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Get a Grip on LAN Parties
Eclipse127 writes "If you're a LAN party go'er, you know how much it sucks to drag all your equipment in and out of a LAN party. Bulky cases, tripping over keyboard cords, dropping things on the floor.. sound familiar?
Well, Boomgames has the goods on the Gear Grip Pro. Looks pretty sweet, and unlike most of my toys, actually useful.."
I picked one up at QuakeCon last summer. Quite useful, but I found out it's a lot harder to carry my case with one arm than the two I used to use. Unless you're stronger than I am (pretty likely, actually) the shoulder strap is very handy, if awkward.
You might try submitting this to a dedicated health news discussion board. Slashdot isn't really focused on this sort of thing. Slashdot is more focused towards new Computer (Linux) toys, patent/copyright on technology news, and some various geeky news bites. You topic was really a little too broad and off-topic for Slashdot IMHO.
Unfortunatly, this is just my opinion. Everybody seems to have a different idea of what Slashdot is, and a lot of them get rather annoyed when the Slashdot editors don't do exactly what they expect.
Down that path lies madness. On the other hand, the road to hell is paved with melting snowballs.
I read the internet for the articles.
Bill - aka taniwha
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Bill - aka taniwha
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Leave others their otherness. -- Aratak
but what exactly is a "LAN party"?
A source for affordable LCD monitors and a strap for it on the other side.
:-)
This is so cool that I bought 1 for me and 1 for my 16 year old son. (Dad and son Fragging team
On a side note, anyone come across any good book sized PC's that offer really good 3D chipsets or an AGP slot on it's side? I'd love to make an ultra-portable gaming box.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
I never really thought it was that difficult. Yeah, there's the inertia of not wanting to drag your stuff down and have to set it up again later, but it's really not so much work as you might fear.
All you got is 1) monitor 2) cpu 3) large bag with everything else (keyboard mouse mousepad headphones cat5 power cords cdr blanks) (I normally use those huge bags they give you a Microcenter). You can normally carry that in 2 trips.
Maybe you should have scoop put together freshvegetables.com for crap like this.
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Get a laptop with a nice big screen (or better yet, S-VHS out), a wireless lan card, and a good USB controller. Total weight? about 6 or 7 lbs. Completely portable.
The Apple Titaniums are perfect for this, as long as you're playing cross-platform games (Diablo II, Quake Arena, Starcraft, Myth II, etc.)
Kevin Fox
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Kevin Fox
Because, when you don't consider homosexual transmission, it is generally believed (and probably now proved via empirical tests) that women have a MUCH greater chance of getting HIV from a man, than a man does from a woman. Also, male promiscuity is considered to be higher than female, so a single male can infect several women over the course of time.
Therefore, in areas where non-homosexuals are the primary carriers of HIV, it often has a higher infection rate for women than men.
So, it is not an issue of symmetry. Women have a higher chance of getting AIDS from a man than vice versa.
"It's overkill, of course. But you can never have too much overkill." - Anonymous Slashdot Coward
I'm much more interested in this contraption than in moral and ethical dilemmas facing the health care industry. Maybe that makes you a better person than me...somehow I'll live with the shame. What you fail to realize, however, is that this story isn't responsible for the rejection of your story. This story happened to interest the Slashdot editors, yours did not. It's nothing personal...they aren't pushing an agenda...they've just got this web site where they post stories that interest them. Why would this be any different than if you wrote to the editor of your local newspaper and then didn't see your letter in print?
Slashdot doesn't have to post what you like. They (the Slashdot editors) don't have to post things with moral and ethical dilemmas. They don't have to post ANYTHING. They post what they are interested in, and they've found enough people that agree that their site has obtained no small notoriety. Bully for them.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
I agree with what everyone here is saying. But "news for nerds" -- all scientists are nerds, not just computer nerds. I mean, we talk about gene splicing and all that crap all the time here. How many times has the ethical quagmire of "cloning" or "designer babies" been discussed to death?
:)
Anyway. I was just surprised to see this topic again and I went on a little rant. Sorry
(And I'll check out bottomquark)
Not representing or approved by my company or anybody else.
I'm sure this will be quickly modded down, but ... is this worthy of Slashdot? This is not the first time I've seen this case (if not this one, one _exactly_ like it by the same company).
A few weeks ago, I submitted a story which to me would do us all good to look at. It was a link to an article discussing the ethical dillema facing the health care industry in trying to decide whether to use a live-HIV-virus AIDS vaccine. The issue being, of course, that some people would get AIDS from it. However, statistically, in countries with a high enough infection rate, it would prevent many more deaths than it caused. But in countries like the US with relatively lower rates, it would be a disaster.
The story really hit me, in terms of being something educated scientist-type folks would love to discuss.
It was rejected.
Instead, we get a fancy backpack.
This is my first "This isn't news, this doesn't matter" post. I'll try to refrain in the future. But....wow. I'm stunned.
Not representing or approved by my company or anybody else.
you can get them over at thinkgeek, maybe we can load balance the /. effect on this one.
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Opportunities multiply as they are seized. --Sun-Tzu
Just to let people know how I use mine, I have a full tower case. I bought the bigger model and it fits just fine with plenty of room if the case was a little bigger (how could that be I'm not sure). I use the Micro$oft Natural keyboard. The skinny end fits perfectly in the big pocket. I can slip the edge of the keyboard under one of the staps to hold it in place. I slip my RadPadz (mouse surface) in the pocket behind the keyboard. The mouse fits in the little pocket. Net work cable, headphones on one of the cable loops. Power cords on the other cable loop. It's impressive. A lot of people have seen my get up and said, "Wow, that's cool." Also, my case has casters on it. The downside is that with these it's too tall to fit in most places. But, I manage. The GearGrip seems to be well made. All this stuff is heavy. The handle on the thing is brilliant. So far it's holding up to the use and abuse. I believe it's rated to 70 pounds. Between the shoulder strap, a back pack (for games, controllers, power strip, and misc. stuff), and a small monitor (for travelling) I've actually carried everything in one trip. Yeah, it weighs a ton, but I'm a big dude.
I'll say this. For $35 or $37 for the full tower size, these things are a heck of a deal. I ordered mine from CaseAce.com directly. They processed my order quite nicely. BTW, they sell nice thumb-screws to replace the standard screws on a case if you need those. So, call me a loser or whatever, but I'm sure that many will find great benefit in using this item.
Shawn Pack
For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the sheltered will never know.
Now all we need is a matter-reduction ray to shrink down the monitor and we're all set. Sigh.
So what's your idea of a "party" snagging a Keg and drinking until you can't stand up? You act like any other group of people has a better way to socially interact. Human contact is human contact, and whether it comes in the form of me screaming 'Eat Rockets Bitchboy!!' at my little brother while I blast him off of 'the longest yard' or in the form of 4 or 5 buddies getting drunk with their girlfriends at someones house you can't tell me that either of those is a totally invalid form of contact. People do the things they enjoy, there is nothing wrong with that. So yank your head out of your ass and look around, not everyone likes what you like.
Kintanon
BTW, I'm posting all of this stuff because I don't give a fuck about moderation, I stopped posting when I stopped being able to gain Karma because it was already hard enough to add to what little conversation their was and with the incentive to post intelligent thought gone I started lurking. The quality of discussion didn't really change after moderation stopped except that a few of the most prolific people stopped posting as much. So Moderate me 6 ways from sunday, I don't care! I have karma flowing out my ass.
Check out JoshJitsu.info for Brazilian Ji
I've been going to a LAN party once a month for the past 4 months.
We have 6 girls, and 2 girls usually, with everyone is 30 and older. So whoever said "LAN parties are for geeks that can't get chicks" is an idiot.
We play Unreal Tournament for 3 hours straight, Quake 3 for another 2 hours nonstop, then break for supper (usually pizza). Then we restart, playing Rogue Spear for another 3 hours straight, and Revolt for another hour.
LAN Parties aren't just for geeks - they are a way for hard-core gamers to get together, and meet new people "local" in the area, while letting off some of the steam from the daily pressures of the week. (I hosted a Quake party a few years back, and met some cool friends. Had a lot of fun playing online every weekend for the next year with them, and we still keep in touch.)
LAN parties are not for everyone, (dragging a 20" monitor and computer home at 2am sucks,) but they can be an absolute blast. Being in the same room and able to spew curse at each other when your friend frags your ass, and then you doing the same thing to him, hehe, is a good harmless way to let loose with the testrone.
If you're in west side of Mass., send me some email, and I can email forward you the list to who to contact.
If two people have a copy of a game that they want to play, what do you think happens? Yes, everyone is given a copy of the game.
And in my experience quite a few people then go out and purchase the game too - but we're all a bunch of honest folk, I can't speak for other groups.
In addition, the atmosphere of LAN parties is not conducive to proper behavior. Drinking and smoking are not uncommon at LAN parties.
Drinking is common in Boston... Heck we've got Ted Kennedy. Jon Stuart calls Boston the Drinkin'est town in the US, and asks if we ever wake up as a city and ask "What did we do last night?" Smokers go and do it on the porch. I'd rather have people drinking and staying put, than drinking and driving when the party gets lame though.
In addition, the lack of female gamers leads encourages homosexuality.
Well, now I know you're a troll, but hey whatever... Commonly we have gay gamers... commonly we have gay female gamers... commonly we have lots of attractive women there... You hang with the wrong crowd if this isn't the case.
This sort of behavior may have been tolerable in the Greek armies of long ago, but is simply unacceptable in modern moral society.
As such, I forbid my children to attend LAN parties because I do not their school to become the next Columbine.
Modern moral society? Columbine?... now I know for sure your a troll. Well, as a parrent, you have that right. I am glad to see that you are actively taking an effort to protect your children. Why not go the step further though, and become an active participant in what your child is doing and is interested in doing. If your kid wants to go to a LAN party, and you are afraid of the danger the games can do, why not play the game with your child, and discuss the violent images within it, the violence it reflects in society, and the unacceptability of further violence in our society. I bet you'd find your child to be more aware than you think. In addition a good discusion on Sex, Drugs, Smoking and Alcohol should be something you might want to think about having with your child.
You say you want a revolution?
This item really cements that whole "news for nerds" thing. This is why I am getting sick of Slashdot: more and more articles are pointless. It isn't enough that they waste all the space on the Jon Katz stories that so many of us have stopped reading, but crap like this takes the cake.
/. is just getting too geeky?
I know plenty of people submit better stuff than this. Hell, I can think to two stories I have submitted about online music (One about Prince moving his music sales online, and one about a group of artists striking out against record companies.) and neither were posted, although they were certainly of more interest than yet another case modded for lan parties.
Is it just me, or does it seem that
and while they're at it perhaps they could clue you in that you should go outside and get the hell away from you computer!
when i first heard about LAN parties (a few years ago, while going to school at the University of Waterloo) i thought it was a joke. it boggles my mind that people actually do this, but it's downright disturbing that a company makes accessories for these "parties."
dear lord, what is the world coming to?
- j
:-)
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You can buy these at ThinkGeek. One of my favorite sites.
Thank you. I'm sure the moderator who modded it down won't see it, but I'm glad someone noticed.
Go to a bar...there are usually women there. 8^)
Women are only a a way to escape from the reality. The reality that you don't have any video games play.
This Wiki Feeds You TV and Anime - vidwiki.org
Erm...there's nothing I like better than lugging all of my computer equipment into someone's basement so that I can actually sit next to all of those fuckers that I kill in CS and Tribes. Woohooo!
Broadband anyone?
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Wooden armaments to battle your imaginary foes!
Well, mainly because what I wrote wouldn't have been nearly as silly otherwise. It was mostly tongue-in-cheek. However, I do think that it'd be easy enough to just load your case on to one of those little wheeled carts people use for luggage, rather than trying to add casters to the case.
Assuming s/coasters/casters/, it sounds like a great idea until you manage to push your computer off of your desk while trying to eject a floppy.
is when you get 10 different people with:
...very typical...
10 different network settings
9 different speed PC's
8 different versions of the game patch
7 game CD's missing
6 machines that need to be fixed after transport
5 machines with NIC's that don't work 4 different versions of OS
3 machines with viruses
2 people who have to go home, now that's it's getting late (and haven't even started) 1 long night wasted with no gaming
sure, it gets better after the first few times of this junk, but... with broadband, it's hardly even worth it...
I love the smell of Karma in the morning
Er... Well, y'know. You can't make an omelette without um... destroying a forest. Or something.
My only political goal is to see to it that no political party achieves its goals.
In addition, the atmosphere of LAN parties is not conducive to proper behavior. Drinking and smoking are not uncommon at LAN parties. In addition, the lack of female gamers leads encourages homosexuality. This sort of behavior may have been tolerable in the Greek armies of long ago, but is simply unacceptable in modern moral society.
As such, I forbid my children to attend LAN parties because I do not their school to become the next Columbine.
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Know someone who is stealing cable? Report them!
There's always getting a case with coasters on the bottom. I've wanted one of those for years. No lifting, and you can just put the monitor and stuff on top of it.. ;)
Gentoo Sucks
MySQL & PHP. What did they expect?
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Obviously they take their LAN games seriously, and don't waste bandwidth on stupid stuff like serving up web pages.
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its where guys who can't get chicks hang out on the weekends , playing computer games versus each other.
They also post to Slashdot, whining about how geeks can't get girls.
Whats the point of this thing? I always found that a nice gym bag works great. I can put my keyboard, mouse, and all my cables in it, sling it over my shoulder and carry the computer at the same time. Then go back up for the monitor. Nothing dropped, nothing lost. Its just that for $35 you can get a pretty nice bag that can have more uses that just strapping stuff to your computer case.
Now, if they could figure out some way to quickly solve the "what the hell, you're at a lan party and you don't have a nic?!?!" and the "No, we cannot play multiplayer solitaire, get some real games!" issues, LAN parties could actually be fun!
-- Nerds on toast in the new millenium
They are also the sort who will soon comment on the recursive nature of this thread... What? Damn.