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User: cecil36

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  1. Sounds like the first post needs metamodding. on ISP Forced Out of Business by DoS · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    In my humble opinion, I think this is one of the most intelligent first posts I've ever seen. Even I can't first post and point out some mistake in the grammar and yet have a mistake in my post as well.

    Look at it this way, at least I don't widen or lengthen the page or link every thread to a site that shall remain unmentioned.

  2. This will be a while before it becomes mainstream on SDK's for Wireless Games - Will They Succeed? · · Score: 1

    From my perspective as a support technician in wireless communications, it will be a while before we see head-to-head and massive multiplayer games being played on wireless networks. As mentioned previously, the hardware that exists is still in its early stages of development. I would say that it would take around 10 years in order to have bandwidth available that can support networked play without massive latency issues.

    I'm not saying that this isn't a bad idea. I feel that when the time comes, this will be big. I may just invest the extra cash in learning the protocols used in wireless networking from a developer's standpoint and begin writing some simple games that can be ported over to wireless devices.

  3. At least this spam story is better than the last on Lawsuits Against Spammers · · Score: 1

    When Spammers try to sue you (posted last week)

    I have a feeling that should changes be made, the spammer (who shall remain nameless) mentioned in the story will be living in a cardboard box in the streets of Chicago. And for lunch every day, he will only be able to afford cans of SPAM Luncheon Meat

    (I wish /. would allow me to post ASCII art of a can of SPAM Luncheon Meat). Oh well, guess I'm lame.

  4. I declare a on Linuxwatch Budget System of 2001 · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    First post for the guys at InfoRad

  5. sounds like more RMS BS on RMS: Putting an End to Word Attachments · · Score: 1
    If RMS wants to make a name for himself instead of being an ass about open v. closed source software, he should wake up and get a clue that your average computer user is not the person who spends countless hours writing shell scripts, hacking the passwd file on *NIX systems, and other activities associated with /.ers. Your typical user is one who:
    • Knows how to turn the computer on
    • Knows what M$ Windoze is
    • Knows how to use M$ Word, Wordpad, or Notepad (Windoze text editor)
    • Uses Internet Explorer or Netscape to browse the Internet.
    • May know little (but not much) about UNIX beyond the fact that it exists. Such an example is knowing how to log into a *NIX system and some basic shell commands such as ls or cd.
    • Has no interest in wanting to reverse engineer file formats or computer programs.


    RMS may have influence over the computer science and computer engineering communities, but he will need to work a lot harder at influencing IT managers and the rest of society to win them over to Open Source.

    After reading this piece, I would not be convinced to do all of my word processing in RTF, plain text, or convert everything to postscript or PDF for public use and dissemination. I spend a lot of time working with individuals and consultants who use M$ Word that it would be costly for me business-wise to convert everything over to formats that my associates and customers would not be able to understand.

    RMS needs to realize that for businesses, communication with the greatest number of people, not just a few who believe in his objective of believing that all software must be free and open.
  6. Re:Two Things on Jon Johansen Indicted by Norwegian Authorities · · Score: 1

    Any Norweigan /.ers want to spearhead the defense fund? As polar_bear` said above, Jon is going to need every cent he can get.

  7. Re:Two Things on Jon Johansen Indicted by Norwegian Authorities · · Score: 2, Informative

    You could send off a donation to the EFF. I'm not sure if the EFF will be able to set up a legal defense fund in Norway to assist DVD-Jon in his pending case. Regardless, the donation can always be used in case the MPAA and/or RIAA makes a bigger mess out of access control or copyright issues in the US.

  8. Just tell us where Shifman is hiding... on When Spammers Try To Sue You · · Score: 1

    ...and fuhgedaboudit!

  9. Support the Quadra project on A New Year's Idea: Pay For Some Freedom · · Score: 1

    Quadra is one of the best Tetris clones I have seen out there. I recall reading on a few Tetris fansites that The Tetris Company is using its legal power to force fansites away from distributing what they believe to be "illegal" versions of Tetris, citing trademark and copyright on all games involving falling blocks made of four squares joined together. So far, the Quadra development team has not had any problems with TTC, but that doesn't mean that their lawyers are watching. Besides, Quadra plays a heck of a lot better than Tetris Worlds, and is capable of supporting 8 players in multi-player mode.

  10. QUADRA!!! on The Best Linux Games of 2001? · · Score: 1

    You can't go wrong with Quadra. The guys at quadra.sourceforge.net have been working for a long time on this Tetris hybrid. Imagine all of the fun you can have with recursive line clearing (a la The Next Tetris). Multi-player is exciting as well. Up to 8 players can play at one time, with each person either cooperating or competing to win by filling up their opponents' screens with garbage. And if you are a little more partial to Windoze, there is a Win32 binary that's available along with the Linux binaries and source code.

  11. One small investment you can make on Best Billing Options for a Contract Position? · · Score: 1

    I would recommend going to your local bookstore or favorite online bookstore and purchasing a copy of Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad's Guide to Investing. In this book, Kiyosaki talks about how he went about starting up various types of businesses and turned them into cash cows. The rest of the advice posted here about consulting with lawyers and CPAs is also mentioned in the book to help deal with handling taxes. After reading the book, you can visit richdad.com and post to and read the message boards on developing businesses.

  12. It's all about the games on Playstation 2 Outsells both Xbox and Gamecube · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Console wars are fought over who can get the best games that appeal to the masses out there. I've been seeing ads for NFL 2K2 and NBA 2K2, which are both being developed for all platforms by Sega. Sega wants to reach as many customers as possible with this strategy, but I feel that the real winner will be the platform with exclusive rights to a game that appeals to the masses. Sony has Squaresoft and the Final Fantasy series of games, and Nintendo has all of it's trademarked characters appearing on the Game Cube and Gameboy Advance. I haven't been following the X-Box too closely, so I do not know what's exclusive there.

  13. My personal experiences. on Wired on Autism in the Valley · · Score: 1

    I remember my parents saying that I had a developmental disorder around age 2. Between that time until after the 4th grade, I was a part of some therapy program, including time spent going to my psychiatrist for a series of evaluations. It was recommended that I join the Boy Scouts, but even there, I was the target of bullying, even when I was the leader of my patrol. Since I could not handle it, I decided to quit, turning over the troop's scrapbook. From then on, the only thing I cared about, other than keeping my grades up, was my collection of video games. I did joing a bowling league, and did well there, but my passion was still with video games. One person who worked at the bowling alley and was a good friend of my grandmother mentioned that I will do something big, but I lacked the social skills needed to achieve some form of success.

    Fast forward to 1999. I was still heavily engrossed into the video games, but I made a decision to start up a second business to help pay for my college expenses. I was originally self-employed as a computer technician, but I started up a business referring people to shop online and earning commissions based on sales generated. This was a unique learning experience for me, especially for me fitting into the "geek" mold. I had a lot of work to do in order to become more people-oriented. A woman that I met through a business relationship offered to work with me in not only developing my business, but also in developing my social skills. Some of the most important books I have read were How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins, and Becoming A Person of Influence by John Maxwell and Jim Dornan. It was the input of positive information and encouragement, along with mentoring and coaching in the area of people skills that made me what I am today. My business has grown to include a major account with a nursing home that uses my services as a consultant for their employee recognition program.

    Today, I'm still a geek, but my "social engineering" skills have improved tremendously in the past 2 1/2 years. I'll still play my games, but my bigger focus is the concerns and needs of others.

  14. My $0.02 for public comment on Microsoft Antitrust Update · · Score: 1

    I have been a user of Microsoft products since MS-DOS 6.2 I know Microsoft has published quality software and should be allowed to continue doing so. What I disagree on is the marketing tactics that Microsoft has used to expand its business at the expense of third-party competition keeping a level playing field, particuarly in the area of office applications and suites. I feel that an appropriate punishment for Microsoft for its violation of anttrust law is the following:

    1: The proposed donation of computer equipment and software to poor school districts should be computer equipment purchased by Microsoft, with no software installed, and software being made available through grant money provided by Microsoft for the school districts to spend on software as they wish. School districts can then decide, with the help of IT professionals such as myself and others, which software packages and operating systems they can purchase and utilized on these donated computers.

    2: Any Microsoft proprietary document file formats should be made open, and developers should be allowed to have unrestricted access to software development kits to develop programs that can read from, write to, and modify these documents. With this clause as part of a final judgment, better quality software products, such as a version of Microsoft Outlook that contains very few security holes which can be exploited through the spread of e-mail "worm" viruses can be developed.

    3: Any standards and protocols that Microsoft has establshed while it was operating as a monopoly must be made open, with unrestricted access to developer kits and documentation for software and hardware developers wishing to utilize these standards and protocols. Again, this will level the playing field, with better quality products being developed by many manufacturers and developers.

    The real issue at hand here is how fair is it to the consumer to allow Microsoft to continue operating under their current business practices.

    Sometimes I troll because God tells me it's a good idea.

  15. Can it be? on W3C Launches Technical Architecture Group · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    that I got First Post!

  16. Not a page-widening post on Talk to the Man Who Wants to Oversee Microsoft · · Score: 1

    We all know that Microsoft has a history of questionable business tactics in terms of legality. Do you see yourself as having a direct hand in executive decision making or carrying out the decisions, or is this position primary a "watchdog" position created to see to it that Microsoft adheres to whatever final ruling the US Department of Justice issues?

  17. Quoted from the NY Times article on Fed Raids Software Pirates in 27 Cities · · Score: 1

    "They seek an Internet devoid of rules or law."

    Wasn't that the original intent of the Internet, to allow free and unrestricted sharing of information across a wide network?

  18. I say this product has a market for on Binary Watch · · Score: 1

    ...I don't know, 1000 geeks perhaps? Only thing I care about when it comes to time is that it's correct for where I'm at, and that if someone asks me for it, I can use my social engineering skills to give them the time in a way they can understand.

  19. Re:All your link are belong to us! on You May Not Link This Web Site · · Score: 1

    Zero Wing is dead, OK?

  20. Re:Check McAAfffeeeeee link on Latest WinWorm Spreads Via ICQ And Outlook · · Score: 1
  21. For those dungeon divers on your list on Good Games For Christmas? · · Score: 1

    Get them Ultima Online or Everquest along with prepaid access. Or if you are cheap, get them the Diablo Battle Chest or Diablo 2 + expansion.

  22. This has potential in the NFL on Rugby Ball Meets Web-Cam · · Score: 1

    I could see the NFL using ball cams as an aid for the referees. Suppose a wide receiever and a defender were trying to go for the ball. The two players were trying to get in the best position. The referee calls offensive pass interference, but the call is challenged from the booth. The referee has the ball cam and any other cameras recording the play in question to determine if the penalty should be thrown out. The ball cam could have the best vantage point because of it most likely being comparable to an extreme close-up of a shot from the blimp.

  23. Re:The only way you can profit from open source... on Can Open Source Companies Stay That Way? · · Score: 1

    Do keep in mind that the dev team and tech support guys still have to pay money to buy their beer and new hardware. Whether or not they read /. is a moot point in this case.

  24. The only way you can profit from open source... on Can Open Source Companies Stay That Way? · · Score: 2, Interesting

    without having to use a closed-source business model is to sell support and service contracts for the software. I work for a company that offers a free software product (it's closed source BTW). The customer has the option of downloading the software for free, or can purchase the same product and get live tech support (i.e. talk to me on the phone) for a year. I believe Red Hat is doing this already for Red Hat Linux. If Red Hat were to offer free support on every product that they gave away for free, they would not be in business for very long, and the only users of Red Hat Linux would be those who either work with the code or us anti-M$ /.ers who answer tech questions with "RTFM you moron!"

  25. He's at it again! on Microsoft Would Settle For The Children · · Score: 1

    Bill Gates wants to play weasel again. If the DOJ had two brain cells that could wave at each other, they would tell M$ that they must pay the $1.1B into a grant fund for schools to upgrade their computers and other technology. Control of the fund would be by a board of trustees appointed by the federal government, or the fund can be distributed among the 50 states and state government can appoint the boards to handle grant requests.