Why not talk to the police and tell them the story, and that the company is harassing you? I don't believe that Verizon can't block the number, surely that's possible.
That said, there are a few posts in this thread that say that NCO is a collection agency, in which case just pay up. Either way, find out if they are that NCO before calling the police, because then you'd just look like an idiot and would probably have to pay a fine if you filed false charges.
That said, the GBA has a big developer community. GBAdev.org for one (note that they have a little memorial page up today, just click through it at the bottom). There are forums, other sites, tutorials, even a book (can't find the link right now, and I've been having a hard time trying to buy it, but it exists).
Can anyone provide a link to some GTA screenshots that contain this man's work? I mean this would be interesting if true, but I can't just look at this guys work and say "Yeah, that's in this part of this level", I don't know the GTA series that well.
Surely he has given examples somewhere. Can anyone provide the links? This is sort of like a "Man produces largest beer-bottle pyramid" story without a photo. It's intersting, but rather meaningless.
WRONG. I've seen this page before, and it refers to the INTIUM versions of Windows XP. The x86-64 version should be almost exactly like the the standard x86 version.
The differences make sense if you realize that they are for the Intium, which is a server processor and not designed for desktop users. If you buy Intiums, you probably aren't using DOS and OS/2 programs. You probably won't be playing DVDs on your $20k server. And since it is a server, how often will you want to put it into "sleep" mode? You won't, so you don't need power management. It all makes sense.
I think you just didn't realize what you found. Don't worry, the version of Windows XP for the Hammer/Opteron/Athlon64/x86-64 will be just like the version that you'd be running on your x86 now.
IIRC, Tim Sweeny said that by recompiling one of the versions of UT (2003 maybe?) for the x86-64 platform without optimizations, they saw up to a 20% performance boost. Now if they were to optomize the code on top of that, they could probably get a little more.
So even for programs that don't need to use 64 bit math, moving them to the x86-64 platform can speed them up. It won't improve your typing speed in Word, but it can probably speed up most if not all your games if they are simply recompiled.
Re:Not an Athlon64, but an Opteron
on
AMD64 Preview
·
· Score: 5, Informative
Your comment is somewhat missleading. There are TWO Athlon 64s being launched (or as Overclockers.com called them the "Opteron that's not an opteron but is an opteron" and the "operton that's really not an opteron" or something like that). Annandtech compared the equivelent of an Athlon64 FX, not an Athlon64. Here is the skinny:
Athlon64 FX
This is a 1xx opteron. It's still dual channel, and it uses ECC memmory (for now?). This is the "performance" part, the high end one. If we're trying to find who has the fastest CPU, this is the one to test. Their tests are quite valid for this, IMHO.
Athlon64
This is the "budget" Athlon64. It only has once memory channel, I don't know if it has ECC or not. Yes, this will be slower, but it will also be cheaper and the motherboards for it could be cheaper too (since it doesn't have that second memory channel).
So, I think that this is a very important article. Look how fast an Opteron/Athlon64 FX is compared to a P4. A 2 Ghz Opteron/Athlon64 FX is beating a 3 Ghz P4. This is all on a 32 bit os and software. When you run 64 bit software that knows about all the extra registers and can do 64 bit math nativly should it need to, the computer will be fast. Tim Sweeny (spelling?) said that native versions of UT2003 (or something) was running up to 20% faster on x86-64 without optimisations; just from going to 64 bit mode. And for most of us the fact that it can manage over 4GB of mem easily for now is only iceing on the cake.
AMD has a great processor. I can't wait to see more info on these things. The fact that it does so well in 32 bit mode is important since you currently can't get Windows for the processor (there is no x86-64 version of Windows out yet). If it was a great processor, but you were forced to get terrible performance if you bought one for 6+ months (becuase it wasn't good with 32 bit software like windows and what you run), would anyone buy it? This thing is faster today, and should only get faster when you run native software. I'm saving my pennies (and yes, I know it will take a lot of pennies;).
Well, they have done one thing right: they have games. This is the downfall of most consoles, IMHO. Many consoles seem to think that they can have one or two games and use that as a springboard to get into the market. Unless those two games are a Mario game and a Sonic game, you're in deep trouble. But these guys are promising up to 20 games, and if the rest of titles are like the ones that they've named, they have a good chance, game wise.
Some of the other features are good additions. I like that it's a Palm device, and that it uses bluetooth for multiplayer. The fact that it has TWO slots for games is also great (assuming they don't act like idiots and put them on the device like the NGauge. What in the WORLD where those people thinking? Did they even TEST the device?). Adding MP3 playing abilites is interesting too.
That said, the price still seems quite high to me. Considerig that it's a Palm, a video game machine, and can play MP3s, I guess it's not that bad, but I think it could take a little while for it to become big. The thing is still expensive.
What would be REALLY smart was if they released a SDK (free great, or for a nomial fee like $25 would be cool too) so people could develop for it too. I know it's Palm, but I'm guessing you'd need special code to access the 3D stuff. Handheld BZFlag, here we come?
Good luck guys. Of the consoles that I've heard of recently (Phantom, that Linux based one that died, the N-Gauge, etc) that aren't from big manufactures (like the PSP) this one seems to be the most well thought out of the bunch (Sony knows what they're doing too, I think).
I've used Mavis and it's good, but I really learned on Mario Teaches Typing. There is a little page on it here, but I can't find a screenshot. I probably still have the disks somewhere.
That said, I think that learning to type will definatly help you.
Women are more likely than men to eat food that's been on the floor
That's the one that really suprises me. The rest make sense in some way. This is the only one that I was suprised at. I would expect men would be more likely, equal at worst.
As for the 12 hour rule, gross! Of course, they didn't know about bacteria or microbes, or such so I guess as far as they saw, there was no reason not to eat the food off then floor unless the floor was quite visibly dirty or some such. The 12 hour part probably has more to do with the food being found by ants and flies than anything else.
Yes, I have one or two products that use AAs. The only thing like that that I really use are my calculator and remotes (last a LONG LONG LONG time), and my CD player (nearly 80 hours, IIRC on 2 AAs). The only other portable electronic things I use are my cell phone and gameboy advanced SP (both rechargable). And if I wanted to, I could use rechargeable batteries in the other things.
I realise that there are people who could really use this kind of technology, and would be willing to pay for it. For example this could be VERY handy in areas that don't have good power service but might need access to a computer (say for a medical encyclopedia or something), such as some areas in Africa. Also, business people who have to use their laptop alot but can't often get to power (maybe as you described, etc). But the fact is for many people (myself included) I don't NEED this technology. I'd like it, but I can survive without it, at least for the forseeable future (a few years).
I also have two battery bays, and if I were to use fuelcells, I would probably do the same thing. I would want the ability to use the fuel cell as a "backup" so that my rechargeable battery would be drained first. But I untill things are "changed" as I point out in my post, I don't see myself going to fuel cell only "batteries" in my laptop any time soon.
Ink should be cheap too, but people pay $30 or more for ink cartriges that hold next to nothing, because that's how the printer market has structured it's self. I don't want to end up paying $5 for an emergency refill since I won't be able to plug my laptop in to recharge it.
But I get your point, and I agree. I'm just saying things don't always work like that.
No, it's not a troll. I don't need 10 hours of life. I don't take many flights. When I do, they don't tend to be that long, my four hours of battery life can cover me. For an international flight or something else that would be that long, I'd get a power adaptor that would let me plug into the plane, or I would carry an extra battery. I realise that having 10 hours of battery life would be very handy for many people, but many people (like me) just don't need it.
Sitting on a park bench while enjoying summer air? This is/.! OK, all joking aside, I don't have wireless lan and even if I did, I can't see myself sitting for more than 2 or 3 hours outside using my laptop. For one thing I've found laptop screens can be hard to read in sunlight, and either way I'm not an outdoors person (allergies). Again, my batteries could cover me for what I'd do.
I used the oxygen/hydrogen thing as an example. As for charge time, I usually let my laptop charge overnight.
I would like a 10 hour battery too, and I would need to be able to refill it at home, but I'm NOT going to pay someone $5 for a few hours worth of fuel because you can't recharge it anywhere there is an electrical outlet the way my battery can.
I'd like more battery life just as much as the next guy, but I don't intend to replace my laptop's batteries untill recharges are "free".
Right now, how does it work? I use my battery, and it gets low. Then I plug my laptop in and after a short time, the battery is "magically" refilled, and it didn't cost my any money (my electric bill, but that's a few cents max). I can recharge my laptop ANYWHERE I can find an outlet, which is just about anywhere.
Now for the fuel cell battery. I use my battery and it's gone. Now I have to recharge it with a new little lighter sized cartridge thing. I don't want to pay $5 for 'em. I don't want to pay $1 for 'em. If I got a few refillable fuel "cartridges" when I bought my laptop and some kind of home refuling station that would use my natural gas line or something, I would consider it, maybe. I'll take my 3 or 4 hour battery life over your 10 since mine is free. And when do I need 10 hours of battery life anyway? Most people probably don't, as they could probably find places to plug in by then.
So how do you get me to do something like this? Make a fuel cell battery that works with something like pure hydrogen and oxygen. It mixes them to make electricity and stores the water in a little compartment. Then when I plug my laptop into the wall, it uses the electricity to reseperate the water into hydrogen and oxygen and stores them back in their own little compartments. Basically a sealed system that works just like a standard battery. I really don't care what's in it, or how it works, but unless it works a LOT like a battery, I'm not terribly interested. I'm not paying for what I get for "free".
Cheap software, preferably in a non-proprietary format (mini-cds, mini-discs, for example)
Based on the pictures of the UMD, it looks abit like a mini-cd/dvd, only in a cartridge to protect it from scratches (not unlike a mini-disc). I don't think it's any more proprietary than a normal PS2 disc, a GameBoy cartridge, or a GameCube disc.
That's the problem I have with the idea that it's a bad idea to go with this new format. What other choices do they have? Rom? That's getting old and doesn't have the storage capacity of an optical disc. Mini-CD? Doesn't hold much. Full DVD? WAY to big for a portable. Minidisc? Doesn't hold much (under 300MB, IIRC). Mini-DVD? Could get scratched. So you put a mini-dvd in a cover (sorta like a minidisc) and you make it a proprietary filesystem (like all consoles seem to use) and you're set. Like I said above, I think this is what the UMD is.
But, all will be answered when the system is revealed. I can't WAIT to see it.
I just saw a thing on the shuttle a few days ago that aired on the History Channel. They said that the shuttle was origionaly designed to have an RLV, but it was canceled due to budget concerns. It was supposed to launch with the shuttle on it's back, and would fly up near orbit where the shuttle would detach and fly the rest of the way. The RLV would then land so that it could be used again. It looked sort of like a plane. Has anyone thought about updating the design for this thing and making it?
Why not use something REALLY secure like a PGP signiture? PGP is quite well tested, but we all know that the first release of any software product (especially from our favorite target MS) can have bugs. What happens when one of those bugs is "putting in a blank password allows access to all documents" or something like that?
As for the reasons Microsoft is further delaying Longhorn, one theory is that the company could be postponing the release of the next wave of its flagship products until the remedy order issued last year by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to settle the antitrust case against Microsoft expires.
That agreement, valid for five years, forces Microsoft to make available for license the protocols between its client and server environments.
"Once they get beyond the time frame of the remedy, they will be free to change the client and server protocols, which could make it more difficult to emulate a Windows server or client, as was the case prior to the remedy order," Al Gillen, an analyst with International Data Corp., in Framingham, Mass., told eWEEK.
Does this fact seem to just a little to much of a conincidence? It would make perfect sense for MS to wait untill they can go back to their "old" ways again. That said, it will be a LONG time between product releases, which makes me want to agree with some other posters who have said that this suggests we'll see a Windows XP: Second Edition or something like that.
Cheaper? Last thing I heard Toyota was selling them at a loss. Is that still true? Are they profitable yet?
It may be more expensive, but as other comments point out, the gas savings is MASSIVE so over the life of the car it will easily make up the difference.
This is exactly what I thought. Sony designed the chips for the PS1 and the PS2, why would they farm out the PS3? It would mean (among other things) sharing the profits. Why would they let their chip teams sit idly by why they send good money to 3rd parties that they, IHMO, don't even need.
I posted my comment for two reasons. First is the way that you took it. As Anonvmous Coward already replied to you, many people here will start to bash it for some reason or another.
The other reason I posted it was "Why Shouldn't They Make One", as in "Should We Be Suprised At It?". With other companies like Linksys making such a device, and the obvious potential of it, I am not at all suprised that the device is being made.
I guess my comment can be taken two ways. I really wrote it to address the second reasons, but I guess it works for the first too. Go figure. I write with depth without even knowing it.;)
Why shouldn't MS make a wireless adaptor for the X-Box? Let's face it, X-Box Live is something that many games want to use, but it requires broadband. And while you can use a modem anywhere, most people don't keep their broadband adaptor in their living room, it's usually by a computer. So what does that leave the person doing? They either have to run Cat-5 cable, use something like HomePNA or HomePlug, or use wireless. Why shouldn't MS make a wireless adaper? I wouldn't be suprised if there was a new X-Box bundle by Christmas that inclues the wireless adaptor. I would be willing to bet that wireless internet access is more common in homes than having ethernet jacks in your living room (slashdot croud excluded;).
ROM? Who uses ROM anymore? Most devices use flash for anything that could ever possibly need to be modified (like the OS/kernel). And since Linux can have a VERY small footprint, it'd not like you need any expensive flash memory. If I can buy a 128mb consumer flash storage device for under $30, you can put the linux kernel in a little bit of flash that you probably already have in your design for next to nothing. Besides, how often is there a important secuity hole in an embeded MP3 player or something like that? It's not like a "real" computer where you have to deal with new hardware and such.
Why is this so suprising? Who has more disposible income? A 12 year old boy, or a 21 year old girl? While it's not the stereotype, I think it makes plenty of sense if you think about it.
Slashdot Mirror
I'll once again write that I think what we need here is some RICO action. One of the things you need is a pattern of behavoir, right?
Look! It's a pattern!
That said, there are a few posts in this thread that say that NCO is a collection agency, in which case just pay up. Either way, find out if they are that NCO before calling the police, because then you'd just look like an idiot and would probably have to pay a fine if you filed false charges.
That said, the GBA has a big developer community. GBAdev.org for one (note that they have a little memorial page up today, just click through it at the bottom). There are forums, other sites, tutorials, even a book (can't find the link right now, and I've been having a hard time trying to buy it, but it exists).
Don't forget to check out Pocket NES.
I'll wait for the Z-Gauge. I always loved those little trains. There were so tiny. I think I've still got one somewhere.
Surely he has given examples somewhere. Can anyone provide the links? This is sort of like a "Man produces largest beer-bottle pyramid" story without a photo. It's intersting, but rather meaningless.
The differences make sense if you realize that they are for the Intium, which is a server processor and not designed for desktop users. If you buy Intiums, you probably aren't using DOS and OS/2 programs. You probably won't be playing DVDs on your $20k server. And since it is a server, how often will you want to put it into "sleep" mode? You won't, so you don't need power management. It all makes sense.
I think you just didn't realize what you found. Don't worry, the version of Windows XP for the Hammer/Opteron/Athlon64/x86-64 will be just like the version that you'd be running on your x86 now.
So even for programs that don't need to use 64 bit math, moving them to the x86-64 platform can speed them up. It won't improve your typing speed in Word, but it can probably speed up most if not all your games if they are simply recompiled.
Athlon64 FX
This is a 1xx opteron. It's still dual channel, and it uses ECC memmory (for now?). This is the "performance" part, the high end one. If we're trying to find who has the fastest CPU, this is the one to test. Their tests are quite valid for this, IMHO.
Athlon64
This is the "budget" Athlon64. It only has once memory channel, I don't know if it has ECC or not. Yes, this will be slower, but it will also be cheaper and the motherboards for it could be cheaper too (since it doesn't have that second memory channel).
So, I think that this is a very important article. Look how fast an Opteron/Athlon64 FX is compared to a P4. A 2 Ghz Opteron/Athlon64 FX is beating a 3 Ghz P4. This is all on a 32 bit os and software. When you run 64 bit software that knows about all the extra registers and can do 64 bit math nativly should it need to, the computer will be fast. Tim Sweeny (spelling?) said that native versions of UT2003 (or something) was running up to 20% faster on x86-64 without optimisations; just from going to 64 bit mode. And for most of us the fact that it can manage over 4GB of mem easily for now is only iceing on the cake.
AMD has a great processor. I can't wait to see more info on these things. The fact that it does so well in 32 bit mode is important since you currently can't get Windows for the processor (there is no x86-64 version of Windows out yet). If it was a great processor, but you were forced to get terrible performance if you bought one for 6+ months (becuase it wasn't good with 32 bit software like windows and what you run), would anyone buy it? This thing is faster today, and should only get faster when you run native software. I'm saving my pennies (and yes, I know it will take a lot of pennies ;).
Some of the other features are good additions. I like that it's a Palm device, and that it uses bluetooth for multiplayer. The fact that it has TWO slots for games is also great (assuming they don't act like idiots and put them on the device like the NGauge. What in the WORLD where those people thinking? Did they even TEST the device?). Adding MP3 playing abilites is interesting too.
That said, the price still seems quite high to me. Considerig that it's a Palm, a video game machine, and can play MP3s, I guess it's not that bad, but I think it could take a little while for it to become big. The thing is still expensive.
What would be REALLY smart was if they released a SDK (free great, or for a nomial fee like $25 would be cool too) so people could develop for it too. I know it's Palm, but I'm guessing you'd need special code to access the 3D stuff. Handheld BZFlag, here we come?
Good luck guys. Of the consoles that I've heard of recently (Phantom, that Linux based one that died, the N-Gauge, etc) that aren't from big manufactures (like the PSP) this one seems to be the most well thought out of the bunch (Sony knows what they're doing too, I think).
That said, I think that learning to type will definatly help you.
That's the one that really suprises me. The rest make sense in some way. This is the only one that I was suprised at. I would expect men would be more likely, equal at worst.
As for the 12 hour rule, gross! Of course, they didn't know about bacteria or microbes, or such so I guess as far as they saw, there was no reason not to eat the food off then floor unless the floor was quite visibly dirty or some such. The 12 hour part probably has more to do with the food being found by ants and flies than anything else.
I realise that there are people who could really use this kind of technology, and would be willing to pay for it. For example this could be VERY handy in areas that don't have good power service but might need access to a computer (say for a medical encyclopedia or something), such as some areas in Africa. Also, business people who have to use their laptop alot but can't often get to power (maybe as you described, etc). But the fact is for many people (myself included) I don't NEED this technology. I'd like it, but I can survive without it, at least for the forseeable future (a few years).
I also have two battery bays, and if I were to use fuelcells, I would probably do the same thing. I would want the ability to use the fuel cell as a "backup" so that my rechargeable battery would be drained first. But I untill things are "changed" as I point out in my post, I don't see myself going to fuel cell only "batteries" in my laptop any time soon.
But I get your point, and I agree. I'm just saying things don't always work like that.
Sitting on a park bench while enjoying summer air? This is /.! OK, all joking aside, I don't have wireless lan and even if I did, I can't see myself sitting for more than 2 or 3 hours outside using my laptop. For one thing I've found laptop screens can be hard to read in sunlight, and either way I'm not an outdoors person (allergies). Again, my batteries could cover me for what I'd do.
I used the oxygen/hydrogen thing as an example. As for charge time, I usually let my laptop charge overnight.
I would like a 10 hour battery too, and I would need to be able to refill it at home, but I'm NOT going to pay someone $5 for a few hours worth of fuel because you can't recharge it anywhere there is an electrical outlet the way my battery can.
Right now, how does it work? I use my battery, and it gets low. Then I plug my laptop in and after a short time, the battery is "magically" refilled, and it didn't cost my any money (my electric bill, but that's a few cents max). I can recharge my laptop ANYWHERE I can find an outlet, which is just about anywhere.
Now for the fuel cell battery. I use my battery and it's gone. Now I have to recharge it with a new little lighter sized cartridge thing. I don't want to pay $5 for 'em. I don't want to pay $1 for 'em. If I got a few refillable fuel "cartridges" when I bought my laptop and some kind of home refuling station that would use my natural gas line or something, I would consider it, maybe. I'll take my 3 or 4 hour battery life over your 10 since mine is free. And when do I need 10 hours of battery life anyway? Most people probably don't, as they could probably find places to plug in by then.
So how do you get me to do something like this? Make a fuel cell battery that works with something like pure hydrogen and oxygen. It mixes them to make electricity and stores the water in a little compartment. Then when I plug my laptop into the wall, it uses the electricity to reseperate the water into hydrogen and oxygen and stores them back in their own little compartments. Basically a sealed system that works just like a standard battery. I really don't care what's in it, or how it works, but unless it works a LOT like a battery, I'm not terribly interested. I'm not paying for what I get for "free".
Based on the pictures of the UMD, it looks abit like a mini-cd/dvd, only in a cartridge to protect it from scratches (not unlike a mini-disc). I don't think it's any more proprietary than a normal PS2 disc, a GameBoy cartridge, or a GameCube disc.
That's the problem I have with the idea that it's a bad idea to go with this new format. What other choices do they have? Rom? That's getting old and doesn't have the storage capacity of an optical disc. Mini-CD? Doesn't hold much. Full DVD? WAY to big for a portable. Minidisc? Doesn't hold much (under 300MB, IIRC). Mini-DVD? Could get scratched. So you put a mini-dvd in a cover (sorta like a minidisc) and you make it a proprietary filesystem (like all consoles seem to use) and you're set. Like I said above, I think this is what the UMD is.
But, all will be answered when the system is revealed. I can't WAIT to see it.
The best picture I could find was this one on HowStuffWorks.
Why not use something REALLY secure like a PGP signiture? PGP is quite well tested, but we all know that the first release of any software product (especially from our favorite target MS) can have bugs. What happens when one of those bugs is "putting in a blank password allows access to all documents" or something like that?
Does this fact seem to just a little to much of a conincidence? It would make perfect sense for MS to wait untill they can go back to their "old" ways again. That said, it will be a LONG time between product releases, which makes me want to agree with some other posters who have said that this suggests we'll see a Windows XP: Second Edition or something like that.
Cheaper? Last thing I heard Toyota was selling them at a loss. Is that still true? Are they profitable yet?
It may be more expensive, but as other comments point out, the gas savings is MASSIVE so over the life of the car it will easily make up the difference.
This is exactly what I thought. Sony designed the chips for the PS1 and the PS2, why would they farm out the PS3? It would mean (among other things) sharing the profits. Why would they let their chip teams sit idly by why they send good money to 3rd parties that they, IHMO, don't even need.
The other reason I posted it was "Why Shouldn't They Make One", as in "Should We Be Suprised At It?". With other companies like Linksys making such a device, and the obvious potential of it, I am not at all suprised that the device is being made.
I guess my comment can be taken two ways. I really wrote it to address the second reasons, but I guess it works for the first too. Go figure. I write with depth without even knowing it. ;)
Why shouldn't MS make a wireless adaptor for the X-Box? Let's face it, X-Box Live is something that many games want to use, but it requires broadband. And while you can use a modem anywhere, most people don't keep their broadband adaptor in their living room, it's usually by a computer. So what does that leave the person doing? They either have to run Cat-5 cable, use something like HomePNA or HomePlug, or use wireless. Why shouldn't MS make a wireless adaper? I wouldn't be suprised if there was a new X-Box bundle by Christmas that inclues the wireless adaptor. I would be willing to bet that wireless internet access is more common in homes than having ethernet jacks in your living room (slashdot croud excluded ;).
ROM? Who uses ROM anymore? Most devices use flash for anything that could ever possibly need to be modified (like the OS/kernel). And since Linux can have a VERY small footprint, it'd not like you need any expensive flash memory. If I can buy a 128mb consumer flash storage device for under $30, you can put the linux kernel in a little bit of flash that you probably already have in your design for next to nothing. Besides, how often is there a important secuity hole in an embeded MP3 player or something like that? It's not like a "real" computer where you have to deal with new hardware and such.
Why is this so suprising? Who has more disposible income? A 12 year old boy, or a 21 year old girl? While it's not the stereotype, I think it makes plenty of sense if you think about it.