The only ports they block are 80 and one other that I don't remember off the top of my head (basically to stop people from running servers on their personal accounts). All other ports are open, and with proper port forwarding, inbound connections are not a problem. I use VNC to remote access my home computer all the time and never have a problem.
From what I've heard (and I'm afraid I don't have a link to back this up), but almost everything that LifeLock does, the average consumer can do themselves, and for free.
Furthermore, the owner of the company was so convinced in the company's abilities that he started off a radio commercial by giving out his Social Security Number. Within 2 weeks of first hearing that commercial, the news reported that someone had successfully used his SSN to get an unsecured loan...
I have a Phone at home. If some insane lunatic started up the idea of calling all his friends having them call all of their friends, as a means of sending out important news, I would laugh at him.
You've apparently never worked in an office or had kids in a school/soccer team/cub scout pack/etc that made use of a phone tree then...
So if Microsoft is filtering out spam so aggressively with Hotmail, then how come every time I check my Hotmail account (which is all of about once per month), the address of which I have never publicized or otherwise given out, there is always 4-5 solid pages of spam.
Either they're not filtering as much as they pretend to, or the "fee" isn't deterring spammers at all... either way, it isn't working.
At least Gmail's spam filters work most of the time...
My wife's old one- a Cannon, I think- did that. Once it got low, it would flash a stop sign on the monitor and not allow you to print anything until it was satisfied that the cartridge had been replaced.
Needless to say, the entire printer was replaced with a laser soon after I first saw the sign;)
My trusty laser may have only been B&W, but I got through 4 years of college, printing off my own papers, my wife's and 3 roommates, on a single toner cartridge. Sure the cart was $70, but for 4 years of medium-duty printing, I'm ok with it.
Wow... what a wholly irrelevant comparison...
Let's break it down. When you start to get low on gas, a little light comes on that alerts you that before long you are going to need to replenish the supply or the car will cease to run.
When many inkjet carts get low, the printer will not allow you to print until it has been replaced.
If your car were an inkjet printer, then when it got down to about 5 gallons (low, but enough to get you where you are going), the car would suddenly shut off and refuse to operate until you replaced, not just the gas itself, but the actual gas tank with one manufactured by the company that made your car. Refilling a partially used gas tank will void your warranty, and if the car detects that you've refilled the tank instead of buying a new one, it will refuse to start.
Make sure your analogies pan out before starting your rants.
You'll also notice that their website is www.consumerreports.org (not ".com") and that that have no advertising- at least in the magazine; I haven't checked the site. They avoid the whole situation here by not having advertisers at all.
Am I shocked? Yes. I'm absolutely stunned. Why? This has been standard practice in electronics stores for years. (Not that I condone it- I just figured the entire world knew about it by now).
When I worked at CompUSA in the late 90s, we carried printer cables that sold for about $32 US. I know for a fact that the company cost on them was in the neighborhood of $2.25. Almost all electronics stores sell the big items at very, very thin margins and then try to make up for it by overpricing the living crap out of the accessories.
So if you ever want to make a Best Buy employee (or manager more likely) cry, buy all of your major components when they're on sale, and make sure they know you're picking up your cables and accessories for pennies on eBay;)
There's a whole genere of boring games out there, they're called MMORPG's.
Seriously, who wants to grind for months just to have a chance to get the "ZOMG SWORD OF ULTIMATE PWNAGE" Umm... how about the several million subscribers that currently plop down $15/month to their game of choice? If no one wanted to, none of these games would exist, so obviously someone does...
It may not have made the DS a success, but I'd certainly say it contributed. I fear I don't have any specific sales numbers to back that up, but I can say that my wife got a DS specifically to play Brain Age. Within a week of first seeing ours, my sister-in-law bought one for the same reason, and shortly after that, so did my parents. Surely we can't be the only DS owners in the world for which games like Brain Age & Big Brain Academy were the tipping point...
According to the summary (you didn't even have to read the article on this one), the MS system is only deployed in the state of Washington. That means that everyone complaining about how much Comcast's interface sucks that does not live in Washington has nothing to cheer about. So far on the page, LordPhantom seems to be about the only one that caught that distinction.
Comcast's software does indeed suck. It is clumsy, slow, and not terribly user friendly. Our cable box stops responding entirely on a regular basis, and the only way we've found to reset it is to physically pull the plug (after which it takes a good 2 hours to repopulate the on-screen guide).
I don't have any firsthand experience with it, but I'd wager even the defunct MS software would be a step up from what non-WA Comcast "customers" have now.
You're missing the point- the content is virtually irrelevant in this argument. The point is getting over the "Hey! Look what I can do!" mentality that is the hallmark of the second stage, and coming to grips with the more appropriate "just because you can doesn't mean you should" philosophy most designers employ.
If the content you are showcasing is best done with music and/or flash, great! Use it! But if your content is text-only/images, there is no need to blast out the music you think your visitors want to here, simply because you figured out that you can.
Long ago, I determined there are several "levels" of web design. The post 2 levels up from this one is obviously in what I've deemed level 2.
Level 1 - Web pages are simple, because that is all the developer knows how to do. Content aside, the pages frequently lack significant formatting and advanced features.
Level 2 - The developer has figured out how to do some (or a lot) of fancy "tricks", including IE filters, that stupid full-screen rain/snow effect, background music, and of course, (keep in mind, I devised this system several years ago).
Level 3 - The developer realizes all the shit they added to their page when they were in Level 2 is horribly obnoxious, and removes it, in favor of more streamlined pages that load faster and convey information more easily.
I'm sure there are additional levels beyond that, but I have yet to categorize them...
To quote a famous pseudo-therapist, "it ain't about you!"
The issue at hand is the coding of web sites that only work in IE. On my sites, I code them to adhere to standards as closely as possible, and test them in multiple browsers. When it comes down to your part in the equation, I could care less whether you use IE, FF or your cellphone, because I know my site will display properly regardless.
However, other sites (like that of the company I work for) frequently do something "because it works", only to find out later that it only works in IE. Sure, they could recode their sites to work in any browser, but it's just easier to slap a note on the site that says "IE only". My company did that years ago, and they've been ignoring my protests to fix it ever since...
But there are so many situations that could trigger a false positive...
Back in my EQ days, it was fairly common for uber-level characters that were leaving the game to dump their treasures on random low-level characters.
When I first started WoW, I joined up on a server where some guys I work with already had level 60 (max at the time) characters. I told them my toon's name, and they sent me a healthy chunk of gold. Likewise, after I hit 60, a friend of mine started on the same server, and I passed a sizable chunk of gold on to him. It may not be within the "spirit" of the game, but it's certainly not against any of the rules.
You even said that sending gold to alts is ok - how about alts on other accounts? There are quite a few people that multi-box. What about guild mules/banks?
The point is, there is no way to set up black & white logic that could trap gold transfers and decide which are legit and which are not- there are just too many other factors.
So what exactly is your point?
Let's say someone was 6 years old in 1993- probably a little young for such games. That would make them about 20 now, which in my opinion is a bit young for kids, but plenty of people have them by that age.
Personally, I was 15 when Doom came out, and played countless hours of it and various similar games. I'm almost 30 now, and while my wife and I don't have any of our own kids yet, the majority of our same-age friends do, and it won't be long before they're reaching for the controllers...
Ok- internet piracy is to blame for all of your problems. So why don't we take a look at what we should blame for internet piracy, eh?
Personally (and shockingly), I blame the RIAA, and folks like Sony that are attempting to subvert and erode the rights of music customers, as well as the shift in technology allowing people to legally purchase much of the same music online.
Let's examine the options for a moment:
A.) I drive 20 minutes to the local record store, drop $15 for a CD containing 2 or 3 good songs, and quite possibly a variety of DRM measures, rootkits and other nonsense that can make listening to the aforementioned 2 or 3 good tracks much more difficult than it really should be, and of course, another 20 minutes to get home again.
B.) I preview all of the tracks online, and then download the 2 or 3 that I want for a dollar each. It takes far less time and costs much less than option A, although there is still a potential DRM issue.
C.) I find the full album on bitTorrent in a format that I know will play on every media device I own. It's not quite legal, but it is fast and costs me nothing.
I can't speak for everyone, but in my mind, option A is in a distant 3rd place.
That said, I don't remember the last time I bought a physical CD. On the other hand, I don't remember the last time I illegally downloaded a song or album I didn't have rights to, however it is the mindset that is important. If I decided I wanted a particular CD tomorrow, getting it from the old record store would easily be the last resort.
The "record store" as we know it is a dinosaur that is virtually doomed to extinction unless it can adapt to a changing market. Until the day when buying music the "right" way becomes nearly as simple, easy, and painless as doing it the "wrong" way, illegal downloads will continue. Running a business the same way it was done 20 years ago in a market changing as quickly as this one is, and whining about how no one buys CDs anymore just isn't going to cut it.
Slashdot Mirror
The only ports they block are 80 and one other that I don't remember off the top of my head (basically to stop people from running servers on their personal accounts). All other ports are open, and with proper port forwarding, inbound connections are not a problem. I use VNC to remote access my home computer all the time and never have a problem.
If anyone would know about "overblown and intrusive security measures", it would be Microsoft... Activation and WGA anybody?
From what I've heard (and I'm afraid I don't have a link to back this up), but almost everything that LifeLock does, the average consumer can do themselves, and for free. Furthermore, the owner of the company was so convinced in the company's abilities that he started off a radio commercial by giving out his Social Security Number. Within 2 weeks of first hearing that commercial, the news reported that someone had successfully used his SSN to get an unsecured loan...
So patent licensing is going to stop "illicit" adware, eh? Just like legislation stopped spam?
Scaredy cat
You've apparently never worked in an office or had kids in a school/soccer team/cub scout pack/etc that made use of a phone tree then...
So if Microsoft is filtering out spam so aggressively with Hotmail, then how come every time I check my Hotmail account (which is all of about once per month), the address of which I have never publicized or otherwise given out, there is always 4-5 solid pages of spam.
Either they're not filtering as much as they pretend to, or the "fee" isn't deterring spammers at all... either way, it isn't working.
At least Gmail's spam filters work most of the time...
My wife's old one- a Cannon, I think- did that. Once it got low, it would flash a stop sign on the monitor and not allow you to print anything until it was satisfied that the cartridge had been replaced. Needless to say, the entire printer was replaced with a laser soon after I first saw the sign ;)
My trusty laser may have only been B&W, but I got through 4 years of college, printing off my own papers, my wife's and 3 roommates, on a single toner cartridge. Sure the cart was $70, but for 4 years of medium-duty printing, I'm ok with it.
Wow... what a wholly irrelevant comparison... Let's break it down. When you start to get low on gas, a little light comes on that alerts you that before long you are going to need to replenish the supply or the car will cease to run. When many inkjet carts get low, the printer will not allow you to print until it has been replaced. If your car were an inkjet printer, then when it got down to about 5 gallons (low, but enough to get you where you are going), the car would suddenly shut off and refuse to operate until you replaced, not just the gas itself, but the actual gas tank with one manufactured by the company that made your car. Refilling a partially used gas tank will void your warranty, and if the car detects that you've refilled the tank instead of buying a new one, it will refuse to start. Make sure your analogies pan out before starting your rants.
You'll also notice that their website is www.consumerreports.org (not ".com") and that that have no advertising- at least in the magazine; I haven't checked the site. They avoid the whole situation here by not having advertisers at all.
It may not have made the DS a success, but I'd certainly say it contributed. I fear I don't have any specific sales numbers to back that up, but I can say that my wife got a DS specifically to play Brain Age. Within a week of first seeing ours, my sister-in-law bought one for the same reason, and shortly after that, so did my parents. Surely we can't be the only DS owners in the world for which games like Brain Age & Big Brain Academy were the tipping point...
According to the summary (you didn't even have to read the article on this one), the MS system is only deployed in the state of Washington. That means that everyone complaining about how much Comcast's interface sucks that does not live in Washington has nothing to cheer about. So far on the page, LordPhantom seems to be about the only one that caught that distinction.
Comcast's software does indeed suck. It is clumsy, slow, and not terribly user friendly. Our cable box stops responding entirely on a regular basis, and the only way we've found to reset it is to physically pull the plug (after which it takes a good 2 hours to repopulate the on-screen guide).
I don't have any firsthand experience with it, but I'd wager even the defunct MS software would be a step up from what non-WA Comcast "customers" have now.
You're missing the point- the content is virtually irrelevant in this argument. The point is getting over the "Hey! Look what I can do!" mentality that is the hallmark of the second stage, and coming to grips with the more appropriate "just because you can doesn't mean you should" philosophy most designers employ.
If the content you are showcasing is best done with music and/or flash, great! Use it! But if your content is text-only/images, there is no need to blast out the music you think your visitors want to here, simply because you figured out that you can.
Long ago, I determined there are several "levels" of web design. The post 2 levels up from this one is obviously in what I've deemed level 2.
Level 1 - Web pages are simple, because that is all the developer knows how to do. Content aside, the pages frequently lack significant formatting and advanced features.
Level 2 - The developer has figured out how to do some (or a lot) of fancy "tricks", including IE filters, that stupid full-screen rain/snow effect, background music, and of course, (keep in mind, I devised this system several years ago).
Level 3 - The developer realizes all the shit they added to their page when they were in Level 2 is horribly obnoxious, and removes it, in favor of more streamlined pages that load faster and convey information more easily.
I'm sure there are additional levels beyond that, but I have yet to categorize them...
To quote a famous pseudo-therapist, "it ain't about you!"
The issue at hand is the coding of web sites that only work in IE. On my sites, I code them to adhere to standards as closely as possible, and test them in multiple browsers. When it comes down to your part in the equation, I could care less whether you use IE, FF or your cellphone, because I know my site will display properly regardless.
However, other sites (like that of the company I work for) frequently do something "because it works", only to find out later that it only works in IE. Sure, they could recode their sites to work in any browser, but it's just easier to slap a note on the site that says "IE only". My company did that years ago, and they've been ignoring my protests to fix it ever since...
But there are so many situations that could trigger a false positive... Back in my EQ days, it was fairly common for uber-level characters that were leaving the game to dump their treasures on random low-level characters.
When I first started WoW, I joined up on a server where some guys I work with already had level 60 (max at the time) characters. I told them my toon's name, and they sent me a healthy chunk of gold. Likewise, after I hit 60, a friend of mine started on the same server, and I passed a sizable chunk of gold on to him. It may not be within the "spirit" of the game, but it's certainly not against any of the rules.
You even said that sending gold to alts is ok - how about alts on other accounts? There are quite a few people that multi-box. What about guild mules/banks?
The point is, there is no way to set up black & white logic that could trap gold transfers and decide which are legit and which are not- there are just too many other factors.
So what exactly is your point? Let's say someone was 6 years old in 1993- probably a little young for such games. That would make them about 20 now, which in my opinion is a bit young for kids, but plenty of people have them by that age. Personally, I was 15 when Doom came out, and played countless hours of it and various similar games. I'm almost 30 now, and while my wife and I don't have any of our own kids yet, the majority of our same-age friends do, and it won't be long before they're reaching for the controllers...
Learn the difference between "grammar" and "spelling"!
Ok- internet piracy is to blame for all of your problems. So why don't we take a look at what we should blame for internet piracy, eh?
Personally (and shockingly), I blame the RIAA, and folks like Sony that are attempting to subvert and erode the rights of music customers, as well as the shift in technology allowing people to legally purchase much of the same music online.
Let's examine the options for a moment:
A.) I drive 20 minutes to the local record store, drop $15 for a CD containing 2 or 3 good songs, and quite possibly a variety of DRM measures, rootkits and other nonsense that can make listening to the aforementioned 2 or 3 good tracks much more difficult than it really should be, and of course, another 20 minutes to get home again.
B.) I preview all of the tracks online, and then download the 2 or 3 that I want for a dollar each. It takes far less time and costs much less than option A, although there is still a potential DRM issue.
C.) I find the full album on bitTorrent in a format that I know will play on every media device I own. It's not quite legal, but it is fast and costs me nothing.
I can't speak for everyone, but in my mind, option A is in a distant 3rd place.
That said, I don't remember the last time I bought a physical CD. On the other hand, I don't remember the last time I illegally downloaded a song or album I didn't have rights to, however it is the mindset that is important. If I decided I wanted a particular CD tomorrow, getting it from the old record store would easily be the last resort.
The "record store" as we know it is a dinosaur that is virtually doomed to extinction unless it can adapt to a changing market. Until the day when buying music the "right" way becomes nearly as simple, easy, and painless as doing it the "wrong" way, illegal downloads will continue. Running a business the same way it was done 20 years ago in a market changing as quickly as this one is, and whining about how no one buys CDs anymore just isn't going to cut it.
The very fact that this required an explanation makes it just that much funnier... Bravo!