You can run FreeBSD or Linux on the "expensive" Apple machine as well. Heck, you can also run Vista on one, if you must!
The cheapest of the cheap laptops are generally sucktastic, big, and heavy (And generally come pre-installed with Vista). My MacBook Pro is far more stylish and compact than almost every other equivalently priced Windows notebooks. OS X is a joy to use, and coupled with an AG-HVX200, Final Cut Studio, and a couple of big external drives... and I am a production unit on the go. It just works best for what I do. Which is why I "drank the koolaid" in 2003 and bought a Mac to start with. After 17 years of using MS-DOS and then Windows... I am loving being an "Apple Fanboi" and I cant see going back to Windows for anything other than the occasional game.
I think a lot of people are discovering that OS X just works, and doesnt need the sort of tinkering and maintenance that Windows rigs generally do to stay in top running shape.
I cant remember the last time I did a virus scan or a defrag...
Oh...
Last week...
On my roomies computer, so the damn XP rig would actually work again.
What I find amusing about your post is that Stephenson's "Metaverse" looks a whole lot more like Second Life than Gibson's virtual world. As such, I figure Neal is far more responsible for shaping ideas within Second Life than William Gibson is. Sadly, Gibson gets the most guff because he did it first, and far better, than anyone else.
Plus, I think it is super awesome that Neuromancer was written on a typewriter.
ZOMG! There are a finite number of topics that can be created and Zonk is wasting them all!
Jeeze dude... if you dont like it, your mouse has a scroll button. Use it.
This is no better or worse than another article on Internet Radio, security holes, or a new mother board. One geeks garbage is another geeks treasure, no?
Exactly. Most YouTube videos are what... a couple of megabytes? HD Video, even compressed, is going to be a lot larger. To the point where most people are going to hit bandwidth caps fairly quickly, if they are downloading even a few movies
Positioning such a service as YouTube like is a little inane. Now, if they positioned it as a reasonable way to distribut indie films in High Def, they might find people a lot more receptive. I dont know what mastering a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD costs, but for some indie folk, it might just be too much... wheras this will let people get their films out in high quality at a reasonably low (well, free) cost.
I havent dived in 13 years, and when I was last active Dive computers were just coming into vogue for the well heeled diver. But it was drummed into us over and over again that computers can fail or give inaccurate results. So always plan using a table and stick to it.
A computer might be a nice accesory, but if your life can count on precision, double check everything with a table!
Now that's much more reasonable. The first post seemed to me to be stating it as a fact that there was willful negligence. The if in your conclusion makes it much more palatable.
IF those in charge commited willfully negligent acts in the days before the Columbia de-orbit, then there should be harsh consequences.
You are making the assumption that NASA knew the shuttle was going to suffer a catastrophic failure on re-entry. Other than some speculation by some NASA engineers, I havent seen any definitive proof that NASA was negligent.
Space travel is dangerous and accidents happen. I am not saying that should exclude people from taking responsibility, but it also means that we cant suggest letting people take baseball bats to men and women who lost their friends in an accident because we assume they played fast and loose with facts.
There are inconsiderate jerks in every crowd. They will be inconsiderate jerks whether they have a cell phone or not. When I walk into a theater, my phone goes on vibe if my son may need to call me, and off otherwise. And if a theater owner is worried about jerks with cell phones and pagers not respecting others, there is a handy little device called a cell-jammer that pretty much nullifies reception in the small area of the theater. They work wonderfully and arent that expensive.
Any technology will be open to certain abuses, and there will always be jerks to abuse them. that doesnt mke a technology bad as such.
I used some compressed air the other night to blow dust out of my HSF and GFX coolers. On a whim, I hit the keyboard with a blast and was shocked at the crud that came out. So I took the thing apart. You wouldnt BELIEVE the crud and dust bunnies that I ended up scraping out of there! But its shiny clean now!
My dumbest hardware mistake was popping a stick of DDR RAM in backwards. Didnt see the larger memory size on post, smelled somthing funny and hit the power button in a panic. RAM was hot (I have no idea how I actually got it in backwards!) but I turned it around and everything booted fine. Much relieve ensued.
I read the damn page three times and didnt see it list US only anywhere. Frankly, that would just suck, because I am in Canada and want to apply. And previous beta applications have included Canada. I was lucky enough to do Diablo II and Diablo II Expansion betas. Lots of fun! Hopefully my eyesight isnt completely failing and I'll get to apply for this one.
There is one title that completely nullifies your opinion of UBI...
IL-2 Sturmovik.
One of the best flight sims ever, but largely ignored because it deals with the eastern front. Hopefully the stand alone 'expansion' Forgotten Battles rectifies this by adding the American aircraft to the mix. Its one of the best flight sims I've ever played, and kicks Combat Flight Simulator 3 all over the skies!
Sure, you can do whatever you want now that you did pre-patriot. But once you start allowing your government to errode your freedoms, you are going to run into problems. What if Partiot Act V includes restrictions on computers that are on non trusted platforms. Suddenly you become a 'terrorist' if you dont want to play nice with Microsofts latest behemoth of an operating system. But because you didnt stand up for your rights and your freedoms back when they werent taking away anything that affected you directly, there is no one left to stand up and say 'Wait, this is wrong'
There is a famous saying that goes:
'In Germany, they first came for the communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics. I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak up.'
I am not trying to compare the USA to Nazi Germany, in spite of the current administrations seeming desire to take away some of the fundamental rights that are entrenched in your legal system. I am just saying that if one keeps their head in the sand, you'll never see the lion sneaking up to bite your backside.
So basically this is an IRC interface masquerading as pixelated, ugly, early 90's looking (by modern standards..those games were very cool 'in the day!') Sierra Game?
While walking around as Roger Wilco or Leisure Suit Larry seems kind of cool, and you can travel the various locales and talk to other people, you cant actually play through the stories.
So whats the point...other than a chat room you can talk to other old timers who remembers when it was cool to play the game when it came out?
Actually they filmed two and three together, and they will both release this year. My bet is that they are already 'in the can' and ready for release other than minor tweaks.
NOTICE TO USER: BY METABOLIZING YOU ACCEPT ALL THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, USE OF YOUR HOME AND CAR BY THE AUTHORS OF THIS AGREEMENT.
This Website End User License Agreement accompanies the Web Pages and related explanatory materials ("Crap"). The term "Crap" also shall include any upgrades, modified versions, or repaintings of the Website licensed to you by either The Prince of Wales, a sentient washing machine, or my old Rabbi (the one who used profanity). Please read this Agreement carefully. At the end, you will be asked to accept this agreement and provide this Website with a warm, lingering, creepy hug. If you do not wish to accept this Agreement, simply click the "I do not accept" button while forcefully shoving your computer off the back of your desk ("Card Table").
Upon your acceptance of this Agreement, this Website grants to you a nonexclusive license to use this Website or your own Shoes ("The Dressy Ones"), provided that you agree to the following:
1. Use of the Website.
1.1 You may use this Website on a hard disk or other storage device. On a scrap of drywall with a Sharpie, install and use the Website on a file server or a tomato server for use on a network or a VHS copy of the motion picture "Network" or for the purposes of (i) permanent installation onto the small of your back at the base of your spine via a tattoo or other storage devices or (ii) for providing the illusion of working while at work (using the following methods of deception: looking intently at the screen, moving the mouse, and typing decisively on the keyboard); and make backup copies of the Website for later printing and spreading out in an alley to make a nice bed.
1.2 You may make and distribute unlimited copies of the Website, including copies for commercial distribution, as long as each copy that you make and distribute contains this Agreement and is created in one of the following media: carved out of ice, as in an ice sculpture centerpiece; smeared in mustard on the side of a white or off-white panel van; or taught to a parrot who is then condemned to fly the earth for eternity, incessantly repeating the mantra of this Website.
2. Copyright and Trademark Rights. The Website is owned by its authors ("the Elks Clubs of America") and its suppliers. Its structure, organization, and code are the valuable trade secrets of the Freemasons, probably. The Website is also protected by United States Copyright Law and a group of big, scary goons who will happily beat you until you're ejecting teeth like a winning slot machine. Use of any trademark does not give you any rights of ownership in that trademark, jackass. Except as stated above, this Agreement does not grant you any intellectual property rights in the Website. Got it, fucko?
3. Restrictions. You agree not to modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or otherwise attempt to discover the inner motivations, dreams, aspirations, or weird, possibly sexual fantasies of the Website.
4. No Warranty. The Website is being delivered to you AS IS and we make no warranty as to its use or performance. WE DO NOT AND CANNOT WARRANT THE PERFORMANCE OR RESULTS YOU MAY OBTAIN BY USING THE WEBSITE. LOOK, WHEN THIS WEBSITE GOES ALL CRAZY AND DESTROYS YOUR COMPUTER, KILLS YOUR PET, SLEEPS WITH YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER, DIGS UP ALL YOUR OLD POETRY AND LAUGHS AND LAUGHS, THEN CALLS UP YOUR FRIENDS AND READS THEM ALL THOSE REALLY EMBARRASING PARTS OUT OF YOUR JOURNAL, LIKE WHEN YOU SAID YOU WERE "DESTINED FOR BEAUTY" OR SOME SHIT LIKE THAT, WE MAKE NO GUARANTEES AND WILL SIMPLY JOIN WITH EVERYONE AND LAUGH AT YOUR SORRY ASS, BECAUSE DAMN, THERE'S NO FREAKING WARRANTY HERE. GET IT? NO WARRANTY. NONE. AT ALL.
6. Notice to Government End Users. The Software and Documentation are "Real Bitchin'," as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R. 2.101, consisting of "Real Bitchin' (formerly 'Radical' items)" and as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. 12.212 or 48 C.F.R. 227.7202, as applicable. Or maybe 56 C.Fsomething something. 7. Oh, and these things, too: . Consistent with 48 C.F.R. 12.212 or 48 C.F.R. 227.7202-1 through 227.7202-4, as applicable, as well as R2-D2 and JOHNNY 5, locked in a beautiful metallic embrace of everlasting robot love.
PLEASE INDICATE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OR DECLINE OF THE FOREGOING AGREEMENT BY CLICKING ON THE APPROPRIATE BUTTON BELOW
Actually, he charged 4 dollars for packing as well. And it was basically just dropped into a standard cardboard box and taped shut. It wasnt fragile, but there was NO internal packing.
It was a 'buy me now' auction. I asked him for a shipping quote, he provided said 18 dollar quote. Thus my anger. If it said 'Buyer pays 18 dollars S+H' then I would hardly be upset when it only cost 8.
Contrast that with the most recent auction item, the buyer ended up shipping late due to his own error, and so he ate almost ten dollars in shipping the item to me via overnight. I guess for every shady sort out there, there is someone with respectability.
I totally agree. I wasnt upset at the shipping cost. However, he claimed to have actually had the package weighed and metered before shipping. So when it arried at 10 dollars less than his supposed quote from the shipper, that is when I got steamed.
In the end though I just didnt leave any feedback. He was upset that it took so long to get payment and I was upset that he gouged me. In the end it's easier just not to bid and buy from that person again, no?
Actually, it said 'Buyer to pay 8 dollars S+H in continental US'.
I however am in Canada.
So he purportedly took it in, had it weighed and quoted on shipping, and told me the shipping would be 18 dollars, before he shipped it. So yes, he cheated me.
When it clearly states in the feedback section that you should talk to the other party BEFORE posting negative feedback to try to resolve complaints... I am amazed that people dont do so.
Out of 20 or so auctions I've won on eBay, only once have I wanted to leave negative feedback. A guy quoted shipping of 18 dollars US, and in the end, the USPS shipping he used was only 8. I felt sort of angry that he'd ripped me for 10 dollars but in the end we just agred NOT to leave feedback for the auction, as the draft I sent him was (according to him) 'uncashable' and he ended up waiting an extra week for a different pay type to show up.
Moral of the story is that if you have a negative experience, and don't get any satisfaction from the person, leave negative feedback as a last resort. Otherwise, just never ever deal with that person again. It's pretty easy.
As for this moron and his suit, exactly how much libel can be fit into 80 characters? And how bad could it really be? I mean... come on! Man, I am glad I live in a country where spurious litigation is thrown out so fast it would make this blood sucking parasite's head spin! Maybe there would be less of these sort of nuisance lawsuits if, when it is thrown out, the plaintiff is made to wrestle an aligator...
The DVD itself has no direct coding in NTSC or PAL. A Region 1 DVD and a Region 2 DVD are identical, save for the region code. It is the PLAYER that controls the output. Thus, if you have an NTSC region free DVD player hooked to an NTSC television and you stick a Region 2 DVD into it, it will display perfectly.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah. That's the problem. They are not smart about how they surf. Like about 80% of the people on teh intarweb.
You can run FreeBSD or Linux on the "expensive" Apple machine as well. Heck, you can also run Vista on one, if you must!
The cheapest of the cheap laptops are generally sucktastic, big, and heavy (And generally come pre-installed with Vista). My MacBook Pro is far more stylish and compact than almost every other equivalently priced Windows notebooks. OS X is a joy to use, and coupled with an AG-HVX200, Final Cut Studio, and a couple of big external drives... and I am a production unit on the go. It just works best for what I do. Which is why I "drank the koolaid" in 2003 and bought a Mac to start with. After 17 years of using MS-DOS and then Windows... I am loving being an "Apple Fanboi" and I cant see going back to Windows for anything other than the occasional game.
I think a lot of people are discovering that OS X just works, and doesnt need the sort of tinkering and maintenance that Windows rigs generally do to stay in top running shape.
I cant remember the last time I did a virus scan or a defrag...
Oh...
Last week...
On my roomies computer, so the damn XP rig would actually work again.
What I find amusing about your post is that Stephenson's "Metaverse" looks a whole lot more like Second Life than Gibson's virtual world. As such, I figure Neal is far more responsible for shaping ideas within Second Life than William Gibson is. Sadly, Gibson gets the most guff because he did it first, and far better, than anyone else.
Plus, I think it is super awesome that Neuromancer was written on a typewriter.
So am I. Two finger scrolling.
God I love my MacBook Pro.
ZOMG! There are a finite number of topics that can be created and Zonk is wasting them all!
Jeeze dude... if you dont like it, your mouse has a scroll button. Use it.
This is no better or worse than another article on Internet Radio, security holes, or a new mother board. One geeks garbage is another geeks treasure, no?
Exactly. Most YouTube videos are what... a couple of megabytes? HD Video, even compressed, is going to be a lot larger. To the point where most people are going to hit bandwidth caps fairly quickly, if they are downloading even a few movies
Positioning such a service as YouTube like is a little inane. Now, if they positioned it as a reasonable way to distribut indie films in High Def, they might find people a lot more receptive. I dont know what mastering a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD costs, but for some indie folk, it might just be too much... wheras this will let people get their films out in high quality at a reasonably low (well, free) cost.
For the non engineers like me... what does this mean in practical usage?
Does it allow smaller particles to store a 0/1 charge, meaning much higher densities for hard drives? Is it cheaper to manufacture? More durable?
Being a notebook user, I'd love to see densities go way up so I can pack a lot more around with me.
Argh. Replying to an AC.
It's not a hard stat to understand. Take the number of minutes since the release of the GBA SP, divide it by the number sold.
Voila. 1 every 10 minutes. Sheesh, it's not rocket science.
Exactly!
I havent dived in 13 years, and when I was last active Dive computers were just coming into vogue for the well heeled diver. But it was drummed into us over and over again that computers can fail or give inaccurate results. So always plan using a table and stick to it.
A computer might be a nice accesory, but if your life can count on precision, double check everything with a table!
Now that's much more reasonable. The first post seemed to me to be stating it as a fact that there was willful negligence. The if in your conclusion makes it much more palatable.
IF those in charge commited willfully negligent acts in the days before the Columbia de-orbit, then there should be harsh consequences.
Thats just brilliant!
You are making the assumption that NASA knew the shuttle was going to suffer a catastrophic failure on re-entry. Other than some speculation by some NASA engineers, I havent seen any definitive proof that NASA was negligent.
Space travel is dangerous and accidents happen. I am not saying that should exclude people from taking responsibility, but it also means that we cant suggest letting people take baseball bats to men and women who lost their friends in an accident because we assume they played fast and loose with facts.
There are inconsiderate jerks in every crowd. They will be inconsiderate jerks whether they have a cell phone or not. When I walk into a theater, my phone goes on vibe if my son may need to call me, and off otherwise. And if a theater owner is worried about jerks with cell phones and pagers not respecting others, there is a handy little device called a cell-jammer that pretty much nullifies reception in the small area of the theater. They work wonderfully and arent that expensive.
Any technology will be open to certain abuses, and there will always be jerks to abuse them. that doesnt mke a technology bad as such.
Amen, Brother!
I used some compressed air the other night to blow dust out of my HSF and GFX coolers. On a whim, I hit the keyboard with a blast and was shocked at the crud that came out. So I took the thing apart. You wouldnt BELIEVE the crud and dust bunnies that I ended up scraping out of there! But its shiny clean now!
My dumbest hardware mistake was popping a stick of DDR RAM in backwards. Didnt see the larger memory size on post, smelled somthing funny and hit the power button in a panic. RAM was hot (I have no idea how I actually got it in backwards!) but I turned it around and everything booted fine. Much relieve ensued.
does it say US only?
I read the damn page three times and didnt see it list US only anywhere. Frankly, that would just suck, because I am in Canada and want to apply. And previous beta applications have included Canada. I was lucky enough to do Diablo II and Diablo II Expansion betas. Lots of fun! Hopefully my eyesight isnt completely failing and I'll get to apply for this one.
There is one title that completely nullifies your opinion of UBI...
IL-2 Sturmovik.
One of the best flight sims ever, but largely ignored because it deals with the eastern front. Hopefully the stand alone 'expansion' Forgotten Battles rectifies this by adding the American aircraft to the mix. Its one of the best flight sims I've ever played, and kicks Combat Flight Simulator 3 all over the skies!
You are totally missing the point.
Sure, you can do whatever you want now that you did pre-patriot. But once you start allowing your government to errode your freedoms, you are going to run into problems. What if Partiot Act V includes restrictions on computers that are on non trusted platforms. Suddenly you become a 'terrorist' if you dont want to play nice with Microsofts latest behemoth of an operating system. But because you didnt stand up for your rights and your freedoms back when they werent taking away anything that affected you directly, there is no one left to stand up and say 'Wait, this is wrong'
There is a famous saying that goes:
'In Germany, they first came for the communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics. I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak up.'
I am not trying to compare the USA to Nazi Germany, in spite of the current administrations seeming desire to take away some of the fundamental rights that are entrenched in your legal system. I am just saying that if one keeps their head in the sand, you'll never see the lion sneaking up to bite your backside.
So basically this is an IRC interface masquerading as pixelated, ugly, early 90's looking (by modern standards..those games were very cool 'in the day!') Sierra Game?
While walking around as Roger Wilco or Leisure Suit Larry seems kind of cool, and you can travel the various locales and talk to other people, you cant actually play through the stories.
So whats the point...other than a chat room you can talk to other old timers who remembers when it was cool to play the game when it came out?
Actually they filmed two and three together, and they will both release this year. My bet is that they are already 'in the can' and ready for release other than minor tweaks.
Hum. When I went to the site, THIS popped up...
NOTICE TO USER: BY METABOLIZING YOU ACCEPT ALL THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, USE OF YOUR HOME AND CAR BY THE AUTHORS OF THIS AGREEMENT.
This Website End User License Agreement accompanies the Web Pages and related explanatory materials ("Crap"). The term "Crap" also shall include any upgrades, modified versions, or repaintings of the Website licensed to you by either The Prince of Wales, a sentient washing machine, or my old Rabbi (the one who used profanity). Please read this Agreement carefully. At the end, you will be asked to accept this agreement and provide this Website with a warm, lingering, creepy hug. If you do not wish to accept this Agreement, simply click the "I do not accept" button while forcefully shoving your computer off the back of your desk ("Card Table").
Upon your acceptance of this Agreement, this Website grants to you a nonexclusive license to use this Website or your own Shoes ("The Dressy Ones"), provided that you agree to the following:
1. Use of the Website.
1.1 You may use this Website on a hard disk or other storage device. On a scrap of drywall with a Sharpie, install and use the Website on a file server or a tomato server for use on a network or a VHS copy of the motion picture "Network" or for the purposes of (i) permanent installation onto the small of your back at the base of your spine via a tattoo or other storage devices or (ii) for providing the illusion of working while at work (using the following methods of deception: looking intently at the screen, moving the mouse, and typing decisively on the keyboard); and make backup copies of the Website for later printing and spreading out in an alley to make a nice bed.
1.2 You may make and distribute unlimited copies of the Website, including copies for commercial distribution, as long as each copy that you make and distribute contains this Agreement and is created in one of the following media: carved out of ice, as in an ice sculpture centerpiece; smeared in mustard on the side of a white or off-white panel van; or taught to a parrot who is then condemned to fly the earth for eternity, incessantly repeating the mantra of this Website.
2. Copyright and Trademark Rights. The Website is owned by its authors ("the Elks Clubs of America") and its suppliers. Its structure, organization, and code are the valuable trade secrets of the Freemasons, probably. The Website is also protected by United States Copyright Law and a group of big, scary goons who will happily beat you until you're ejecting teeth like a winning slot machine. Use of any trademark does not give you any rights of ownership in that trademark, jackass. Except as stated above, this Agreement does not grant you any intellectual property rights in the Website. Got it, fucko?
3. Restrictions. You agree not to modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or otherwise attempt to discover the inner motivations, dreams, aspirations, or weird, possibly sexual fantasies of the Website.
4. No Warranty. The Website is being delivered to you AS IS and we make no warranty as to its use or performance. WE DO NOT AND CANNOT WARRANT THE PERFORMANCE OR RESULTS YOU MAY OBTAIN BY USING THE WEBSITE. LOOK, WHEN THIS WEBSITE GOES ALL CRAZY AND DESTROYS YOUR COMPUTER, KILLS YOUR PET, SLEEPS WITH YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER, DIGS UP ALL YOUR OLD POETRY AND LAUGHS AND LAUGHS, THEN CALLS UP YOUR FRIENDS AND READS THEM ALL THOSE REALLY EMBARRASING PARTS OUT OF YOUR JOURNAL, LIKE WHEN YOU SAID YOU WERE "DESTINED FOR BEAUTY" OR SOME SHIT LIKE THAT, WE MAKE NO GUARANTEES AND WILL SIMPLY JOIN WITH EVERYONE AND LAUGH AT YOUR SORRY ASS, BECAUSE DAMN, THERE'S NO FREAKING WARRANTY HERE. GET IT? NO WARRANTY. NONE. AT ALL.
6. Notice to Government End Users. The Software and Documentation are "Real Bitchin'," as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R. 2.101, consisting of "Real Bitchin' (formerly 'Radical' items)" and as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. 12.212 or 48 C.F.R. 227.7202, as applicable. Or maybe 56 C.Fsomething something. 7. Oh, and these things, too: . Consistent with 48 C.F.R. 12.212 or 48 C.F.R. 227.7202-1 through 227.7202-4, as applicable, as well as R2-D2 and JOHNNY 5, locked in a beautiful metallic embrace of everlasting robot love.
PLEASE INDICATE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OR DECLINE OF THE FOREGOING AGREEMENT BY CLICKING ON THE APPROPRIATE BUTTON BELOW
Isnt this Yew-la thing bad?
Actually, he charged 4 dollars for packing as well. And it was basically just dropped into a standard cardboard box and taped shut. It wasnt fragile, but there was NO internal packing.
It was a 'buy me now' auction. I asked him for a shipping quote, he provided said 18 dollar quote. Thus my anger. If it said 'Buyer pays 18 dollars S+H' then I would hardly be upset when it only cost 8.
Contrast that with the most recent auction item, the buyer ended up shipping late due to his own error, and so he ate almost ten dollars in shipping the item to me via overnight. I guess for every shady sort out there, there is someone with respectability.
I totally agree. I wasnt upset at the shipping cost. However, he claimed to have actually had the package weighed and metered before shipping. So when it arried at 10 dollars less than his supposed quote from the shipper, that is when I got steamed.
In the end though I just didnt leave any feedback. He was upset that it took so long to get payment and I was upset that he gouged me. In the end it's easier just not to bid and buy from that person again, no?
Actually, it said 'Buyer to pay 8 dollars S+H in continental US'.
I however am in Canada.
So he purportedly took it in, had it weighed and quoted on shipping, and told me the shipping would be 18 dollars, before he shipped it. So yes, he cheated me.
When it clearly states in the feedback section that you should talk to the other party BEFORE posting negative feedback to try to resolve complaints... I am amazed that people dont do so.
Out of 20 or so auctions I've won on eBay, only once have I wanted to leave negative feedback. A guy quoted shipping of 18 dollars US, and in the end, the USPS shipping he used was only 8. I felt sort of angry that he'd ripped me for 10 dollars but in the end we just agred NOT to leave feedback for the auction, as the draft I sent him was (according to him) 'uncashable' and he ended up waiting an extra week for a different pay type to show up.
Moral of the story is that if you have a negative experience, and don't get any satisfaction from the person, leave negative feedback as a last resort. Otherwise, just never ever deal with that person again. It's pretty easy.
As for this moron and his suit, exactly how much libel can be fit into 80 characters? And how bad could it really be? I mean... come on! Man, I am glad I live in a country where spurious litigation is thrown out so fast it would make this blood sucking parasite's head spin! Maybe there would be less of these sort of nuisance lawsuits if, when it is thrown out, the plaintiff is made to wrestle an aligator...
Actually, you are wrong.
The DVD itself has no direct coding in NTSC or PAL. A Region 1 DVD and a Region 2 DVD are identical, save for the region code. It is the PLAYER that controls the output. Thus, if you have an NTSC region free DVD player hooked to an NTSC television and you stick a Region 2 DVD into it, it will display perfectly.