Why? 'cause I STILL don't think that the ability to take a game online is a make or break feature. I will scoop up GT4 on release day, online or not. Hell, many of the games I've bought recently are capable of online play and I never end up playing them online anyway. Judge the game on its merits. Is it fun, are the graphics good, the sound, the mechanics, etc... If there is an online mode, is it well implimented? It doesn't make sense to judge a game for features it doesn't have. For instance, would you hold it against a game if it didn't support a VR helmet? Of course not. The same should go for online modes. Personally, I'd rather see no more games support online play than have online play sledge-hammered into every game under the sun JUST so they can throw it on the feature list.
I've started what appears to be a rather successful campaign to move all of my clients to FireFox slowly and steadily. One person at a time. I ALWAYS install FireFox on new machines or any machine that I work on that doesn't have it. I started doing this simply for me. The faster and more efficiently I can get what I need off the 'net on a client's machine, the faster I'm finished working on it.
At any rate, I started showing individuals FireFox (and Thunderbird as long as they aren't using the calandering functions of Outlook) and all of the cool features (tabbed browsing, etc...). 99% of the time they're hooked after a couple of explainations of the differences and how to use it effectively. Another opportunity arises when I get people complaining about all of the pop-up ads in IE. I used to install the Google Toolbar in IE for them. Now I show them FireFox. Seems to be taking over in all of my clients' offices.
Analysis of a three-kilometer-long ice core drilled from the Antarctic, has revealed our planet has had eight ice ages during that period,
Sorry, not being familiar with the geological ebbs and flows of the polar ice caps, might someone explain how long in time 3 Kilometers worth of ice is?
And, on a side note, might this information also lend credence to the idea that the current warming trend is a natural phenomena? One that we couldn't stop if we tried and one that we may have insignifanctly affected if at all? Just curious.
There is an Operating System out there that has tremendous hardware support, regular updates, runs on commodity hardware and has widespread support from users and third party software developers. So, I ask, why bother with Linux?
Every time there's a story about Amiga on Slashdot, at least 10% of the posts use the exact same arguments listed above to ask the exact same question about the Amiga. The better question would be why bother posting such an inane question about something in which you obviously have no interest?!?!?
But, so that perhaps, in the future, we can avoid all of the "Why bother?" spam, I'll answer it:
CHOICE!
Listen, I love Linux. I love the concept behind the Open Source movement and I love the OS itself most of the time. But I'm a geek. I can dig around in the internals of the system and make it do what I want it to do (again, most of the time). MOST people don't want to have to do that. And until Linux becomes something that the geeks see as a toy, there is a signficant portion of the population that will not use it. Most people want a machine that boots quickly into an operating system that they don't have to muck about in to get it to do what they want it to do. Is it SO hard to imagine that the Amiga might fill a niche that Linux doesn't and may not ever?
So, those folks should use Windows... NO THEY SHOULDN'T. If they want to, fine, but why limit their choice because you don't think there NEEDS to be any more choice than Windows/Mac/Linux?
I grew up first on the Commodore 64 then moved to an Amiga 500, then to an Amiga 4000. When the 4000 died, I was heartbroken, but have managed to soldier on with a couple of home built x86 machines and Windows and Linux. Linux will stay on my server. Probably always, unless something better comes along. I'll probably always have a Windows desktop or laptop of some kind. I want a Mac - either G5 or iBook, haven't decided. AND I want an AmigaOne. In the end, I'll probably end up using the Mac and the Amiga more often than either other machine in a user to computer, face to monitor sort of way. Linux will continue to do what it does best, keep running my server and not crash. Windows will be reserved for games, the Mac will be my music and art (read: Photoshop) machine, and the Amiga will end up being the machine I use for everyday computing and having fun while doing it.
So, to all the insensitive, short-sighted clods out there that keep posing this question, I say to you shut your pie hole, there are many more people out there that would say the same thing about Linux. It's all about the choice, baby. And more choice is good for you - and Linux - whether you realize it or not.
PS - And, no, a Gnome/KDE desktop that looks and/or feels like AmigaOS, is not the same thing as AmigaOS anymore than a Windows XP theme that looks like Gnome/KDE is the same as running Linux.
I, too have had machines run Windows in various flavors that are reasonably stable. For the most part. However, I have also had installations where the exact same build of Windows goes on several machines with the exact same hardware and certain machines are trouble from day one, others are only trouble now and then and others are somewhat stable. I have even gone so far as to replace every hardware component in the troublesome machines to no avail. This is what some of the other posts are referencing when they say that Windows sometimes just screws up and there is no reason for it and there is no way to make it work correctly short of a format and reinstall.
While I've a few issues pop up with Linux, I could never say that I didn't have more than enough information to track down a problem (and not with some cryptic error code in Hexidecimel that only a MS Tech Support God MIGHT be able to decipher), but, I have NEVER ONCE had to reinstall Linux for any reason. NEVER. I have only had to reboot any of the several Linux boxes I have or administer a handful of times total. They just run. They're more difficult to configure if you're unfamiliar with the particular application or service you're attepmting to run, but once they are configured, they run.
Having taken Japanese in college, I can confirm thath there are many ways to say the same thing. However, also having taken Japanese in college, I can tell you that it is unnecessary for the casual student to learn all of these ways. The approach that was taken in my course study was to teach the most common, formal version of the language. Being that the Japanese are a society built upon strict social heirarchy, it is quite possible to interact effectively knowing only this form.
Pronunciation is going to require listening to native speakers, either on tape or in person. I am lucky to be a rather good mimic, so I picked up on the subtelties of the language quickly. Once you have the basic pronunciation down, everything else is cake.
None of this is particular to Japanese, however. What is particular to Japanese is, despite its complexity socially, it is an incredibly logical language structurally. There were many times while in Japanese class that I would learn something about the structure of the language that I wished that English had adhered to.:)
Japanese is not hard to learn, but, as with any language, it requires practice.
First there was the Coleco ADAM, then there was the Amiga CD32. Both were "consoles" that could be rather easily turned into "computers." The concept is not new, nor has it ever been successful. That doens't mean it won't be this time, but history is not in Microsoft's favor on this one.
I've been ranting for years that what we need are applications that come with a base set of features that you can extend via plugin type dealies at will. It could even work in a non-opensource setting. Imagine Microsoft selling WordLite with just the features that the common man uses (about 1% of what's included now). If, at some point in the future you wished to add feature X, you pull up the Office web site, choose the feature, pay a nominal fee to download it and install it. Voila! You're able to pay for ONLY the features you want while people with different needs can pay for ONLY the features they need. And I don't get stuck installing half a gig worth of crap I'll never use.:) Not that I use MS Office anymore anyway, but OpenOffice could adopt a similar approach.
All the comments I've read have speculated that this company's handheld will win for this reason or that company's handheld will lose for that reason. None have mentioned what will truly be the deciding factor: THE GAMES! And from what I've seen announced, PSP is going to have a lineup that will truly challenge Nintendo's grip on the handheld market like no other handheld before it.
This is not to say that SOny will automatically win, but it does give Sony a much better chance at competeing with the big N than anyone else has had. The real winner in all of this, though, is us; the gaming public. How many people believe that Nintendo would have released the DS (remember, it's NOT a GameBoy Advance replacement) if SOny had not decided to jump into the handheld market? At any rate, this E3 should be interesting.
It's just not as important for a [diversified into films/TV] company like Warner to really try hard in a area that, in the end, doesn't mean life or death to their company.'"
So Sony must make some real crap as they are one of the more diversified companies on the planet. Oh, and Hitachi - their stuff is all crap. Sheesh, just because a company is diversified (USUALLY considered a good thing) doesn't mean that they can't do most, if not all of those things well.
I was riding my motorcycle to a concert downtown one rainy night and went through a light as it turned red (as opposed to laying the bike down because of the wet roads). I looked in my rearview and saw the blue lights. I pulled over and waited for the cop. When she got out of the car, the first thing she said was (and, yes, this was before "May I see your license and registration?"): "Do you have any weapons on you?" In my boot was the diver's knife that I used to keep in my car (the car burned up, which is why I now had the bike, but that's a whole 'nother story). I told her that I had a knife in my boot and pulled up my pant leg to show her. She took the knife and went bak to her car. After a couple of minutes another cop pulled up, pulled out a ruler, measured my knife and told me to stand against the wall. He then patted me down and asked if I had anything else. I told him no and he proceeded to handcuff me. Starting to get a little concerned (never been arrested before), I asked what I was being arrested (no one had said a word about anything I had done wrong).
He said, "Possession of a long-bladed weapon. But we could have gotten you for concealed."
I said, "What's the legal limit for the length of a knife?"
He said, "Three inches."
I said, "How long is my knife?"
He said, "Three and a half inches."
I ended up going to jail, bailing myself out, having the arresting officer give me a ride to the impound lot, getting my bike out of impound (actually watched them pull it in), and going to the concert and catching the last song of the show (the Jayhawks, great band).
Went to court and the guy that went up before me pissed off the judge (when he was done, I said to myself, "Gee I hope I don't have to go right after that guy" Sam Dunham "Crap."). The judge asked me what I was doing carrying around a knife (which he was holding at the bench in a plastic baggy). I told him the truth. You never know when you might need a knife for any number of reasons and I was riding a motorcycle - you never know who might approach, self defense. The judge said, "There's no use for this knife except for killing people. If you're worried about your personal safety, get a car" (which would have been nice if I'd had any money to speak of). He did let me off with time served provided that I didn't get into anymore trouble over the next year. I didn't, but man that was a crazy night.
A friend of mine works for the TSA at the local airport and every couple of days he checks the potted plants just to see what he can find. He has apparently found all kinds of things becuase lots of people had the same idea as the parent author.
My favorite multitool is the Gerber. Number one feature (and what singlehandedly pushes it over the top)? Single hand opening. With the flick of the wrist it's open and ready for use. I can't tell you the number of times I only have one hand available when I end up needing the multitool. With the Gerber, I don't have to stop what I'm doing to take it out and open it.
Try here. A FreeS/WAN webmin module is standard in the latest release of Webmin. Unfortunately, it does little to unobfuscate FreeS/WAN. I have been looking into FS for the last couple of weeks and was planning on implementing it this weekend at a client's office. Now, I will look at alternatives - lord knows they can't be any more complicated to configure that FS.
...that the leak didn't come from a breach in security at either their network or the networks of any corporate or government partner. In short, it didn't come from anyone who has the source. Right.
They are also still toeing the line that it was code from NT and 2000. Conveniently omitting XP and Server 2003 from the list. Aren't those OSes built on the same codebase? Isn'y it possible that they are also potentially affected? Wouldn't want to scare people with our latest OSes, now would we? And for those that haven't upgraded (most businesses?), upgrading now looks safer than not.
Also of note in the release is that not just IE 5.5 and older are succeptable to the expoloit that was released, but non-SP1 IE6 as well.
Actually, you can "loosen" a ribbon, but it won't be the blue ribbon if you "lose" the race which you probably "lost" because your wheels were "loose." But, yeah, this stuff bugs me, too.
I say any time a conflict like this comes up, we take the first sylable of the original name and replace the last with fox. Eventually, all open source stuff will be instantly recognizable as such.
Wow. And I thought Babelfish and the Google translators were just bad. Little did I know that the French speak in broken English in French. Who knew?:)
I dig the TiVO remote, but the first thing I did when I got mine was to program its functions into the my Marantz RC-2000. ALL of its functions. I emphasize that because the RC-2000 is the first universal remote I've ever seen that could fulfill the promise of all universal remotes - replace all of my remotes. Sure, there are other remotes out that claim to be universal, and I've tried a LOT of universals, but they so seldom replace all of the functionality of the originals. The RC-2000 will replace at least 12 remotes (at least, because you can mix and match functions under each device). It has a LCD screen to facilitate changing functions on each device and all of the buttons are PHYSICAL buttons. I can't stress enough how important that is. I had one of the early touch screen remotes and while it worked as promised, using it blew chunks. You have to look at a touch screen to use it because there's no tactile feedback. With this remote, I always know exactly which button I'm pushing without looking down. It has programmable macros so you can push one button and turn on your home theater system and start a dvd movie, etc... There was even a radio frequency attachment that you could add so that you could control home automation systems if you needed to. It is the the king daddy of all remote controls and the most decadent thing I've ever purchased ($250.00 - and worth every penny). Unfortunately, it is no longer in production. You can find them on eBay every now and then. Apparently, the spiritual successor to the RC-2000 is the Home Theater Master mx500. Which I'll check into if the RC-2000 ever dies.
Isn't the X-Box trailing behind the other two consoles in every market except for a relatively small lead over the GameCube in North America? I know they aren't flying off the shelves in Japan. Dreamcast and the PS-One were still outselling X-Box at least most of the year last year.
Amiga. Amigas are going for a bundle (especially 3000Ts and 4000s) in the used market. Generally, though, you are correct, especially in the x86 market.
I find it immanently interesting that MS only claims that Windows NT and Windows 2000 were compromised. Considering that XP and Server 2003 are built off of the same source code, wouldn't it also affect them? Could MS have intentionally have left out mentioning XP and S2003 in order to:
a) Reduce panic about their current OS b) Induce people running those older OSes to upgrade post-haste?
the PS2 is a heaving load of junk and it pisses me off that so many pathetic 16 year olds are so overcome by the kewl-factor that the PS2 routinely outsells two much better consoles.
The PS2 - I wouldn't call it junk. There are some truly stellar games that look absolutely georgous on it (ICO comes to mind). But it does lag behind the other two consoles in raw power and graphics prowess. That's because it was released a year ahead of the other two machines, and frankly, the graphical difference is not mind-boggling. This weakness is also its strength. Because it had a year on the other two consoles, it was able to build a great library of games (and that it plays PS1 games doesn't hurt). What it comes down to is games and the PS2 has them in spades.
I would say the biggest weakness the GC had is that it can't play DVDs
I'd agree whole-heartedly, but less for the reason you mention (it is a good reason, though). Probably the biggest complaint publishers had about the N64 was that Nintendo hard-headedly stuck to the proprietary cartridge format that held less data and was far more expensive than the CD-ROM format that everyone else had moved to. Well, with the GameCube, they are still operating with a proprietary format. It still cost more to publish games on those mini-discs than if they had chosen a standard DVD drive. The next machine from the big N had better have some sort of standard storage medium, or third parties are going to remain reluctant to develop for it.
Slashdot Mirror
Why? 'cause I STILL don't think that the ability to take a game online is a make or break feature. I will scoop up GT4 on release day, online or not. Hell, many of the games I've bought recently are capable of online play and I never end up playing them online anyway. Judge the game on its merits. Is it fun, are the graphics good, the sound, the mechanics, etc... If there is an online mode, is it well implimented? It doesn't make sense to judge a game for features it doesn't have. For instance, would you hold it against a game if it didn't support a VR helmet? Of course not. The same should go for online modes. Personally, I'd rather see no more games support online play than have online play sledge-hammered into every game under the sun JUST so they can throw it on the feature list.
At any rate, I started showing individuals FireFox (and Thunderbird as long as they aren't using the calandering functions of Outlook) and all of the cool features (tabbed browsing, etc...). 99% of the time they're hooked after a couple of explainations of the differences and how to use it effectively. Another opportunity arises when I get people complaining about all of the pop-up ads in IE. I used to install the Google Toolbar in IE for them. Now I show them FireFox. Seems to be taking over in all of my clients' offices.
Sorry, not being familiar with the geological ebbs and flows of the polar ice caps, might someone explain how long in time 3 Kilometers worth of ice is?
And, on a side note, might this information also lend credence to the idea that the current warming trend is a natural phenomena? One that we couldn't stop if we tried and one that we may have insignifanctly affected if at all? Just curious.
There is an Operating System out there that has tremendous hardware support, regular updates, runs on commodity hardware and has widespread support from users and third party software developers. So, I ask, why bother with Linux?
Every time there's a story about Amiga on Slashdot, at least 10% of the posts use the exact same arguments listed above to ask the exact same question about the Amiga. The better question would be why bother posting such an inane question about something in which you obviously have no interest?!?!?
But, so that perhaps, in the future, we can avoid all of the "Why bother?" spam, I'll answer it:
CHOICE!
Listen, I love Linux. I love the concept behind the Open Source movement and I love the OS itself most of the time. But I'm a geek. I can dig around in the internals of the system and make it do what I want it to do (again, most of the time). MOST people don't want to have to do that. And until Linux becomes something that the geeks see as a toy, there is a signficant portion of the population that will not use it. Most people want a machine that boots quickly into an operating system that they don't have to muck about in to get it to do what they want it to do. Is it SO hard to imagine that the Amiga might fill a niche that Linux doesn't and may not ever?
So, those folks should use Windows... NO THEY SHOULDN'T. If they want to, fine, but why limit their choice because you don't think there NEEDS to be any more choice than Windows/Mac/Linux?
I grew up first on the Commodore 64 then moved to an Amiga 500, then to an Amiga 4000. When the 4000 died, I was heartbroken, but have managed to soldier on with a couple of home built x86 machines and Windows and Linux. Linux will stay on my server. Probably always, unless something better comes along. I'll probably always have a Windows desktop or laptop of some kind. I want a Mac - either G5 or iBook, haven't decided. AND I want an AmigaOne. In the end, I'll probably end up using the Mac and the Amiga more often than either other machine in a user to computer, face to monitor sort of way. Linux will continue to do what it does best, keep running my server and not crash. Windows will be reserved for games, the Mac will be my music and art (read: Photoshop) machine, and the Amiga will end up being the machine I use for everyday computing and having fun while doing it.
So, to all the insensitive, short-sighted clods out there that keep posing this question, I say to you shut your pie hole, there are many more people out there that would say the same thing about Linux. It's all about the choice, baby. And more choice is good for you - and Linux - whether you realize it or not.
PS - And, no, a Gnome/KDE desktop that looks and/or feels like AmigaOS, is not the same thing as AmigaOS anymore than a Windows XP theme that looks like Gnome/KDE is the same as running Linux.
I, too have had machines run Windows in various flavors that are reasonably stable. For the most part. However, I have also had installations where the exact same build of Windows goes on several machines with the exact same hardware and certain machines are trouble from day one, others are only trouble now and then and others are somewhat stable. I have even gone so far as to replace every hardware component in the troublesome machines to no avail. This is what some of the other posts are referencing when they say that Windows sometimes just screws up and there is no reason for it and there is no way to make it work correctly short of a format and reinstall.
While I've a few issues pop up with Linux, I could never say that I didn't have more than enough information to track down a problem (and not with some cryptic error code in Hexidecimel that only a MS Tech Support God MIGHT be able to decipher), but, I have NEVER ONCE had to reinstall Linux for any reason. NEVER. I have only had to reboot any of the several Linux boxes I have or administer a handful of times total. They just run. They're more difficult to configure if you're unfamiliar with the particular application or service you're attepmting to run, but once they are configured, they run.
Having taken Japanese in college, I can confirm thath there are many ways to say the same thing. However, also having taken Japanese in college, I can tell you that it is unnecessary for the casual student to learn all of these ways. The approach that was taken in my course study was to teach the most common, formal version of the language. Being that the Japanese are a society built upon strict social heirarchy, it is quite possible to interact effectively knowing only this form.
:)
Pronunciation is going to require listening to native speakers, either on tape or in person. I am lucky to be a rather good mimic, so I picked up on the subtelties of the language quickly. Once you have the basic pronunciation down, everything else is cake.
None of this is particular to Japanese, however. What is particular to Japanese is, despite its complexity socially, it is an incredibly logical language structurally. There were many times while in Japanese class that I would learn something about the structure of the language that I wished that English had adhered to.
Japanese is not hard to learn, but, as with any language, it requires practice.
X-Box 2: $250
PC-like Add-ons: $400
X-Box Live account: $20/month
Saying "It just works" and Microsoft in the same breath: Priceless
First there was the Coleco ADAM, then there was the Amiga CD32. Both were "consoles" that could be rather easily turned into "computers." The concept is not new, nor has it ever been successful. That doens't mean it won't be this time, but history is not in Microsoft's favor on this one.
...that followed the Firefox philosophy. :/
:) Not that I use MS Office anymore anyway, but OpenOffice could adopt a similar approach.
I've been ranting for years that what we need are applications that come with a base set of features that you can extend via plugin type dealies at will. It could even work in a non-opensource setting. Imagine Microsoft selling WordLite with just the features that the common man uses (about 1% of what's included now). If, at some point in the future you wished to add feature X, you pull up the Office web site, choose the feature, pay a nominal fee to download it and install it. Voila! You're able to pay for ONLY the features you want while people with different needs can pay for ONLY the features they need. And I don't get stuck installing half a gig worth of crap I'll never use.
All the comments I've read have speculated that this company's handheld will win for this reason or that company's handheld will lose for that reason. None have mentioned what will truly be the deciding factor: THE GAMES! And from what I've seen announced, PSP is going to have a lineup that will truly challenge Nintendo's grip on the handheld market like no other handheld before it.
This is not to say that SOny will automatically win, but it does give Sony a much better chance at competeing with the big N than anyone else has had. The real winner in all of this, though, is us; the gaming public. How many people believe that Nintendo would have released the DS (remember, it's NOT a GameBoy Advance replacement) if SOny had not decided to jump into the handheld market? At any rate, this E3 should be interesting.
It's just not as important for a [diversified into films/TV] company like Warner to really try hard in a area that, in the end, doesn't mean life or death to their company.'"
So Sony must make some real crap as they are one of the more diversified companies on the planet. Oh, and Hitachi - their stuff is all crap. Sheesh, just because a company is diversified (USUALLY considered a good thing) doesn't mean that they can't do most, if not all of those things well.
I was riding my motorcycle to a concert downtown one rainy night and went through a light as it turned red (as opposed to laying the bike down because of the wet roads). I looked in my rearview and saw the blue lights. I pulled over and waited for the cop. When she got out of the car, the first thing she said was (and, yes, this was before "May I see your license and registration?"): "Do you have any weapons on you?" In my boot was the diver's knife that I used to keep in my car (the car burned up, which is why I now had the bike, but that's a whole 'nother story). I told her that I had a knife in my boot and pulled up my pant leg to show her. She took the knife and went bak to her car. After a couple of minutes another cop pulled up, pulled out a ruler, measured my knife and told me to stand against the wall. He then patted me down and asked if I had anything else. I told him no and he proceeded to handcuff me. Starting to get a little concerned (never been arrested before), I asked what I was being arrested (no one had said a word about anything I had done wrong).
He said, "Possession of a long-bladed weapon. But we could have gotten you for concealed."
I said, "What's the legal limit for the length of a knife?"
He said, "Three inches."
I said, "How long is my knife?"
He said, "Three and a half inches."
I ended up going to jail, bailing myself out, having the arresting officer give me a ride to the impound lot, getting my bike out of impound (actually watched them pull it in), and going to the concert and catching the last song of the show (the Jayhawks, great band).
Went to court and the guy that went up before me pissed off the judge (when he was done, I said to myself, "Gee I hope I don't have to go right after that guy" Sam Dunham "Crap."). The judge asked me what I was doing carrying around a knife (which he was holding at the bench in a plastic baggy). I told him the truth. You never know when you might need a knife for any number of reasons and I was riding a motorcycle - you never know who might approach, self defense. The judge said, "There's no use for this knife except for killing people. If you're worried about your personal safety, get a car" (which would have been nice if I'd had any money to speak of). He did let me off with time served provided that I didn't get into anymore trouble over the next year. I didn't, but man that was a crazy night.
A friend of mine works for the TSA at the local airport and every couple of days he checks the potted plants just to see what he can find. He has apparently found all kinds of things becuase lots of people had the same idea as the parent author.
My favorite multitool is the Gerber. Number one feature (and what singlehandedly pushes it over the top)? Single hand opening. With the flick of the wrist it's open and ready for use. I can't tell you the number of times I only have one hand available when I end up needing the multitool. With the Gerber, I don't have to stop what I'm doing to take it out and open it.
Why do I never have mod points when I need them? Mod this up someone. Recipesource is teh kick ass.
A Webmin module
Try here. A FreeS/WAN webmin module is standard in the latest release of Webmin. Unfortunately, it does little to unobfuscate FreeS/WAN. I have been looking into FS for the last couple of weeks and was planning on implementing it this weekend at a client's office. Now, I will look at alternatives - lord knows they can't be any more complicated to configure that FS.
...that the leak didn't come from a breach in security at either their network or the networks of any corporate or government partner. In short, it didn't come from anyone who has the source. Right.
They are also still toeing the line that it was code from NT and 2000. Conveniently omitting XP and Server 2003 from the list. Aren't those OSes built on the same codebase? Isn'y it possible that they are also potentially affected? Wouldn't want to scare people with our latest OSes, now would we? And for those that haven't upgraded (most businesses?), upgrading now looks safer than not.
Also of note in the release is that not just IE 5.5 and older are succeptable to the expoloit that was released, but non-SP1 IE6 as well.
Actually, you can "loosen" a ribbon, but it won't be the blue ribbon if you "lose" the race which you probably "lost" because your wheels were "loose." But, yeah, this stuff bugs me, too.
I say any time a conflict like this comes up, we take the first sylable of the original name and replace the last with fox. Eventually, all open source stuff will be instantly recognizable as such.
FireFox
ManFox
RedFox
PostFox SQL
SquirrelFox
Wow. And I thought Babelfish and the Google translators were just bad. Little did I know that the French speak in broken English in French. Who knew? :)
I dig the TiVO remote, but the first thing I did when I got mine was to program its functions into the my Marantz RC-2000. ALL of its functions. I emphasize that because the RC-2000 is the first universal remote I've ever seen that could fulfill the promise of all universal remotes - replace all of my remotes. Sure, there are other remotes out that claim to be universal, and I've tried a LOT of universals, but they so seldom replace all of the functionality of the originals. The RC-2000 will replace at least 12 remotes (at least, because you can mix and match functions under each device). It has a LCD screen to facilitate changing functions on each device and all of the buttons are PHYSICAL buttons. I can't stress enough how important that is. I had one of the early touch screen remotes and while it worked as promised, using it blew chunks. You have to look at a touch screen to use it because there's no tactile feedback. With this remote, I always know exactly which button I'm pushing without looking down. It has programmable macros so you can push one button and turn on your home theater system and start a dvd movie, etc... There was even a radio frequency attachment that you could add so that you could control home automation systems if you needed to. It is the the king daddy of all remote controls and the most decadent thing I've ever purchased ($250.00 - and worth every penny). Unfortunately, it is no longer in production. You can find them on eBay every now and then. Apparently, the spiritual successor to the RC-2000 is the Home Theater Master mx500. Which I'll check into if the RC-2000 ever dies.
the numbers speak for themselves.
Isn't the X-Box trailing behind the other two consoles in every market except for a relatively small lead over the GameCube in North America? I know they aren't flying off the shelves in Japan. Dreamcast and the PS-One were still outselling X-Box at least most of the year last year.
Amiga. Amigas are going for a bundle (especially 3000Ts and 4000s) in the used market. Generally, though, you are correct, especially in the x86 market.
I find it immanently interesting that MS only claims that Windows NT and Windows 2000 were compromised. Considering that XP and Server 2003 are built off of the same source code, wouldn't it also affect them? Could MS have intentionally have left out mentioning XP and S2003 in order to:
a) Reduce panic about their current OS
b) Induce people running those older OSes to upgrade post-haste?
the PS2 is a heaving load of junk and it pisses me off that so many pathetic 16 year olds are so overcome by the kewl-factor that the PS2 routinely outsells two much better consoles.
The PS2 - I wouldn't call it junk. There are some truly stellar games that look absolutely georgous on it (ICO comes to mind). But it does lag behind the other two consoles in raw power and graphics prowess. That's because it was released a year ahead of the other two machines, and frankly, the graphical difference is not mind-boggling. This weakness is also its strength. Because it had a year on the other two consoles, it was able to build a great library of games (and that it plays PS1 games doesn't hurt). What it comes down to is games and the PS2 has them in spades.
I would say the biggest weakness the GC had is that it can't play DVDs
I'd agree whole-heartedly, but less for the reason you mention (it is a good reason, though). Probably the biggest complaint publishers had about the N64 was that Nintendo hard-headedly stuck to the proprietary cartridge format that held less data and was far more expensive than the CD-ROM format that everyone else had moved to. Well, with the GameCube, they are still operating with a proprietary format. It still cost more to publish games on those mini-discs than if they had chosen a standard DVD drive. The next machine from the big N had better have some sort of standard storage medium, or third parties are going to remain reluctant to develop for it.