature. This feature tells the autodialer to wait n number of seconds (or half seconds or what have you for the particular phone) before dialing more numbers.

So you set it up to dial your access number, say 702-555-1212. You want it to then call your destination number, say 613-555-1234. You would then program the phone to dial:
702-555-1212,,,,613-555-1234
(the comma representing whatever character your phone uses to indicate a pause).

This way the phone dials the access number, waits a few seconds to let that call process and the service connect, then dials your destination number.

You could even insert access codes if necessary with additional pauses if need be (ie code 1234):
702-555-1212,,,1234,,,,613-555-1234

It is more work to setup, and you'd need to figure out what sort of delay you needed, but otherwise it should work. The ability to pause and enter more digits has been built into many phones for years...

Blockwars: Free, multiplayer, head to head game.

"AMD will be have four of the parts running inside a usually four-way HP ProLiant DL585 server at its Austin plant later today."

Wait... four-way with dual core processors... so what they are saying is

THERE ARE FOUR SOCKETS!

Blockwars: free, multiplayer Tetris like game

OFFICIAL: (tearing out sheet from pink book) That's your receipt for your phone tap. (taking blue book from her)

MRS. BUTTLE: Thank you. And this is my receipt for your receipt.

(sigh)
Blockwars: free, multiplayer, Tetris like game

Say what you will about .NET, like it or hate it. Either way I think the Mono Project is a Good Thing.

Ideology aside .NET is likely here to stay simply because of MS's market penetration, never mind that is actually happens to be (IMHO) pretty good.

Having a non-MS implementation that allows .NET applications to run on either MS or non-MS platforms is potentially the holy grail of Linux adoption. If more and more apps Just Worked on Windows or Linux, why keep paying the MS tax? (I'm talking average user here, not people who know enough to use things like WINE)

But herein lies the problem. Platform independence was always the claim/goal of Java. One it has had mixed results in achieving. MS's dirty pool with the JRE is certainly a big reason for its less than stellar success on Windows.

Sun hates .NET. .NET could become what they wanted Java to be... IF projects like Mono are successful. So, what would they likely do? Kill it in the name of Java.

Granted Mono is GPL'd, so they couldn't kill it entirely. But taking funding away from Miguel de Icaza and his team would certainly slow its progress dramatically. I'd hate to see that.

.NET already works on Windows (obviously), and with Mono it's starting to work pretty darn well elsewhere. It would be a shame to lose that.

Blockwars: free, realtime, multiplayer game similar to Tetris.

Though it actually has nothing to do with the E450 in dudes trunk.

No, it is the fact that I just saw a reference to Shaving Cream in a /. sig... (eltoyoboyo's )

Wow. An obscure Benny Bell song... on Slashdot...

I can die fulfilled now.

Oh god, I just realized this means I actually got it. *feels old*

Blockwars: free, multiplayer, head to head game

Sounds kinda like beer googles, only pricier.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Google's IPO will be a winner.

Blockwars: free, multiplayer, head to head game

... to rule them all!

Blockwars: free, multiplayer, teris like game

Nature is reporting that Professor Alan H Windle has spun nanotube yarn by twisting nanotubes onto spinning rods as they come out of the furnace from which they are made.

Making clothes out of this 'yarn' may not be such a good idea... wear it out to picture day and you may be going home burned and naked!

Blockwars: free, multiplayer, head-to-head Tetris like game

If it's not, then we can kick SCO's ass into oblivious.

I'm sorry, but I fail to see the advantage of getting SCO onto a stupid Spike TV show?

Wait... maybe that's what this whole thing is... maybe it's some newfangled Reality TV Series! That would explain a heluva lot.

Tonight, after Surviving Average Joe in Eden is 'SCO: Litigious Bastards'. Follow the life of Darl and his cronies as he sees just how far he can push Big Blue and the tech industry at large! Tonight at 9!

Betcha FOX is behind it...

Blockwars: free, multiplayer, head to head, Tetris like game

How better to show my displeasure with Verisign and their Site Finder 'service' than by making use of the very DNS system they want to mess up?

May I present: theroot.ofallevil.com
Joining the ranks of: thesource.ofallevil.com

I love DNS...

Blockwars: multiplayer, head to head, free tetris like game

the original HMS Beagle, the ship Darwin travelled on during his famous voyage, may have been found. Marine archeologists believe they have found the ship, which has been resting at the bottom of some Essex marshes for the last century.

Ok, so we have a ship that was designed to cross vast stretches sea that's been lost for centuries... so what do they do? Take a probe that is designed to cross vast streches of space and give it the same name!

Good plan. How about naming the probe set to visit the asteroid belt "Titanic"! :)

Blockwars: free, multiplayer gaming

In all, less gaming value for your hard-earned dollar.

I suspect that the longer this trend takes to implement, the harder it will be for the game makers to pull it off. Why? An ever increasing back catalogue of existing games that don't have such restrictions

Take a look at all the consoles over the years, that's a huge library of games. Ok, sure, the graphics and features decrease dramatically as you travel further back... but does the entertainment value?

A current Xbox, modded, can happily run MAME. Making one console able to play litterally thousands of titles.

If the software makers push thing to the point where it's no longer worth it to buy, I suspect many people won't. Oh, some will, because they'll always want the latest and greatest. But many may well be content revisiting some of the existing titles.

I used to contantly upgrade my PC hardware to the newest stuff released because I actually benefited from it. These days I rarely do. My existing gear performs well enough that I see only a marginal benifit. Maybe gaming will be similar.

Blockwars: multiplayer and free.. and I'll get around to updating it some more soon. :)

Well, this is a bit of a repost from a story about Europian passports containing biometic data, but slightly edited it still applies:

What the article fails to mention is the most important aspect of the new database: the Terrorist Boolean.

As the above biometrics only help to ascertain that you are you, it was felt an added feature to easily separate the terrorists from the regular population was necessary.

As such, as part of the interviewing process there will be an "Are you a Terrorist?" question. When the traveler responds the Terrorist Boolean is set accordingly.

The boolean may also be set at anytime by authorized representatives of the US Gov't such as the RIAA, and MPAA. In addition undercover officers looking for any Anti-American expressions or beliefs - including privacy advocates, anti-war activists, free software advocates, alternative energy supporters, and anyone generally disagreeing with the supreme-leader-of-free-nations, George W Bush.

(in case you missed it, my point is that biometrics of any sort mearly help confirm that you are who you claim to be - not what you might decide to do. The 911 hijackers came into the US, or were already living in the US, under their real name with valid papers. How would this new system help THAT?)

Blockwars: free multiplayer game

If so it will give weight to my theory that Sony consists of a bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes.

Sorry, the RIAA already has that title.

Blockwars: free multiplayer, head to head game similar to Tetris.

Does the primary language of the person who programs your dialog boxes really matter?

Now that you mention it, probably not... I mean even if
This application has generated an error and will now terminate

got switched to something like
Your application is full of eels

I end up with about the same amount of useful information.

Blockwars: multiplayer, head to head, and free

Are we sure this wasn't put out by the Umbrella corporation?

You must be thinking of Canopy. Easy mistake though.

Blockwars: a free multiplayer game

The real reason why the development of quantum computers is going so slow is pretty simple: everytime they check on their progress they lose the damned thing!

(with appologies to Mr. Heisenberg)

Blockwars: realtime, multiplayer, and free!

Well, apart from going a quick keyword search on the new headline and all the headlines from the last 3 weeks.

Obviously you've never actually tried to use Slashdot's search feature to find anything...

You can be fairly certain that whatever it returns is not what you are actually seeking.

There's nothing quick about searching Slashdot.

Blockwars: a free, multiplayer head to head game.

A flash/thumb drive that can store 4.2 gigs.

Let me get this straight... you want an electric thumb that happens to hold 4.2?

I think Ford and Zaphod would be proud!

Blockwars: multiplayer and free!

Doesn't this make emulators like MAME and the use of ROMS legal now?

Unfortunately no. Section 2 & 3 specifically state (emphesis mine):

2. Computer programs protected by dongles that prevent access due to malfunction or damage and which are obsolete.

3. Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and which require the original media or hardware as a condition of access. A format shall be considered obsolete if the machine or system necessary to render perceptible a work stored in that format is no longer manufactured or is no longer reasonably available in the commercial marketplace.

So this says you are allowed to bypass and DRM or other copy protection necessary to access the software if it is no longer feasable to do it legally... BUT you must own the software in the first place to do this. Otherwise it could still be considered piracy.

Blockwars: multiplayer gaming... free!

'You can transfer your music downloads an unlimited number of times to 3 separate portable devices'

Is only part of the DRM restrictions they have.

However, it might be illegal: in Canada we pay a levy on all recordable media which goes towards paying artists for copies of music made (even if you use the disc for data!).

Additionally it is perfectly legal for someone to borrow your CD and burn a copy of it. You cannot burn a copy and give it to them, though, as that would be considered distribution.

Thus, between paying a levy on all recordable media and having the right to make as many copies from others as you want, DRM Restrictions which seek to limit this ability could be considered in violation of Canadian law. The law says I am entitled to make my copies, but now you won't let me.

Of course IANAL, and they could cover themselves by making it the DRM an EULA item - ie, "By purchasing this music you agree to be bound by our terms of service..." blah blah.

I, for one, won't use this. Screw that. Pay almost the same price for DRM locked, poorly formatted music that I have to pay twice for if I backup to CD? Bugger that. I'll just buy the CD that I can then do what I want with (within limits of course).

Blockwars: realtime, multiplayer, free!

A laser beam pointing to/from a commercial aircraft is essentially a giant pointer, constantly updated, announcing the precise position of the plane. It should not be difficult at all to build a guidance system that follows the laser and delivers a payload to the plane just as a line climber [intothewind.com] follows a kite string to a kite.

Hmmm, a system capable of tracking the precise position of an aircraft? You mean like RADAR?

Blockwars: free, and multiplayer

"Your honor, not only did this man murder his wife, he has an AOL account!"
"hang him then fry him"

Actually that sounds like a pretty good idea for being an AOL'er in the first place.

Think about how much it would clean up the net... :)

Blockwars: multiplayer, free, and live

When it doesn't conform to the IEC 908 standard and/or the Philips-Sony Compact Disc Digital Audio System Description (the RED Book).

It may use the compact disc format, but it's not a Digital Audio Compact Disc.

If they are going to sell a crippled disc it had better be marked as such. If I am lead to believe I am buying a disc recorded using the Red Book standard, that's damned well what I'd better get.

You can't sell a Honda Civic as a Porsche 911.

If the distinction is clearly marked on the disc, and that this disc does not conform to the Red Book standard and thus may not be 100% compatible with Red Book readers, then fine. I can make my decision to purchase or not to purchase.

NOT labling the CD as crippled/containing copy protection/etc and selling it along side Red Book discs is misrepresentation. Fraud, pure and simple.

(well, it my books anyway. Obviously the RIAA may feel differently).

Blockwars: new features including accounts, still multiplayer & free.

Very cool... but not as cool as the breeder reactor this Boy Scout was cooking up.

Good way to win a Darward Award while still living if you ask me...

Blockwars: free, multiplayer, and with new features!

In the beginning there was man, and for a time it was good.
But humanity's so called civil societies soon fell victim to vanity and corruption.
Then man made the machine in his own likeness. Thus did man become the architect of his own demise...

Ha! I knew I'd seen this before!

Blockwars: multiplayer and it's free!

My favorite came from a PC game released sometime in the early to mid 90's. It was called The Black Hole, or something similar, and sported 3D Glasses.

These were your regular, average, cardboard framed polarized 3D Glasses with one exception. They had this warning written on the side:

WARNING: DO NOT STAND IN FRONT OF A MOVING FREIGHT TRAIN WHILE WEARING THESE GLASSES

It boggles the mind to think what American kid was responsible for the printing of this message. I suppose regular transit trains are okay?

Blockwars: multiplayer and free - go play!

What's that sound? Ahhhhh, worm and exploit writers around the world can rejoicing...
I they've got them to stop development.

Wow, that has got to be one of the most incoherent things I've ever posted. And I'm not even drunk.

Blockwars: multiplayer game.

but no new work is being done.

What's that sound? Ahhhhh, worm and exploit writers around the world can rejoicing...

I they've got them to stop development.

Blockwars: go play.

Ok, let me get this straight...

An undisclosed company buys a lincence to undisclosed IP for an undisclosed sum of money...

Hey guys, I have an undisclosed bridge in an undisclosed city I'd be happy to sell you! You know, you want to make sure you secure your water-crossing rights!

Blockwars: a realtime multiplayer game. Go play!

Well, may as well throw mine into the fray...

I find it is a lot of fun to write something just for the sake of doing it and letting people play. It's quite rewarding to get E-Mails from people who enjoy playing what you've done.

For those of you who liked Tetris I've got a multiplayer competitive version up and running at Blockwars. No ads or popups or any of that nonsense...

Blockwars isn't my end goal though... it's a testbed for the multiuser code I intend to use on more creative projects. So if you hit a bug, I'd love to know! :)

Blockwars: a real-time, multiplayer game similar to Tetris.

Well, may as well throw mine into the fray...

I find it is a lot of fun to write something just for the sake of doing it and letting people play. It's quite rewarding to get E-Mails from people who enjoy playing what you've done.

For those of you who liked Tetris I've got a multiplayer competitive version up and running at Blockwars. No ads or popups or any of that nonsense...

Blockwars isn't my end goal though... it's a testbed for the multiuser code I intend to use on more creative projects. So if you hit a bug, I'd love to know! :)

Blockwars: a real-time, multiplayer game similar to Tetris.

The chip will contain a compressed full-face image for use as a biometric. European biometric passports, by contrast, are planned to feature both retinal and fingerprint recognition biometrics on their smart cards.

What the article fails to mention is the most important aspect of the new design: the Terrorist Bit.

As the above biometrics only help to ascertain that you are you, it was felt an added feature to easily separate the terrorists from the regular population was necessary.

As such on the application form for your new passport will be a Terrorist checkbox. When the application is processed the Terrorist Bit is set accordingly.

The bit may also be set at anytime by authorized representatives of the US Gov't such as the RIAA, and MPAA. In addition undercover officers looking for any Anti-American expressions or beliefs - including privacy advocates, anti-war activists, free software advocates, alternative energy supporters, and anyone generally disagreeing with the supreme-leader-of-free-nations, George W Bush.

To ensure your security is of the highest order, each passport will include a unique license, the continuation of which requires an annual subscription fee. This license guarentees that no illegal copies of your passport can be made, its likeness replicated, or your identity compromised. The exact nature of the security measures taken are restricted for National Security reasons.

Blockwars: a free multiplayer game

Imagine if the loyal slashdot crowd were to use our collective resources to advertise any one issue or cause.....

Erm, you mean like Microsoft Bad, Linux Good?

Blockwars: multiplayer and it's free!

Not necessarily. They actually address this in the article:

There are some challenges about how to secure this. The simple strategy is to say, "Look, if you were FTP'ing from this computer, it would be outside your firewall. So I'll mail it to you, and then you plant it outside your firewall, but LAN-connected, so that you're not paying the phone bill."

Of course the converse is available as well:

That's one strategy. The other strategy is to say, "I trust Dave. Dave sent me this computer."

BTW, is reading the article and spell checking your post synonymous with karma whoring?

------
http://blockwars.com/ -- fun game I learned about from someone else's sig.....

PING privaria.org (64.33.49.48) 56(84) bytes of data. 64 bytes from privaria.org (64.33.49.48): icmp_seq=2 ttl=242 time=2 days, 7 hrs, 37 min 64 bytes from privaria.org (64.33.49.48): icmp_seq=1 ttl=242 time=2 days, 17 hrs, 14 min 64 bytes from privaria.org (64.33.49.48): icmp_seq=3 ttl=242 time=3 days, 2 hrs, 41 min

traceroute privaria.org

1 privaria.org-package.ready 50000ms
2 Picked-up-USPS 900000ms
3 Transfer-to-USPS-depot 300000000ms
4 (unknown)
5 (unknown)
6 (unknown)

Packet Loss 100%

Blockwars: multiplayer and it's free.

Somehow this makes me think of the joke about English police stopping criminals without being allowed to carry guns:

Bobby to criminal: Stop!! Or I'll say 'stop' again!!

Except here we have:

DOJ to MS: Comply!! Or we'll say 'comply' again!

Sad, yes. Surprising, no.

Blockwars: new features & bug fixes! All multiplayer. Go play.