I'll be the first to admit it, Freenet rocks. But Ian Clarke, when he's not busy letting us swap mp3's without worry of RIAA persecution, is not jesus. He's a flawed, perhaps very flawed, human being, and the way this whole thread has been spent lauding him has left me a bit nauseated.
Let's give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that his business ventures like Uprizer are in the black, and that he's not just run out of money.
That doesn't make him any less of an abusive, manipulative jerk. (Sorry for the Geocities URL, if anyone reads this instead of modding it troll maybe I can find a decent mirror somewhere)
So thanks for Freenet, Ian, it's a great tool. It's just a pity that you're one, too.
That's only true if those terms and conditions don't violate existing law. My landlord can't, for example, enforce a clause in the lease saying that part of my deposit is automatically forfeit for carpet cleaning when I move out, even if the carpet is spotless.
She can TRY if she wants, and the clause can be there, but it's an illegal clause and thus is unenforcable, and I can take her to court in this state and get my money back.
There are some rights one cannot sign away, no matter what the TOS might say. The question here really is whether right of first sale is one of them.
890,000 valid signatures (they actually collected, by some accounts, 1.6 million) is peanuts in a state of 33 million people. Only 2.6% of the entire population of the state had to sign in order to get the recall on the ballot. Spend enough time in the Republican strongholds of the central valley or Orange County, and you'll find those signatures no problem.
Darrell Issa, a hard-right Republican, spent nearly $1.8 million of his own money to hire people, perhaps illegally, to come in from out of state and collect signatures. Spend enough money and ask enough times outside of a supermarket and people will sign just about anything.
Your power bill was FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS last month because power companies asked Californians to de-regulate the market, got voter momentum by promising lower electricity bills in expensive slick commercials, and then abused the open market and illegally gouged prices high. Once that was done, they offered 'cut-rate' prices on long-term contracts, in order to lock in the high prices they wanted before they were caught manipulating the market. Once they had their high prices locked in, they let the market churn subside. Davis made the correct decision, and the right decision, even the smart decision, in signing those contracts, based on the information available to the general public in 2001. That as consumers most Californians were robbed by these contracts is knowledge only available now, in hindsight.*
Where you're right, and don't even know it, is when you say voter disgust with Davis is what paved the way to this recall tomfoolery. Given the choice between Bill "Tax Fraud" Simon and Gray "Prison Guard Union Bitch" Davis, most voters chose to give a de facto 'none of the above' vote and just stayed home last November. These incredibly low turnout figures influenced how many signatures were necessary to get the recall on the ballot, and in the end paved the way for what we see now.
Also as an aside: I think it's BRILLIANT the way the Republican party of CA. has found a way to attack Davis for the budget shortfall, when at the same time holding fast in the legislature against any tax increases in the senate, leading to the pathetic budget we currently have. Absolute genius in the way they managed to eat their cake and have it, too.
And finally: If Georgy would come out pro-gun, she'd be my ideal candidate. As it is, I'll take what she's offering. Definitely the choice my conscience will tell me to vote in October.
* I say "most" because, like a few other municipalities, the town in which I live chose to maintain its own municipal power authority instead of trusting PG&E, so while you're paying $400, I'm paying $65. Thank you, bitch. Suck it dry!
890,000 valid signatures (they actually collected, by some accounts, 1.6 million) is peanuts in a state of 33 million people. Only 2.6% of the entire population of the state had to sign in order to get the recall on the ballot. Spend enough time in the Republican strongholds of the central valley or Orange County, and you'll find those signatures no problem.
Darrell Issa, a hard-right Republican, spent nearly $1.8 million of his own money to hire people, perhaps illegally, to come in from out of state and collect signatures. Spend enough money and ask enough times outside of a supermarket and people will sign just about anything.
Your power bill was FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS last month because power companies asked Californians to de-regulate the market, got voter momentum by promising lower electricity bills in expensive slick commercials, and then abused the open market and illegally gouged prices high. Once that was done, they offered 'cut-rate' prices on long-term contracts, in order to lock in the high prices they wanted before they were caught manipulating the market. Once they had their high prices locked in, they let the market churn subside. Davis made the correct decision, and the right decision, even the smart decision, in signing those contracts, based on the information available to the general public in 2001. That as consumers most Californians were robbed by these contracts is knowledge only available now, in hindsight.*
Where you're right, and don't even know it, is when you say voter disgust with Davis is what paved the way to this recall tomfoolery. Given the choice between Bill "Tax Fraud" Simon and Gray "Prison Guard Union Bitch" Davis, most voters chose to give a de facto 'none of the above' vote and just stayed home last November. These incredibly low turnout figures influenced how many signatures were necessary to get the recall on the ballot, and in the end paved the way for what we see now.
Also as an aside: I think it's BRILLIANT the way the Republican party of CA. has found a way to attack Davis for the budget shortfall, when at the same time holding fast in the legislature against any tax increases in the senate, leading to the pathetic budget we currently have. Absolute genius in the way they managed to eat their cake and have it, too.
And finally: If Georgy would come out pro-gun, she'd be my ideal candidate. As it is, I'll take what she's offering. Definitely the choice my conscience will tell me to vote in October.
* I say "most" because, like a few other municipalities, the town in which I live chose to maintain its own municipal power authority instead of trusting PG&E, so while you're paying $400, I'm paying $65. Thank you, bitch. Suck it dry!
I used to drink about 4 cans of soda and a pot of coffee every day. Cup of coffee and two cigarettes were my breakfast. Caffiene was my lifeblood, but when I decided to quit smoking, I decided that I would be no chemical's bitch. Further, in a fit of masochism, I decided I would get the asshole out of my system all at once, so on the same day, caffiene & nicotine left my life and withdrawal entered it.
I was expecting that getting rid of cigarettes would make me feel better, and it did. My heart stopped pounding, my sense of smell returned, my lung capacity increased, all the things I was led to believe.
What I was not expecting was that quitting caffiene made me feel even better.
I slept better, I woke up with more energy and felt more lively throughout my day. I quit having headaches on the weekends when I decide to sleep late. I found that a 15-minute cat-nap at around five o'clock would let me stay up until two in the morning without any serious repercussions.
In short, in the eighteen months since I gave it up, I have never once considered going back. Giving up caffiene is maybe the best health decision I have ever made.
But, I still love the taste of coffee. I spent years acquiring the taste, and I didn't give up that taste just because I gave up caffiene. Decaf fits my needs. It's got less caffiene than a chocolate bar, and still tastes like coffee. I can get my unleaded and drink it, too.
Now, if they could make caffiene-free coke not suck, I'd be in business.
Living without caffiene is a bit like having TiVO. You have to stop yourself from evangelizing to the people around you constantly, lest you alienate everyone by not shutting up about how great it is.
Before Yet Another Moron gets on here and starts ranting about how it works for the movies, why not for the games, won't someone PLEASE think of the children:
The MPAA ratings are voluntary and are not enforced under penalty of law. There is nothing about them at all that is legally binding. The only pressure theater operators face to enforce them is economic, not criminal.
This is arguably what makes them constitutional, where this law is not.
IANAL etc.
There's a flash viewer in java. Use that. Every time I see another niche whiner complain about language_x not being ported to his.00001% of the market on this website, it makes me wanna kick some ass.
Further, this is the world of open source, pal. You want flash on PPC Linux? Get cracking.
Just FYI, these are bootlegs made from the laserdisc editions and the existing Japanese DVD's. None of the money went back to the creators of the films, and in addition, the video is rife with edge enhancement, block crawl, and other artifacts.
I'm impatient for a legit release, but until then, these bootleg copies of Laputa and Totoro will have to do.
The Alameda County Computer Resource Center in Oakland doesn't just recycle old computers (and none of that China dumping shit either), but provides hardware to many organizations and individuals who otherwise would go without.
If you're local, they're definitely worth your time, your old hardware, and your money.
What's messed up here is the fact that an edited, taped deposition is used in lieu of live testimony from a man who has flown thousands of miles to be present for the hearing in the first place, thus making cross examination at the time of the testimony impossible. Timely cross is very important in order to lessen the impact of the prosecutor's questions. Elcomsoft was effectively denied the right to confront its accusers in open court by this method.
The defense attorney DID call Sklyarov to the stand. Further, since Dmitri wasn't a co-defendent in the case, he could have testified without a worry against his employer, especially since the government had already agreed not to prosecute him in exchange for his testimony.
You're missing quite a lot, read the article next time before you post. What the prosecution did is dirty pool, a constitutional sidestep, and I don't like it. I expect higher ethical standards from my government.
(*Yes, I know, FUD, and uninformed opinions from people who didn't read the article. It's just par for the course around here)
Firefly's ratings for Friday Dec. 6 came in and were worse than the show's average. Unless they get a larger share soon, it's probably going to get the can in the near future.
Say what you want about the start of the program, but this is seriously one of the highest quality shows put on broadcast TV in years. Last night had torture, severed body parts, some amazingly good masturbation jokes, execution-style murder, eastern philosophy, an assault on a space station, marital conflict, an role for each member of the ensemble cast that still managed to define and grow each character, and (at least last night) a hot lesbian sex scene.
Also a badass schizophrenic psychic chick who was able to put down 3 commandos with 3 shots, while her eyes are shut.
I know I'm raving here, but I need to go one further. The show revels in setting up situations like the ones you've seen in every other television show, and then cutting the moment off at the knees.
For example: Force a woman to choose between her husband and her best friend that she's known longer and trusts more. The one left behind will be tortured to death. They've spent the whole first 20+ minutes of the episode setting up this conflict and they're due for a commercial any time now, so it's no surprise when the following exchange begins:
Villain: "I think you can have just one. Which wou-" Character: "HIM!" (points at husband) "You _were_ going to ask me to choose, right?"
The villain looks like someone just took his favorite toy away.
Farscape may be gone, but given a chance Firefly can become just as important to the sci-fi pantheon. There's 2 episodes with definite airdates left, one of which is the (reportedly not very good) unaired pilot episode.
Give it a watch during December and you'll be doing yourself a favor.
I was in the rare position of hitting the site in a 1st-post capacity, so I decided I'd only read the headline and post something moronic but in-line with the/. article and at the same time say absolutely nothing of any worth. The point of the exercise was to see if the seals would clap loudly for any old drivel.
Says something about the/. community that I'm at +4 (at the time of this writing) instead of modded into oblivion, and you're not at +5 like you should be. Your post is interesting, insightful, and informative, and mine's just parroting back bullshit.
FreeBSD says this when I try to make PINE from ports:
SECURITY NOTE: The pine software has had several remote vulnerabilities discovered in the past, which allowed remote attackers to execute arbitrary code as you on your local system, by the action of sending a specially-prepared email. All such KNOWN problems have been fixed, but the pine code is written in a very insecure style and the FreeBSD Security Officer believes there are likely to be other undiscovered vulnerabilities. Do you wish to proceed with the installation of pine anyway?
Does the new version address any of the issues that lead to this message appearing?
Re:Oh, the fees you'll pay!
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Add-Ons Add Up
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· Score: 2
(And if you think its not your own money, the employer pays for it, you might be a liberal. This is an absurd distinction- every employer counts all these taxes in the total cost of employing you and so you must be worth more than that to the employer for them to hire you-- that is you have to earn all the money, plus their profit, to make it worth while to hire you. If they didn't have to pay so many fees, you would get more cash, because you'd still earn the same amount of profit for them that you do now.)
You're delusional. Fact is that any employer would just take that theoretical difference and pocket it, leaving you with the same salary as before, only without unemployment insurance or workman's comp to cover you when the shit hits the fan. You'd be left buying your own insurance on the same salary, facing the choice between losing a significant chunk of your income or doing without insurance for inevitable hard times. In fact, I could see companies viewing employees who buy workman's comp. or unemployment insurance as disloyal, since they wouldn't trust their employer to take care of them.
The government may be inefficient, and it may be corrupt, but in the end it pays out reliably and consistently. That's more than any for-profit venture would do if given the chance to take over the potential market for either insurance.
Even if you only make $36k a year- the average salary- you're paying half your income in taxes- and that's just direct. The things you buy, would be %30 or more cheaper if there wasn't a federal income tax, etc. (And the value of the services you get from the government? Less than %10 of what you pay in taxes-- thats how much you're being ripped off.)
AS they say, if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
The outrage oneshouldfeel is that while the average American citizen gets only a 10% return on the near 50% of our income we pay into the system, the wealthiestmembers of our society see massive returns on the relatively tiny share of their money that they pay into the system. Corporate welfare kickbacks, polluter's tax credits, offshore shelters, and all the other tricks in the book used to stimulate the economy through trickle-down voodoo economics mean that those lowest on the social totem pole see the lowest return on their buck, while the CEO's of the world see a heavy return on their taxes.
Signup: The first time you put a live DVD in your system, it installs some new OS-level software to allow you to connect to the service. Then comes the tedious process of entering name, address, credit card #, and other vitals through an onscreen keyboard. Surfing around the buttons grows tedious quickly, and this process can take as long as 10 minutes. While others have reported issues with gateway routers and debit cards, I had no problem connecting through my Watchguard SOHO/tc NAT box, or using my visa check card.
Downloadable Content: All the online games I've played so far have been able to check for downloadable content. Microsoft has the option of charging for the download, which could lead to some serious imbalances in play (either pay $10 for the super ultra rocket launcher, or get your ass handed to you in deathmatch from now on) later. According to the buzz on the street, the first year or so of downloadable content should be free, but after that Microsoft plans to start introducing fees for certain downloads.
Mod-chip lockout: Users of modchips are indeed locked out of using the live service, and for that, I'm very grateful, although this sentiment will probably get me modded down. Mod chips let people run tweaked, unsigned code. This opens the door for cheaters. If anyone remembers dreamcast PSO, you'll know how bad cheaters can ruin a game. The closed system MS has precludes any cheating except for exploits that may already be in the game, and I'm just fine with that.
Hardware: The package ships with a CD of game demos and a headset. The headset is obviously designed without those who wear glasses in mind, and is a behind-the-head band on which a microphone mono speaker can be hung for either ear. This plugs into a module that plugs in turn into the top memory card slot on the controller. The module has a volume slider and a mute button. Fortunately, the jack on the headset is compatible with standard cell-phone handsfree kits, and I was able to plug one in as a replacement for the headset without any trouble. Voices are crisp and clear, and others seem to hear the smack I talk just fine.
Games: The pack-in demos are Whacked and MotoGP. I'm confused by Microsoft's blind insistence on ignoring their killer app. Halo for this release. Are they worried about being flooded by their own success?
Whatever the reason, the demos are a mixed bag. MotoGP is unquestionably the best motorcycle racing game ever made, with seperate analog controls for acceleration, steering, and seperate analog front & rear brake controls. It's visually stunning and the game runs 16-player races without lag, letting you verbally communicate with the 3 players closest to your position.
It's also motorcycle racing, which is as interesting to me as watching paint dry. YMMV. Those who enjoy the game and also own the full version can unlock all the tracks and custom riders for online play.
Whacked is garbage. Silly "sick and twisted" cartoon characters with big cheap weapons collect stars and smash each other. You can talk smack with the whole arena, but it doesn't hold my interest in the slightest.
Better are the release games for the service. Unreal Championship is a faithful and beautiful reproduction of much of UT2k3's features, tweaked out for the system. Multiple voice channels for each team (there are also neutral channels for fraternizing with the enemy) let you form squads while you're playing, and bombing run, ctf, double-dom, deathmatch, and team dm are all present and accounted for. The resolution is low but the anti-aliasing is high, and the game runs at a constant speed. An interesting note is the ability to run your xbox with UC as a dedicated server should you so desire.
MechAssault is a fun, but unbalanced, deathmatch game. Giant stompy robots blowing each other up is what you get, exactly as promised. The battletech faithful will be put off by the lack of location-specific damage (no more blowing off legs and quick headshot victories), but the resulting action game is fun and the battles can get hectic, with exploding players chain-reacting others into a giant fireball o' doom.
Community: The community features are, overall, wonderful. Buddylisting a player is as easy as hitting pause and selecting his name from a menu. It's possible to send a game request to a player who's not even playing the same title you are. A popup appears on the screen, and if the player accepts, then all he has to do is put in the appropriate game disc, and he'll be joined to your game automatically.
Also interesting are the systemwide rankings for each game. Stats are tracked for all players on all games, and you can see your rank against the systemwide leaderboard from the main menu of most games any time you'd like.
MotoGP is the best at community, with pre- and post-game lobbies, and a dropdown on the HUD that appears to tell you who's currently talking. MechAssault, on the other hand, really drops the ball, with no post-game lobby, making starting a new game with the same players as the last difficult, if not impossible. Instead, players are dumped back to the main multiplayer menu, and have to rejoin a new server. Hopefully all future releases will follow MotoGP's lead, and the kinks in the launch games will be patched over by downloads.
Misc: It's interesting to note MS is already patching titles. There was a bug in Sega's NFL2k3 that allowed someone who was losing the game to pause it indefinitely, and then wait out their would-be victor, since quitting is counted on the ranking boards as a loss. The game has since been patched to include a 90-second pause timeout, at which point the pausing player is automatically dumped from the game and takes the loss on HIS record.
Overall: Not without its flaws, but the overall concepts and workflow are marvelous, and the game play is fast and lag-free. I'm very happy with the service, and will gladly pay $50 a year for it when it comes time to pay up again. I'm a little wary of for-pay downloadable content, and the online features need to be standardized across games. There's a lot of A-list titles in the lineup, but none that break away from the pack and appear as a killer app. Halo 2 will probably sell a lot of kits, but as it stands it'll probably only appeal to the hardcore, and current X-Box owners.
1) That's not a review, it's preview, and it's pretty much copy & pasted directly from the ad copy. Much better previews are available from IGN and Gamespot. Frankly, the lack of advance press on this game has me a bit worried, since it's due in stores in under a week and nobody's even reviewed an advance copy yet.
2) The XBox has 64 megs of memory, shared with video, if I understand it correctly. That means that for the resolution to climb to the 19xx x 1080 resolution the game will run at, texture quality, an extra texture pass o' bumpmaps, or some other graphical goodie had to give. Take this tradeoff as you will. I'll be glad to have something that shows off my HDTV, personally (don't even have a digital tuner yet, and while THPS4's 720p support is nice, this will smoke it), but I can see wanting another coat o' shine on the texture work as well.
Also, what will the effect on framerate be?
I suggest we all reserve judgement until it has enough review scores to appear on gamerankings.
Slashdot Mirror
I'll be the first to admit it, Freenet rocks. But Ian Clarke, when he's not busy letting us swap mp3's without worry of RIAA persecution, is not jesus. He's a flawed, perhaps very flawed, human being, and the way this whole thread has been spent lauding him has left me a bit nauseated.
Let's give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that his business ventures like Uprizer are in the black, and that he's not just run out of money.
That doesn't make him any less of an abusive, manipulative jerk. (Sorry for the Geocities URL, if anyone reads this instead of modding it troll maybe I can find a decent mirror somewhere)
So thanks for Freenet, Ian, it's a great tool. It's just a pity that you're one, too.
I should have mentioned in the original post, I'm in California. YMMV, IANAL, etc.
That's only true if those terms and conditions don't violate existing law. My landlord can't, for example, enforce a clause in the lease saying that part of my deposit is automatically forfeit for carpet cleaning when I move out, even if the carpet is spotless.
She can TRY if she wants, and the clause can be there, but it's an illegal clause and thus is unenforcable, and I can take her to court in this state and get my money back.
There are some rights one cannot sign away, no matter what the TOS might say. The question here really is whether right of first sale is one of them.
As I'm sure has already been pointed out to you:
Where you're right, and don't even know it, is when you say voter disgust with Davis is what paved the way to this recall tomfoolery. Given the choice between Bill "Tax Fraud" Simon and Gray "Prison Guard Union Bitch" Davis, most voters chose to give a de facto 'none of the above' vote and just stayed home last November. These incredibly low turnout figures influenced how many signatures were necessary to get the recall on the ballot, and in the end paved the way for what we see now.
Also as an aside: I think it's BRILLIANT the way the Republican party of CA. has found a way to attack Davis for the budget shortfall, when at the same time holding fast in the legislature against any tax increases in the senate, leading to the pathetic budget we currently have. Absolute genius in the way they managed to eat their cake and have it, too.
And finally: If Georgy would come out pro-gun, she'd be my ideal candidate. As it is, I'll take what she's offering. Definitely the choice my conscience will tell me to vote in October.
* I say "most" because, like a few other municipalities, the town in which I live chose to maintain its own municipal power authority instead of trusting PG&E, so while you're paying $400, I'm paying $65. Thank you, bitch. Suck it dry!
As I'm sure has already been pointed out to you:
Where you're right, and don't even know it, is when you say voter disgust with Davis is what paved the way to this recall tomfoolery. Given the choice between Bill "Tax Fraud" Simon and Gray "Prison Guard Union Bitch" Davis, most voters chose to give a de facto 'none of the above' vote and just stayed home last November. These incredibly low turnout figures influenced how many signatures were necessary to get the recall on the ballot, and in the end paved the way for what we see now.
Also as an aside: I think it's BRILLIANT the way the Republican party of CA. has found a way to attack Davis for the budget shortfall, when at the same time holding fast in the legislature against any tax increases in the senate, leading to the pathetic budget we currently have. Absolute genius in the way they managed to eat their cake and have it, too.
And finally: If Georgy would come out pro-gun, she'd be my ideal candidate. As it is, I'll take what she's offering. Definitely the choice my conscience will tell me to vote in October.
* I say "most" because, like a few other municipalities, the town in which I live chose to maintain its own municipal power authority instead of trusting PG&E, so while you're paying $400, I'm paying $65. Thank you, bitch. Suck it dry!
How the fuck did this get "insightful?" I mean, it's funny as hell, but....
preaching to the choir. However it's done, though, I can still tell the difference in a blind taste test.
True, but it also effects the flavor. Caffiene-free coke and caffienated coke do taste a bit different.
Caffiene-free coke doesn't have the same bite to offset all the sweet. I tried drinking it for a while, but it just didn't fly.
I REALLY miss coke.
I used to drink about 4 cans of soda and a pot of coffee every day. Cup of coffee and two cigarettes were my breakfast. Caffiene was my lifeblood, but when I decided to quit smoking, I decided that I would be no chemical's bitch. Further, in a fit of masochism, I decided I would get the asshole out of my system all at once, so on the same day, caffiene & nicotine left my life and withdrawal entered it.
I was expecting that getting rid of cigarettes would make me feel better, and it did. My heart stopped pounding, my sense of smell returned, my lung capacity increased, all the things I was led to believe.
What I was not expecting was that quitting caffiene made me feel even better.
I slept better, I woke up with more energy and felt more lively throughout my day. I quit having headaches on the weekends when I decide to sleep late. I found that a 15-minute cat-nap at around five o'clock would let me stay up until two in the morning without any serious repercussions.
In short, in the eighteen months since I gave it up, I have never once considered going back. Giving up caffiene is maybe the best health decision I have ever made.
But, I still love the taste of coffee. I spent years acquiring the taste, and I didn't give up that taste just because I gave up caffiene. Decaf fits my needs. It's got less caffiene than a chocolate bar, and still tastes like coffee. I can get my unleaded and drink it, too.
Now, if they could make caffiene-free coke not suck, I'd be in business.
Living without caffiene is a bit like having TiVO. You have to stop yourself from evangelizing to the people around you constantly, lest you alienate everyone by not shutting up about how great it is.
Before Yet Another Moron gets on here and starts ranting about how it works for the movies, why not for the games, won't someone PLEASE think of the children:
The MPAA ratings are voluntary and are not enforced under penalty of law. There is nothing about them at all that is legally binding. The only pressure theater operators face to enforce them is economic, not criminal. This is arguably what makes them constitutional, where this law is not. IANAL etc.
This argument is tired and sad. I really good summation of the whole situation was posted here earlier this week.
Now that you mention it, where the hell IS Katz?
We haven't seen a story posted by him since July.
Did the Katz detractors / trolls actually win?
Someone actually moderated this insightful?
.00001% of the market on this website, it makes me wanna kick some ass.
There's a flash viewer in java. Use that. Every time I see another niche whiner complain about language_x not being ported to his
Further, this is the world of open source, pal. You want flash on PPC Linux? Get cracking.
Just FYI, these are bootlegs made from the laserdisc editions and the existing Japanese DVD's. None of the money went back to the creators of the films, and in addition, the video is rife with edge enhancement, block crawl, and other artifacts.
I'm impatient for a legit release, but until then, these bootleg copies of Laputa and Totoro will have to do.
No, the Truespeed drives failed because they didn't work and a massive consumer lawsuit was filed against Kenwood for their shoddy product.
Not that I'm bitter about shelling out $120 for one or anything.
The Alameda County Computer Resource Center in Oakland doesn't just recycle old computers (and none of that China dumping shit either), but provides hardware to many organizations and individuals who otherwise would go without.
If you're local, they're definitely worth your time, your old hardware, and your money.
Read the article.
You're missing quite a lot, read the article next time before you post. What the prosecution did is dirty pool, a constitutional sidestep, and I don't like it. I expect higher ethical standards from my government. (*Yes, I know, FUD, and uninformed opinions from people who didn't read the article. It's just par for the course around here)
Does this remind anyone else of the girl behind the bushes who'd promise to show you hers if you let her see yours, but never quite followed through?
Firefly's ratings for Friday Dec. 6 came in and were worse than the show's average. Unless they get a larger share soon, it's probably going to get the can in the near future.
Say what you want about the start of the program, but this is seriously one of the highest quality shows put on broadcast TV in years. Last night had torture, severed body parts, some amazingly good masturbation jokes, execution-style murder, eastern philosophy, an assault on a space station, marital conflict, an role for each member of the ensemble cast that still managed to define and grow each character, and (at least last night) a hot lesbian sex scene.
Also a badass schizophrenic psychic chick who was able to put down 3 commandos with 3 shots, while her eyes are shut.
I know I'm raving here, but I need to go one further. The show revels in setting up situations like the ones you've seen in every other television show, and then cutting the moment off at the knees.
For example: Force a woman to choose between her husband and her best friend that she's known longer and trusts more. The one left behind will be tortured to death. They've spent the whole first 20+ minutes of the episode setting up this conflict and they're due for a commercial any time now, so it's no surprise when the following exchange begins:
Villain: "I think you can have just one. Which wou-"
Character: "HIM!" (points at husband) "You _were_ going to ask me to choose, right?"
The villain looks like someone just took his favorite toy away.
Farscape may be gone, but given a chance Firefly can become just as important to the sci-fi pantheon. There's 2 episodes with definite airdates left, one of which is the (reportedly not very good) unaired pilot episode.
Give it a watch during December and you'll be doing yourself a favor.
Thanks.
/. article and at the same time say absolutely nothing of any worth. The point of the exercise was to see if the seals would clap loudly for any old drivel.
/. community that I'm at +4 (at the time of this writing) instead of modded into oblivion, and you're not at +5 like you should be. Your post is interesting, insightful, and informative, and mine's just parroting back bullshit.
I was in the rare position of hitting the site in a 1st-post capacity, so I decided I'd only read the headline and post something moronic but in-line with the
Says something about the
I couldn't be happier to hear this. Congratulations to Pavlovich and his legal team.
This is another important step on the long road to overturning the DMCA.
SECURITY NOTE: The pine software has had several remote vulnerabilities discovered in the past, which allowed remote attackers to execute arbitrary code as you on your local system, by the action of sending a specially-prepared email. All such KNOWN problems have been fixed, but the pine code is written in a very insecure style and the FreeBSD Security Officer believes there are likely to be other undiscovered vulnerabilities. Do you wish to proceed with the installation of pine anyway?
Does the new version address any of the issues that lead to this message appearing?
You're delusional. Fact is that any employer would just take that theoretical difference and pocket it, leaving you with the same salary as before, only without unemployment insurance or workman's comp to cover you when the shit hits the fan. You'd be left buying your own insurance on the same salary, facing the choice between losing a significant chunk of your income or doing without insurance for inevitable hard times. In fact, I could see companies viewing employees who buy workman's comp. or unemployment insurance as disloyal, since they wouldn't trust their employer to take care of them.
The government may be inefficient, and it may be corrupt, but in the end it pays out reliably and consistently. That's more than any for-profit venture would do if given the chance to take over the potential market for either insurance.
Even if you only make $36k a year- the average salary- you're paying half your income in taxes- and that's just direct. The things you buy, would be %30 or more cheaper if there wasn't a federal income tax, etc. (And the value of the services you get from the government? Less than %10 of what you pay in taxes-- thats how much you're being ripped off.)
AS they say, if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
The outrage one should feel is that while the average American citizen gets only a 10% return on the near 50% of our income we pay into the system, the wealthiest members of our society see massive returns on the relatively tiny share of their money that they pay into the system. Corporate welfare kickbacks, polluter's tax credits, offshore shelters, and all the other tricks in the book used to stimulate the economy through trickle-down voodoo economics mean that those lowest on the social totem pole see the lowest return on their buck, while the CEO's of the world see a heavy return on their taxes.
Mini-review:
THE SERVICE:
Signup: The first time you put a live DVD in your system, it installs some new OS-level software to allow you to connect to the service. Then comes the tedious process of entering name, address, credit card #, and other vitals through an onscreen keyboard. Surfing around the buttons grows tedious quickly, and this process can take as long as 10 minutes. While others have reported issues with gateway routers and debit cards, I had no problem connecting through my Watchguard SOHO/tc NAT box, or using my visa check card.
Downloadable Content: All the online games I've played so far have been able to check for downloadable content. Microsoft has the option of charging for the download, which could lead to some serious imbalances in play (either pay $10 for the super ultra rocket launcher, or get your ass handed to you in deathmatch from now on) later. According to the buzz on the street, the first year or so of downloadable content should be free, but after that Microsoft plans to start introducing fees for certain downloads.
Mod-chip lockout: Users of modchips are indeed locked out of using the live service, and for that, I'm very grateful, although this sentiment will probably get me modded down. Mod chips let people run tweaked, unsigned code. This opens the door for cheaters. If anyone remembers dreamcast PSO, you'll know how bad cheaters can ruin a game. The closed system MS has precludes any cheating except for exploits that may already be in the game, and I'm just fine with that.
Hardware: The package ships with a CD of game demos and a headset. The headset is obviously designed without those who wear glasses in mind, and is a behind-the-head band on which a microphone mono speaker can be hung for either ear. This plugs into a module that plugs in turn into the top memory card slot on the controller. The module has a volume slider and a mute button. Fortunately, the jack on the headset is compatible with standard cell-phone handsfree kits, and I was able to plug one in as a replacement for the headset without any trouble. Voices are crisp and clear, and others seem to hear the smack I talk just fine.
Games: The pack-in demos are Whacked and MotoGP. I'm confused by Microsoft's blind insistence on ignoring their killer app. Halo for this release. Are they worried about being flooded by their own success?
Whatever the reason, the demos are a mixed bag. MotoGP is unquestionably the best motorcycle racing game ever made, with seperate analog controls for acceleration, steering, and seperate analog front & rear brake controls. It's visually stunning and the game runs 16-player races without lag, letting you verbally communicate with the 3 players closest to your position.
It's also motorcycle racing, which is as interesting to me as watching paint dry. YMMV. Those who enjoy the game and also own the full version can unlock all the tracks and custom riders for online play.
Whacked is garbage. Silly "sick and twisted" cartoon characters with big cheap weapons collect stars and smash each other. You can talk smack with the whole arena, but it doesn't hold my interest in the slightest.
Better are the release games for the service. Unreal Championship is a faithful and beautiful reproduction of much of UT2k3's features, tweaked out for the system. Multiple voice channels for each team (there are also neutral channels for fraternizing with the enemy) let you form squads while you're playing, and bombing run, ctf, double-dom, deathmatch, and team dm are all present and accounted for. The resolution is low but the anti-aliasing is high, and the game runs at a constant speed. An interesting note is the ability to run your xbox with UC as a dedicated server should you so desire.
MechAssault is a fun, but unbalanced, deathmatch game. Giant stompy robots blowing each other up is what you get, exactly as promised. The battletech faithful will be put off by the lack of location-specific damage (no more blowing off legs and quick headshot victories), but the resulting action game is fun and the battles can get hectic, with exploding players chain-reacting others into a giant fireball o' doom.
Community: The community features are, overall, wonderful. Buddylisting a player is as easy as hitting pause and selecting his name from a menu. It's possible to send a game request to a player who's not even playing the same title you are. A popup appears on the screen, and if the player accepts, then all he has to do is put in the appropriate game disc, and he'll be joined to your game automatically.
Also interesting are the systemwide rankings for each game. Stats are tracked for all players on all games, and you can see your rank against the systemwide leaderboard from the main menu of most games any time you'd like.
MotoGP is the best at community, with pre- and post-game lobbies, and a dropdown on the HUD that appears to tell you who's currently talking. MechAssault, on the other hand, really drops the ball, with no post-game lobby, making starting a new game with the same players as the last difficult, if not impossible. Instead, players are dumped back to the main multiplayer menu, and have to rejoin a new server. Hopefully all future releases will follow MotoGP's lead, and the kinks in the launch games will be patched over by downloads.
Misc: It's interesting to note MS is already patching titles. There was a bug in Sega's NFL2k3 that allowed someone who was losing the game to pause it indefinitely, and then wait out their would-be victor, since quitting is counted on the ranking boards as a loss. The game has since been patched to include a 90-second pause timeout, at which point the pausing player is automatically dumped from the game and takes the loss on HIS record.
Overall: Not without its flaws, but the overall concepts and workflow are marvelous, and the game play is fast and lag-free. I'm very happy with the service, and will gladly pay $50 a year for it when it comes time to pay up again. I'm a little wary of for-pay downloadable content, and the online features need to be standardized across games. There's a lot of A-list titles in the lineup, but none that break away from the pack and appear as a killer app. Halo 2 will probably sell a lot of kits, but as it stands it'll probably only appeal to the hardcore, and current X-Box owners.
1) That's not a review, it's preview, and it's pretty much copy & pasted directly from the ad copy. Much better previews are available from IGN and Gamespot. Frankly, the lack of advance press on this game has me a bit worried, since it's due in stores in under a week and nobody's even reviewed an advance copy yet.
2) The XBox has 64 megs of memory, shared with video, if I understand it correctly. That means that for the resolution to climb to the 19xx x 1080 resolution the game will run at, texture quality, an extra texture pass o' bumpmaps, or some other graphical goodie had to give. Take this tradeoff as you will. I'll be glad to have something that shows off my HDTV, personally (don't even have a digital tuner yet, and while THPS4's 720p support is nice, this will smoke it), but I can see wanting another coat o' shine on the texture work as well.
Also, what will the effect on framerate be?
I suggest we all reserve judgement until it has enough review scores to appear on gamerankings.