Memory stick was one of the reasons I stopped buying Sony's consumer products that need removable memory. They lost the format war a long time ago, SD is the standard for almost everyone else and I prefer memory that doesn't lock me into using it in only one brand.
Windows Phone 7 has some potential but it is facing a large uphill battle and still lacks some key features. Even to those interested in the Xbox Live integration (like me) there are other factors that may turn them away to another mobile OS. In my case for example until proper multitasking is added it's simply not an option no matter how good the Live integration is. They'll have to do quite a bit to convince me to switch over from Android.
Have you considered a custom ROM? I have a few friends with the Droid that are running Bugless Beast and absolutely love it. I believe CyanogenMod may be available for the Droid as well, I've found it to be an excellent ROM on my N1.
My guess would be that GP is not running stock Android but a version modified by the handset manufacturer (or is just running an outdated version like 1.6). Motorola has had some very well-known screw-ups with their Android 2.2 releases for newer phones, likely due to errors made while updating their Motoblur layer. Similarly many HTC phones use Sense and Samsung has TouchWiz. Each of those interfaces requires the manufacturer to essentially roll their own version of Android for each update which opens up the possibility to screw up.
I have never experienced data loss on my N1 running stock Android 2.1 or 2.2, the only freezing I have experienced was running nightly builds of Cyanogen which, being nightlies, are bound to have a few issues. Force closes of an app I see on occasion which you can't blame on Google, it's just something the app developer needs to fix. In addition Android gives you some of the best tools available for backing your data up if you avail yourself of them (Nandroid and Titanium Backup being two big ones).
I'm very happy with my choice, my N1 has actually been more stable than my iPhone 3gs running iphone OS 3.x was once I had jailbroken it and added backgrounder and proswitcher to get usable multitasking along with a few other needed pieces of functionality.
This isn't about losing your warranty or access to Live, this is about someone being prosecuted for installing mod chips. This would be analogous to your car manufacturer having the performance shop that installed your performance chip upgrade arrested and prosecuting them.
Remapping your ECU or swapping in a bigger engine will void your warranty and could put you over legal emissions limits depending on what you do (but it is fun!). Very similar to installing custom firmware.
But it's perfectly legal to do so and the performance shop that does the work isn't going to be sued for it...
Using software designed to get around copy protection is breaking the law though.
Not quite. Using software designed to get around copy protection to make a copy of something you do not own for yourself or to sell is breaking the law. Using software designed to get around copy protection to make backups of material you own is legal and within your fair use rights. Claiming the software is illegal because it enables both legal and illegal uses is a logical fallacy, that it made it into the DMCA says a lot about our lawmakers.
Obligatory car analogy: Running over pedestrians with a car is illegal. Does this mean owning a car is illegal since it can be used to run over pedestrians? No. The act of running over pedestrians is what's illegal in this scenario. The tool (in this case a car) has many uses, it is up to you how you use and that will determine whether or not you are breaking the law.
I would love to agree here, unfortunately this assumes informed voters who care enough to stay abreast of what their elected representative is doing and won't just vote based on campaign ads / party lines / who looks better. Money does play a large part: campaign ads, rallies, ads bought by 3rd parties... This does not mean we should give up, on the contrary we should always strive to change that which needs changing, however it is hard to get enough people to stand up and start caring until things get so extreme that they can't possibly ignore the issues.
This is not a good analogy, you're comparing laws that protect life and safety to laws that prevent you from modifying your own property where the only harm is the possibility that you play something you already broke copyright law to obtain.
You can also install any game from a disk to the hard drive, although you still need to insert the disk to play the game - I assume it does some check to ensure the disk is present before streaming the actual data from the HDD.
I've always found that restriction to be ridiculous, for me it removes most of the benefit I would get from installing the game to HDD. They clearly have the capability since you can with the Games on Demand from Live (nearly all of which are priced by someone who has no idea what the market price for the game really is, buy them and your wallet will hate you for it).
How is it ever right that you be legally barred from modifying a computer you paid for and own? The concept is ludicrous from the start. The Xbox 360 is a specialized computer, you're not leasing or renting it, you bought it, you own it. You should have every right to modify that equipment as you see fit, just as Microsoft has the right to ban that console from accessing the network that they own.
Most of my professors actually did make up handouts of the problems, alternatively some of them would hand out photocopies of the problems assigned in the book for people who had older versions. In my one physics class where the teacher did not do either of these things a CD quickly made the rounds among students during the second class containing a PDF of the entire book we were using that someone had obtained. Textbook prices are a ripoff nowadays, writing a new version just to change the problems to get people to buy more of them is absolutely a scam.
As one of my professors in college told a student playing games on his laptop: "You're paying to be here, are you sure that's the best use of your time?" I don't see the need to take someone's phone away unless it's making noise, it's their loss if they choose not to learn.
There are actually a few firefox addons that have kept me on the browser rather than switching to Chrome, I agree they certainly haven't "lost the browser war" yet, I don't expect them to either.
Small talk by nature is only good for a quick conversation, most often when chatting with a stranger. The conversation will quickly stagnate if it never moves on from it though, you can't get to know a person just from small talk. I know a lot of "normal" very non-technical people who use the common term "bullshitting" to refer to small talk, this would imply that even to your hypothetical "normal" people it's acknowledged as something of little importance.
Before getting offended you should take into consideration that your posting habits, both attitude and the consistent use of many different accounts do not inspire trust in most people.
Slashdot Mirror
Memory stick was one of the reasons I stopped buying Sony's consumer products that need removable memory. They lost the format war a long time ago, SD is the standard for almost everyone else and I prefer memory that doesn't lock me into using it in only one brand.
Windows Phone 7 has some potential but it is facing a large uphill battle and still lacks some key features. Even to those interested in the Xbox Live integration (like me) there are other factors that may turn them away to another mobile OS. In my case for example until proper multitasking is added it's simply not an option no matter how good the Live integration is. They'll have to do quite a bit to convince me to switch over from Android.
Have you considered a custom ROM? I have a few friends with the Droid that are running Bugless Beast and absolutely love it. I believe CyanogenMod may be available for the Droid as well, I've found it to be an excellent ROM on my N1.
My guess would be that GP is not running stock Android but a version modified by the handset manufacturer (or is just running an outdated version like 1.6). Motorola has had some very well-known screw-ups with their Android 2.2 releases for newer phones, likely due to errors made while updating their Motoblur layer. Similarly many HTC phones use Sense and Samsung has TouchWiz. Each of those interfaces requires the manufacturer to essentially roll their own version of Android for each update which opens up the possibility to screw up.
I have never experienced data loss on my N1 running stock Android 2.1 or 2.2, the only freezing I have experienced was running nightly builds of Cyanogen which, being nightlies, are bound to have a few issues. Force closes of an app I see on occasion which you can't blame on Google, it's just something the app developer needs to fix. In addition Android gives you some of the best tools available for backing your data up if you avail yourself of them (Nandroid and Titanium Backup being two big ones).
I'm very happy with my choice, my N1 has actually been more stable than my iPhone 3gs running iphone OS 3.x was once I had jailbroken it and added backgrounder and proswitcher to get usable multitasking along with a few other needed pieces of functionality.
If we look at the codebase for everything in popular use today I bet C/C++ would have a greater share than Java, this is of course my own opinion.
This isn't about losing your warranty or access to Live, this is about someone being prosecuted for installing mod chips. This would be analogous to your car manufacturer having the performance shop that installed your performance chip upgrade arrested and prosecuting them.
Remapping your ECU or swapping in a bigger engine will void your warranty and could put you over legal emissions limits depending on what you do (but it is fun!). Very similar to installing custom firmware.
But it's perfectly legal to do so and the performance shop that does the work isn't going to be sued for it...
Using software designed to get around copy protection is breaking the law though.
Not quite. Using software designed to get around copy protection to make a copy of something you do not own for yourself or to sell is breaking the law. Using software designed to get around copy protection to make backups of material you own is legal and within your fair use rights. Claiming the software is illegal because it enables both legal and illegal uses is a logical fallacy, that it made it into the DMCA says a lot about our lawmakers.
Obligatory car analogy: Running over pedestrians with a car is illegal. Does this mean owning a car is illegal since it can be used to run over pedestrians? No. The act of running over pedestrians is what's illegal in this scenario. The tool (in this case a car) has many uses, it is up to you how you use and that will determine whether or not you are breaking the law.
I would love to agree here, unfortunately this assumes informed voters who care enough to stay abreast of what their elected representative is doing and won't just vote based on campaign ads / party lines / who looks better. Money does play a large part: campaign ads, rallies, ads bought by 3rd parties... This does not mean we should give up, on the contrary we should always strive to change that which needs changing, however it is hard to get enough people to stand up and start caring until things get so extreme that they can't possibly ignore the issues.
This is not a good analogy, you're comparing laws that protect life and safety to laws that prevent you from modifying your own property where the only harm is the possibility that you play something you already broke copyright law to obtain.
So it's now illegal to have backups? I suggest you look up fair use rights.
You can also install any game from a disk to the hard drive, although you still need to insert the disk to play the game - I assume it does some check to ensure the disk is present before streaming the actual data from the HDD.
I've always found that restriction to be ridiculous, for me it removes most of the benefit I would get from installing the game to HDD. They clearly have the capability since you can with the Games on Demand from Live (nearly all of which are priced by someone who has no idea what the market price for the game really is, buy them and your wallet will hate you for it).
How is it ever right that you be legally barred from modifying a computer you paid for and own? The concept is ludicrous from the start. The Xbox 360 is a specialized computer, you're not leasing or renting it, you bought it, you own it. You should have every right to modify that equipment as you see fit, just as Microsoft has the right to ban that console from accessing the network that they own.
This is Slashdot, who reads TFS?
- If you spill bear on your book you can let it dry out and it will still be readable.
At that point I'd be more worried about being mauled by the bear!
Most of my professors actually did make up handouts of the problems, alternatively some of them would hand out photocopies of the problems assigned in the book for people who had older versions. In my one physics class where the teacher did not do either of these things a CD quickly made the rounds among students during the second class containing a PDF of the entire book we were using that someone had obtained. Textbook prices are a ripoff nowadays, writing a new version just to change the problems to get people to buy more of them is absolutely a scam.
As one of my professors in college told a student playing games on his laptop: "You're paying to be here, are you sure that's the best use of your time?" I don't see the need to take someone's phone away unless it's making noise, it's their loss if they choose not to learn.
Thanks! I'll take a look at it.
That was one of them, I'm also a big fan of PermaTabs and FaviconizeTabs in addition to FlashGot.
There are actually a few firefox addons that have kept me on the browser rather than switching to Chrome, I agree they certainly haven't "lost the browser war" yet, I don't expect them to either.
Many humans would simply tell you to fuck off or just ignore your first one, possibly the last one too.
Small talk by nature is only good for a quick conversation, most often when chatting with a stranger. The conversation will quickly stagnate if it never moves on from it though, you can't get to know a person just from small talk. I know a lot of "normal" very non-technical people who use the common term "bullshitting" to refer to small talk, this would imply that even to your hypothetical "normal" people it's acknowledged as something of little importance.
That is the funniest piece of dialogue I've ever seen out of a chat bot, genius indeed!
Before getting offended you should take into consideration that your posting habits, both attitude and the consistent use of many different accounts do not inspire trust in most people.
I've had conversations with some humans that made me think they were chat bots...