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http://www.cnet.com/8301-13544_1-9843713-35.html

2500 bucks and its yours!

The summary uses the acronym "SMB", which is used in TFA, and is also used on the linked Microsoft blog. At no point does anyone define this term or give enough contextual clues for it to be obvious.

After thinking about it for a minute, I figured out that it must mean "small and medium business", but given that SMB has many definitions, especially in the tech field, would it have been so difficult to just expand the acronym and explain the context? Instead of "...launched a SMB program..." why not "...launched a new licensing program targeted at small and medium-sized businesses..." Yes, it requires a few more words, but we're no longer in an age of trying to squeeze a certain amount of information onto sheets of physical paper.

I understand the need for acronyms and tech-lingo in specialized discussions (I'm a geek, after all)... but when reporting it doesn't hurt to provide context!

Region coding is optional for HD DVD and can be enabled at any time.

About the 51Gb disks:
"James Armour from Toshiba's optical storage division at CeBIT this year, and were told that although the third layer would be harder to read, and generate more data errors"

Oh, and Sony and TDk have been working on a 200GB blu ray disc.

I'm sure there's more inaccuracies in your post, but I really didn't read much after the points above...

McAfee knows what is expected of it. It just doesn't want to comply. It's the same old story. "We want the software - it's great! But we don't want to have to change our 20th-century business model to get it." That's McAfee's problem, not the software's. It's not a GPL thing. It's a matter of unsated covetousness.

Actually I'm enjoying myself today. One comment is "Insightful troll" and one is "Interesting flamebait".

Although the post reads like a troll, I was quite serious -- Thus far every Vista install I've seen lasted no more than a month. Some went back to XP, a couple decided as long as they'd made a change they might as well try something else before going back to XP... And that makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, you wiped XP and installed Vista hoping for something better didn't you? Why give up after just one FAIL ?

A Vista /. thread is always going to be about axe grinding and nothing else. This is true both for the posts and for the moderation. For helpful discussion you would probably want a different forum. There you'll find helpful posts like this one.

Or you can read this helpful post about downgrading from Vista to XP. Personally I like the thread entitled "Windows Vista: Vista iTunes Video Playback Blame Game.

Here on /. this is what you get and that's the way it is.

Actually I'm enjoying myself today. One comment is "Insightful troll" and one is "Interesting flamebait".

Although the post reads like a troll, I was quite serious -- Thus far every Vista install I've seen lasted no more than a month. Some went back to XP, a couple decided as long as they'd made a change they might as well try something else before going back to XP... And that makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, you wiped XP and installed Vista hoping for something better didn't you? Why give up after just one FAIL ?

A Vista /. thread is always going to be about axe grinding and nothing else. This is true both for the posts and for the moderation. For helpful discussion you would probably want a different forum. There you'll find helpful posts like this one.

Or you can read this helpful post about downgrading from Vista to XP. Personally I like the thread entitled "Windows Vista: Vista iTunes Video Playback Blame Game.

Here on /. this is what you get and that's the way it is.

Actually I'm enjoying myself today. One comment is "Insightful troll" and one is "Interesting flamebait".

Although the post reads like a troll, I was quite serious -- Thus far every Vista install I've seen lasted no more than a month. Some went back to XP, a couple decided as long as they'd made a change they might as well try something else before going back to XP... And that makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, you wiped XP and installed Vista hoping for something better didn't you? Why give up after just one FAIL ?

A Vista /. thread is always going to be about axe grinding and nothing else. This is true both for the posts and for the moderation. For helpful discussion you would probably want a different forum. There you'll find helpful posts like this one.

Or you can read this helpful post about downgrading from Vista to XP. Personally I like the thread entitled "Windows Vista: Vista iTunes Video Playback Blame Game.

Here on /. this is what you get and that's the way it is.

Actually I'm enjoying myself today. One comment is "Insightful troll" and one is "Interesting flamebait".

Although the post reads like a troll, I was quite serious -- Thus far every Vista install I've seen lasted no more than a month. Some went back to XP, a couple decided as long as they'd made a change they might as well try something else before going back to XP... And that makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, you wiped XP and installed Vista hoping for something better didn't you? Why give up after just one FAIL ?

A Vista /. thread is always going to be about axe grinding and nothing else. This is true both for the posts and for the moderation. For helpful discussion you would probably want a different forum. There you'll find helpful posts like this one.

Or you can read this helpful post about downgrading from Vista to XP. Personally I like the thread entitled "Windows Vista: Vista iTunes Video Playback Blame Game.

Here on /. this is what you get and that's the way it is.

There is no positive way to see this for the industry. Long term, it's even bad for Novell. Novell has become a vassal to Microsoft - it can claim to be independent, but when 1/3 of Novell's revenue comes from its top competitor, there is no way it can make independent decisions. It depends on Microsoft for all of its profits, I'd be willing to bet. Sadly, the minute that Microsoft views Novell as a threat, it will simply turn off the spigot and Novell will die. Novell needs to find independent means to grow its business beyond Microsoft.

As mentioned in another response the US limit is 1.6 W/Kg. Here's a listing of some phones http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6602_7-5020355-1.html?tag=feat.1. Take a look at the difference between the 10 lowest and 10 highest models.

That's because the Fetuses were the CEO's, who were responsible for "spend so far into the hole maybe we'll be profitable in China" business plans.

http://www.cnet.com/4520-11136_1-6278387-1.html

See here for a brief recap of Ou's idiocy (not a word but still).

You're thinking of this 4L.
I had this 4L

It was an office grade printer, same as the rest of the 4 series, and from what I can tell, it was the exact same as the 4 plus. It was the same size, the same weight (37 lbs), it just had an "L" where the "Plus" should have been. I have no idea why the 4L name was used twice. It made buying toner a bitch.

With disappointments like the iphone, who needs successes? iPhone OS X has surpassed WinCE in total marketshare in 2 quarters.

My whole family has Verizon and I know that three of our phones have a calendar application: LG ENv, LG Chocolate, and LG 8350. I'm almost certain that Dad's Razr has one too, but don't hold me to that -- I haven't touched his phone in months. On the LG phones, simply pressing "down" on the directional pad from the standby screen accesses the calendar. I've played with a few others at the store as well that had calendars, but I will admit that they've all been LG phones, so maybe it's just the Motorola phones that are gimped like that? I mean, here's a CNET review that specificially mentions that the phone includes a calendar: http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/motorola-krzr-k1m-verizon/4505-6454_7-31987124.html

Have you actually checked for it under the Settings and Tools > Tools menu? That's where it should be located if you don't have a shortcut key for it.

I'm not trying to say that you're intentionally spreading FUD, but I certainly haven't noticed the lack of a calendar on any of my family's phones.

(The red themed GUI is crap, but they've thankfully been moving away from that on some of the newer phones -- my eNV has an option for a blue GUI and it looks sooo much better.)

IIRC, it takes more CPU power to decode OGG files than to decode MP3s.

My PDA does it, my tiny Trekstore does it, and so can your iPod. This is NOT a technical issue.

I was kind of thinking that too. CNET on the other hand gets some props.

I was kind of thinking that too. CNET on the other hand gets some props.

A game system is completely useless without a game. The reasons for not including a game are to reduce the cost of the system and give the consumer the option of buying a different game. Wii Sports is an award-winning game, in categories like "Best Sports Game," "Top 10 games of the year," "Best Multiplayer Experience," "Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Enginneering," "Outstanding Achievenent in Game Design," "Outstanding Innovation in Gaming," among others. It's a no-brain system seller and arguably the best pack-in ever. Why do you consider it to be so much less of a game that it should not be considered in the same breath as other games that are played on the home consoles?

I actually think that the 360 is a great system, once you get past the red ring of death, but I won't give Microsoft my hard-earned $$$ so they can spend it on spreading patent FUD against the Linux and Open-Source communities that I support. My other technical issue with the 360 is that the vast majority of the games for it are rendered in 720p.

I think the PS3 is too expensive and will not be a relavant player in this console war until it gets closer to the magic $200-$250 consumer impulse-buy price-point with a hard disk included. I also think that the fact that HD-DVD players are selling for $100 is going to spell the end for Blu-Ray in the high-definition media format war by the end of this Christmas season. I was ready to pay for a PS3 when I thought that Blu-ray was going to win (after the price got down to something reasonable), but now I'm going to buy an HD-DVD player after Christmas and wait to see if Metal Gear remains exclusive.

I grew up on Atari and Nintendo with a little Sega thrown in there for good measure. I think that Sony and Microsoft bought their way into the gaming market that was created by Nintendo and Sega (after the Atari collapse) with the PlayStation and Xbox brands. I'm okay with that, as long as they continue to innovate and compete on the consoles and games. I think that Microsoft is doing a great job of competing and Sony has their work cut out for them.

Selling video game consoles at a loss is nothing new. What is new is that one of the console manufacturers is actually making a profit from each console sold. Historically, most video game consoles have been sold at a loss. It's the old "give away the razor to sell the blades" (i.e. give away the system to sell the games) strategy.

You're right that selling a system that includes high-end technologies like Blu-Ray and the Cell processor does not make Sony arrogant, but it does make the PS3 expensive. It's the things that Sony's CEO, Howard Stringer says that makes Sony look arrogant. Specifically, Sony's CEO said "The price of the PS3 is high but you're paying for potential" and "obviously, it's a higher-risk strategy - as all new inventions are - but if the PS3 lives up to its total potential, then I don't think anyone will be worried about Nintendo or Xbox's cheaper price." Here's the source. Is it not arrogant to assume that gamers, one of the most informed consumer groups, will pay $600 for a game console for its "potential?"

The PS3 has to compete on price or they will not succeed in this generation of the console war. This competition/console war is good for all gamers because it forces the console manufacturers and game developers to innovate AND keep their prices down.

Take a look at what Toshiba's HD-DVD players are going for this Christmas. Now, look at the statements from Sony's CEO, Howard Stringer about how the high-defintion format war is a "stalemate." Don't you think that low-cost players, high-definition movies, and cheap porn will lead to HD-DVD's victory over Blu-Ray this Christmas? Is it not arrogant to call the format war a "stalemate" when your format is on the verge of collapse due to its cost?

This is not the a lone case. Google, Airtel and the Indian police (Maharashtra state police) are involved in wrongful arrest of an orkut user. In this case though, the person accused had not even done anything remote to the accusations but was arrested as a result of a f**up between all the three mentioned above. http://blogs.cnet.com/surveillance-state/8301-13739_1-9811569-46.html?tag=head

I thought the commercial shows a zune in the center console. I did a quick google for this and only found the system actually controlling a zune. See, for example, CNET's review: http://reviews.cnet.com/Ford_Sync_powered_by_Microsoft_Auto/4660-12760_7-6683830.html

A couple of sources say it has a USB port for connecting an iPod, but I haven't found anything saying that the voice controls work with iPod...

Starcraft ESRB = Mature
http://reviews.cnet.com/pc-games/starcraft-pc/4507-9696_7-30975991.html
I don't see how this hurts minors.

How about this?

It released its open-source Flickr application (Thalia) and it's actively working on open sourcing other projects that it's working on. Now if we could just get the corporate world to be as liberal/free with its code as the academics....

I had hopes for the shadow too, ditto the blackjack. Some of the other directors at work talked me into a AT&T 8525 and despite all the hype it sucks too. It's a freaking brick, especially with the extended life battery , a lousy phone that you can't dial by feel and a crappy web browser.

Is it too much to ask for a phone that I can fit in a front pants pocket, dial by feel with hard buttons and that can also sync to Outlook? My personal Katana is a great phone- if I could just get email on it I'd ditch the brick.

I'm still waiting for the phone that sounds and works like a phone.

Why does everyone say this as if it doesn't exist?

I suspect it is because they want their posts to sound as though they possess some real down-home 'Murrican wisdom. Jesus. How many counterexamples do I have to find? All of these are "phones that look and act like phones."

Moreover, why is ANYONE "against" convergence? Seriously? Do you really WANT to be carrying around a camera, a phone, a PDA, and a laptop?

Wrong! That's not an advantage, that's insane. At least, I can't remember the last time I was looking at my cellphone thinking, "Damn, I wish right now I could open up a Word document!", not even if one was attached to an e-mail.

Yesterday, when I got an email from my advisor. Thankfully, I had my iPhone at the ready and it was quite capable of opening the document. I was able to answer her question immediately and it made me look like I was really on top of things. I guess that makes me "insane."

I'm still waiting for the phone that sounds and works like a phone.

Why does everyone say this as if it doesn't exist?

I suspect it is because they want their posts to sound as though they possess some real down-home 'Murrican wisdom. Jesus. How many counterexamples do I have to find? All of these are "phones that look and act like phones."

Moreover, why is ANYONE "against" convergence? Seriously? Do you really WANT to be carrying around a camera, a phone, a PDA, and a laptop?

Wrong! That's not an advantage, that's insane. At least, I can't remember the last time I was looking at my cellphone thinking, "Damn, I wish right now I could open up a Word document!", not even if one was attached to an e-mail.

Yesterday, when I got an email from my advisor. Thankfully, I had my iPhone at the ready and it was quite capable of opening the document. I was able to answer her question immediately and it made me look like I was really on top of things. I guess that makes me "insane."

I'm still waiting for the phone that sounds and works like a phone.

Why does everyone say this as if it doesn't exist?

I suspect it is because they want their posts to sound as though they possess some real down-home 'Murrican wisdom. Jesus. How many counterexamples do I have to find? All of these are "phones that look and act like phones."

Moreover, why is ANYONE "against" convergence? Seriously? Do you really WANT to be carrying around a camera, a phone, a PDA, and a laptop?

Wrong! That's not an advantage, that's insane. At least, I can't remember the last time I was looking at my cellphone thinking, "Damn, I wish right now I could open up a Word document!", not even if one was attached to an e-mail.

Yesterday, when I got an email from my advisor. Thankfully, I had my iPhone at the ready and it was quite capable of opening the document. I was able to answer her question immediately and it made me look like I was really on top of things. I guess that makes me "insane."

I'm still waiting for the phone that sounds and works like a phone.

Why does everyone say this as if it doesn't exist?

I suspect it is because they want their posts to sound as though they possess some real down-home 'Murrican wisdom. Jesus. How many counterexamples do I have to find? All of these are "phones that look and act like phones."

Moreover, why is ANYONE "against" convergence? Seriously? Do you really WANT to be carrying around a camera, a phone, a PDA, and a laptop?

Wrong! That's not an advantage, that's insane. At least, I can't remember the last time I was looking at my cellphone thinking, "Damn, I wish right now I could open up a Word document!", not even if one was attached to an e-mail.

Yesterday, when I got an email from my advisor. Thankfully, I had my iPhone at the ready and it was quite capable of opening the document. I was able to answer her question immediately and it made me look like I was really on top of things. I guess that makes me "insane."

I'm still waiting for the phone that sounds and works like a phone.

Why does everyone say this as if it doesn't exist?

I suspect it is because they want their posts to sound as though they possess some real down-home 'Murrican wisdom. Jesus. How many counterexamples do I have to find? All of these are "phones that look and act like phones."

Moreover, why is ANYONE "against" convergence? Seriously? Do you really WANT to be carrying around a camera, a phone, a PDA, and a laptop?

Wrong! That's not an advantage, that's insane. At least, I can't remember the last time I was looking at my cellphone thinking, "Damn, I wish right now I could open up a Word document!", not even if one was attached to an e-mail.

Yesterday, when I got an email from my advisor. Thankfully, I had my iPhone at the ready and it was quite capable of opening the document. I was able to answer her question immediately and it made me look like I was really on top of things. I guess that makes me "insane."

I'm still waiting for the phone that sounds and works like a phone.

Why does everyone say this as if it doesn't exist?

I suspect it is because they want their posts to sound as though they possess some real down-home 'Murrican wisdom. Jesus. How many counterexamples do I have to find? All of these are "phones that look and act like phones."

Moreover, why is ANYONE "against" convergence? Seriously? Do you really WANT to be carrying around a camera, a phone, a PDA, and a laptop?

Wrong! That's not an advantage, that's insane. At least, I can't remember the last time I was looking at my cellphone thinking, "Damn, I wish right now I could open up a Word document!", not even if one was attached to an e-mail.

Yesterday, when I got an email from my advisor. Thankfully, I had my iPhone at the ready and it was quite capable of opening the document. I was able to answer her question immediately and it made me look like I was really on top of things. I guess that makes me "insane."

I'm still waiting for the phone that sounds and works like a phone.

Why does everyone say this as if it doesn't exist?

I suspect it is because they want their posts to sound as though they possess some real down-home 'Murrican wisdom. Jesus. How many counterexamples do I have to find? All of these are "phones that look and act like phones."

Moreover, why is ANYONE "against" convergence? Seriously? Do you really WANT to be carrying around a camera, a phone, a PDA, and a laptop?

Wrong! That's not an advantage, that's insane. At least, I can't remember the last time I was looking at my cellphone thinking, "Damn, I wish right now I could open up a Word document!", not even if one was attached to an e-mail.

Yesterday, when I got an email from my advisor. Thankfully, I had my iPhone at the ready and it was quite capable of opening the document. I was able to answer her question immediately and it made me look like I was really on top of things. I guess that makes me "insane."

I'm still waiting for the phone that sounds and works like a phone.

Why does everyone say this as if it doesn't exist?

I suspect it is because they want their posts to sound as though they possess some real down-home 'Murrican wisdom. Jesus. How many counterexamples do I have to find? All of these are "phones that look and act like phones."

Moreover, why is ANYONE "against" convergence? Seriously? Do you really WANT to be carrying around a camera, a phone, a PDA, and a laptop?

Wrong! That's not an advantage, that's insane. At least, I can't remember the last time I was looking at my cellphone thinking, "Damn, I wish right now I could open up a Word document!", not even if one was attached to an e-mail.

Yesterday, when I got an email from my advisor. Thankfully, I had my iPhone at the ready and it was quite capable of opening the document. I was able to answer her question immediately and it made me look like I was really on top of things. I guess that makes me "insane."

I just copy my home iTunes folder to a notebook drive in a USB enclosure, and take it to work.

Carrying disks?!? I just use Media Center to stream my audio and video over the internet from my server to whatever clients I like. I've used Media Center because of its single-click client-specific transcoding and its great tagging/smartlists. However, of late, I've been increasingly using VLC and Orb to stream more media to my phone. Anyway, the point is, carrying a physical disk is a postmodern sneakernet that should be left in the dustbin of history as soon as possible.

Hello there, Mr. Bill Gates! ;-) I had no idea you read Slashdot!!! Thank you for honoring us lowly "patent infringers" with your presence. Let me be the first to welcome you by telling you that I will not be buying any Microsoft hardware or software until you back down from your patent threats against the open-source community.

I read the reference you sent and it talked about Madden 2008 running at 30 FPS, not 20 (the framerate is 50% faster than you claimed in your post, but I'll try to not cloud your truth with my facts) in 1080p on the PS3. Keep in mind that we're talking about the world's biggest console game port company, EA. They were probably targeting the 360 as the primary platform to make more $$$ from game sales, had to meet a release deadline that one of the suits placed in their calendar, and chose to lock the framerate at 30 FPS to save time when porting the game to the PS3. The article also names Resistance: Fall of man, Motorstorm, and Call of Duty 4 as games that perform better than Madden graphically on the PS3.

I think that the PS3's day will come when the price drops to a reasonable level ($200-$250). I do agree that we're having great Wii and 360 fun right now, but expect that the PS3's graphics will put those two systems to shame in the coming years on HDTVs. I will probably buy a PS3 for the Blu-Ray player and 1080p games. I see no point in buying a 360 for 720p games, because I would only be helping Microsoft fund their FUD campaign against the open-source community.

The newest HDTVs support 120 Hz refresh rates; there are models from major manufacturers (Sony, Toshiba, JVC, Mitsubishi) and Samsung also has a few 120 frame per second models that I'm looking at. The days of the 60 frame per second refresh rate for HDTVs and games are numbered and Microsoft is dreaming if they think that 720p@60hz will last them as long as 480i@30hz lasted the PS2.

How is this different from what google just did? http://www.cnet.com/8301-13739_1-9811569-46.html?tag=blog.2 Is anyone going to do anything to google?

And... ummm.. Where exactly is the appeal in the TabletPC?

They're loads cheaper than a Cintiq. And more portable.

As an artist, I thought a tablet PC would be awesome. However, the one I tried was a big letdown in terms of application support - Adobe apps are unuseable in portrait mode. :/

http://www.cnet.com/8301-13739_1-9769645-46.html

This article does seem to put forth an interesting idea. I wonder if a case could be reasonably put together for Comcast impersonating its users in violation of the law.

first off, you don't want to edit a file in .doc format seeign what sort of informations it contains. some horror stories have emerged about older text being still in a private document made public.
http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7-6379053.html (not precise but I don't have much time to search)

and second, well it makes a good point for pdf that it can be read by anyone because word documents can't.

let me tell you now that although it is not generally integrated into pdf editors, the pdf format allows for incremental modification, giving you the opportunity to modify a file and keep track of modifications. but, as the file format is well documented, it is possible to erase those traces by rebuilding the data tree, which is not possible with a .doc file.

the point of having open document formats is to know what your documents contain and to be able to clean what you don't want it to contain.

How's this TV Torrents: When 'piracy' is easier than legal purchase for "not exactly easy or convinient"?

AntiVirus programs seem to be largely useless, and McAfee is particularly awful because of its horrendous implementation that sits there just sucking.

http://www.cnet.com/internet-security-and-firewall/mcafee-virusscan-plus-2007/4505-3667_7-31995275.html?tag=prod.txt.2

I want to publicly comment on the "spreading lies on this issue" that I'm being accused of by many of you in the /. community. I'll keep my reply simple:

1) Microsoft called this move "open source" in all of there communications with me. In fact, the title of the mail in my inbox from Microsoft is: "Important: Microsoft & Open Source Announcement" . They also referred to it as "open source" in the voice mail they left me the night before.

2) I put "open source" in quotes to highlight the fact that this is NOT open source . That was the entire point of the blog for those of you who obviously didn't read it in it's entirety.

3) Many people on /. tried a new and novel approach and actually read my post before commenting/forming their opinion. Two notable examples of this radical behavior include:

"Will Hurley captures the move accurately" - Matt Asay, CNet

"William Hurley says Microsoft is going "open source," and those quote marks are his point." - Dana Blankenhorn, ZDNet So thanks to all of you who commented after actually reading the post. For the rest of you, I hope this helps to clear things up.

Anytime you see a reference to Einstein, or the e=mc^2 equation, there's a good chance that the exciting new technology is bunk. Can we formalize this rule? It could be as important as Godwin's for understanding internet discourse

Only at slashdot and the other 3 real nerd sites. Well, I guess the 100,000 faux nerd sites could use it, too.

-mcgrew

Power [W]=(0.1229 W/in^2)*(Screen Size [in])^2+6.89 W

So for these TVs, it seems that 6.89 W is the minimum overhead.

From May http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9722313-1.html , but it shows that no IM client is secure , less bloated yes and patched faster yes , but not secure from some one willing and wanting to do harm.

IMHO any open source IM client is inherently better. It's patched faster 90 % of the time.