...and it doesn't matter, as one poster pointed out about how his mother and grandmother bought his games prior to him getting a job.
My son got a GameCube for his birthday, bought by his mother. She also buys him games for the PC as well. She buys more games for him than I buy for myself. Aren't statistics a funny thing:^)
And just to clarify, I don't have a problem with female gamers...heck, I belong to an on-line game community that counts several amongst our number (not 40%) and they are good players (One great PvP player) and fun to play with. I'm not advocating that women should be excluded, but the original post I objected too suggested there was something wrong with ZD, or the way games are developed and marketed. The success or failure of a game determines that, and if adding more women to ZD's staff will help them succeed, then I suggest they do it.
What I object to is the call to add women for the sake of gender ratio alone.
In order to get back on-topic... I would miss ZD's trade pubs. While I don't place much faith in their PC coverage...I mean who wants an assembly line beige box from (you name the PC company here)...I do enjoy the component and gadget reviews, coverage of industry trends and the articles on web topics. I'm not sure I agree with the "game" focus suggested in the article. I think ZD would have better success with their trade pubs if they could figure out a way to be a "one-stop-IT-reference" pub for small business. I think lots of small business owners with minimal IT needs would love to have a pub they could use to address 90% of their IT needs and questions. I think this is what PC Mag has tried for the past few years, I just don't think they've succeeded.
Why? The gaming population is approx. 99.44% male. The fact is that that PC gaming (heck all gaming) is predominately an XY passtime...why do people feel the need to have a gender balance (which is actaully an imbalance in many cases) in places where none exist?
No booth babe pictures.
You can't be serious. Have you ever been to a Car or Boat show? The majority of the people that attend these events are guys! Guys hot women! Marketers want to draw attention to their male oriented products! Simple math:
A (XY product) + B (what attacts guys) = C (booth babes).
They only time an industry, institution or organization needs to hear the call "You need to hire, recruit, attract more women" is when they do not accurately reflect their audience/populous. It don't see that as an issue here.
I think ZD could save it's trade pubs...
on
Ziff Davis Teeters
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· Score: 1, Insightful
...if they came up with IT Babe of the month. Hot babe of the month...it's a proven magazine publishing strategy!
A linux solution has already been developed...
on
A Rock Moves In Space
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· Score: 1
foul-mouthed No arguement there. perverted You must be taking about Rock Hound, the Buscemi character. semi-illiterate WRONG! At least in the case of Buscemi's character who had TWO PhD's according to the movie. Let's get our facts straight here fellas!
Ruger
So has anyone called Bruce Willis yet?
on
A Rock Moves In Space
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· Score: 0, Redundant
He has experience with this sorta thing and if the Die Hard movies and Unbreakable have tough us one thing...it's that you can't kill the SOB no matter what you try. I'll bet in Aramageddon II he comes back as a ghost to help destroy another planet killer.
How the heck does a missle hit this guy? He flies fast enough to travel through time but he can't avoid or destroy a freakin' missle with his heat vision, super breath or by throwing something at it really hard???
I must confess, I've not much of a comics guy, although in my youth...talking 60's and early 70's here...I read a buttload of Spiderman, DareDevil and Incredible Hulk. I suspose I read and watched my share of Batman as well (was Adam West hillarious as Batman or what!!!).
I read all the posts about outsmarting the super dude, but I just don't buy it. When you can move as fast as he can, are as strong as he is along with all the other powers it just don't add up.
Batman vs. Superman just ain't a fight.
I could maybe buy Batman assasinating Superman, if he snuck up on him when he was on the crapper or something...ummm, Superman does crap doesn't he?
If you'll visit IBM's Security Solutions webpage you'll find tons of information in the form of white papers, webcasts, links to other security websites, etc., etc. They also offer computer based training and other resources you may be able to take advantage of at little or no cost.
I must confess that I only knew of your Xanth and Adept books prior to going to the Piers Anthony website linked here on/. I had no idea you'd written so many books (126 by my rough count). The earlist publication date I saw was 1956, which means you've been writing for approx. 45 years.
How are you able to churn out almost three books a year? When you're writing a series, how many of the books in the series do you outline prior to writing the first word of the first book? Did you have a number of books (27 & counting) planned for the Xanth series when you wrote 'A Spell for Chameleon'? Why has the Xanth series continued?
It's a very good movie. I haven't seen Minority Report yet, so I can't offer a comparison. I suspect your wife will enjoy BI, better than MR, unless of course she's a big Cruise or SciFi fan.
Just to get this thread back On Topic... The new LOTR:TT trailer would be great if I could actually see anything. The damn thing's so small you really don't see much. I'm sure I'll be able to find a downloadable copy on a Newsgroup when I get home tonight. What I don't understand is why they have to make the trailer 240x180? Would it hurt anything to make it twice as big?!?!?!
Check this BBC story out for some background on Scottish Beers. I suspect that most beer drinkers in the US have never drank one. Personally, the only scottish brew I have ever drank in McEwan. I'm a Murphy's drinker myself...a superior stout to Guinness IMO
IBM is the #4 PC maker in the world according to IDC's estimates in this article. The ThinkPad is considered the "Corp Standard" for laptop computers. They still make a line a "business" desktops...none of them are worth a crap for gaming since they have only business quality sound and video cards. Analysts have been asking the same question you asked for years and IBM continues to make and sell PCs so they can offer a "soup to nuts" IT solution for their customers.
Just so I won't get modded OT...there's no doubt IBM stop funding LINUX support for Thinkpad because it was a smart business decision. If/. took a poll of all their readers, I suspect they'd find the majority of them use windows as their desktop OS. Also, I think you'd have to agree the majority of laptop users aren't techs, they're execs or marketing or sales professional who just need their laptops to read/write email and the occasional document or simple spreadsheet. Windows and MS Office handles these tasks rather well. For Linux to become a serious consideration for IBM and other laptop makers, the linux laptop user niche will have to grow some.
...was a system they had at my local Y involving recumbent bikes. It was very similar to something like this, except the game involved four bikes networked together where you play free-for-all or teams that tried to shoot a ball into your opponents goal. The faster you pedaled, they fast your pod went. The were some controls on the handles to fire the ball. The same game also allowed you to race on a variety of courses against on another or solo for best time. It was without doubt the best exercise equipment I've ever used. The time in the bike flew by and when you played against others I found myself work much harder than I normally would've. The game their describing in the article sound a lot like "Stomp a Mole." A great game for a kid, but what about Death Rally hooked up to a bank of stationary bikes. There's no end to the games they could marry up with exercise equipment.
I used to work for a large charge card company...a card "you should never leave home [without]"...and all the card numbers were stored in a scrambled (or encrypted if you will) form. An algorithm was used to compress the card number into a shorter form than its orginal length. Our system could recompile them on the fly so personel could see the actual account numbers on screens and such. I'm not certain how this was done (not my area), but when data was pulled from our database using simple file extracts, the card numbers were unique, but didn't look anything like the real ones.
The title of your post suggests migrating your office OS to Linux, which would be very painful and might actually run some of your employees off...no kidding. If we're only talking about a new Office Suite, then I think Lotus would be your best bet. The Apps are sumilar to M$ Office, the Lotus apps can read all the existing M$ files and the learning curve for your employees would be minimal. I use Lotus apps everyday (123, Word Pro, Freelance) and prior to coming to this company had used nothing but M$ Office. I suffered a bit of a learning curve, but it didn't take long to adapt. The office app that's been the hardest to get used to is Freelance, Powerpoint is easier to use. But there's almost no difference between 123 & Excel and Word processing is word processing...right?
There are certainly some less expensive choice than Lotus, but I think you'll find it cheaper than Micro$oft. Definitely an option you should consider...IMO.
Are there plans for Soma to produce some all talk channel(s)? NPR and AM Radio are the main sources for talk radio fans, but I'd love to be able to tune into TALK on my PC. My local AM station has a variety of talk programs from your typical morning news and traffic, to sports(NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL, racin'), to Tech Talk (Mostly PCs), as well as golf and financial news and investing.
...for non-Windows systems. IBM used to offer them, but stopped because the demand was so low. It's my understanding that if you buy a Notebook with Windows, but do not accept the Windows EULA, uninstall it and install another OS, you can get your money back for the unused Windows OS. I don't know how one goes about this, but I've heard that it's possible...but may be more trouble than it's worth.
On another note, if you want to run LINUX on your notebook, IBM's the way to go. Most ThinkPads are certified for almost any release of LINUX.
...is that unlike Desktops, they are not the sum of their parts. Desktops are all about "speeds and feeds", for the most part. Processor, HDD, RAM, VidCard, etc., etc. Notebooks are more about when, where and how you use the system. Do you travel => 50% of the time on your job? Do you need a robust platform that you can take home occasionally? Do you need a compromise between power and portability? How much battery life do you need and do you need swapable components or will a built in CD ROM handle your needs. Do you work with highly sensitive information? Do you work in a wireless office? IBM's suite of Notebooks is designed with these types of user requirements in mind.
IBM's are easily differentiated by Letter designation. X's are ultra portable, T's are powerful and portable, R's are budget T's (a little heavier and not as flexible when it comes to components), and A's are powerhouses, possibly desktop replacements, that you wouldn't want to travel with on a regular basis. IBM offers features on their notebooks you can't find anywhere else:
Wireless components - Many ThinkPad notebooks come standard with integrated 802.11b wireless technology to let you interface with an existing wireless network. Since the antenna is built into the screen bezel, reception is better.
Security - Select IBM NetVista desktops and ThinkPad notebooks feature the IBM Embedded Security Subsystem, designed for use with IBM Client Security Software - two solutions that comprise the heart of the IBM Secure Client.
Awards - ThinkPad notebooks lead the pack in design and innovation.
Also, IBM has finally heard the cry of all those user who hate our highly praised TrackPoint pointing device and added a touch pad to our new models. I don't have the time to list all the design points here, but if you're looking for a state of the art Notebook, regardless of your computing needs, you can't go wrong with a ThinkPad.
...if you'll run Notepad or something in the background you can always Alt+TAB and put the game in the background. But Jeez, who has time to play games? I put in 9-10 hours days and still have to spend an hour ever night just catching up on freakin email.
...a Western with some sword fighting thrown in. Of course there's "the force" and all the mumbo jumbo pseudo-religion surrounding it...but doesn't the force seem more like a "treatment" of ESP and such, than religion? I've enjoyed all the movies (Jar Jar can be over-looked), but I don't think Lucus had a truly new or amazing vision when he wrote the first one (4th I guess). But I do think he has a wonderful sense of the visual and a gift for action based story telling.
The top 1,000 Web sites agree that everyone will switch over to a penny per page on a specific date under a unified system.
The sites need to work together. If some sites switch and others don't, you will get the same problem that happens now when a site decides to unilaterally charge for its content. If there is not a uniform and super-simple billing model (so that users get one simple, easy-to-understand bill), the thing just won't work.
This sounds like collusion to me. Afaik, only major league baseball is allow to do this due to an ancient law that they still operate under that should be repealed.
The community charters a new, non-profit corporation that will handle the flow of cash from the audience to the Web sites. This is the same sort of corporate model that today allows users to register domain names at a standard price.
That corporation will be able to charge a handling fee on the penny that each page receives. That handling fee should be capped at something like five percent.
There's no doubt that this piece of it would be fairly simple, but what about when disputes occur. Also, since the web is the most international, unregulated medium in the world, who's going to police & enforce it. In the US we have laws like the Fair Credit Billing Act, Fair Debt Collections Act and many other law to protect consumers. I think it would be a virtual (no pun intended) impossibility to ever regulate the web.
Either that corporation handles billing, or billing flows through the customer's ISP, with the ISPs keeping a small handling fee to handle their costs.
Personally, I can't imagine an ISP wanting this responsibility. Do you have any idea what kind of system and infrastructure are necessary to handle fund dispersal such as these? Take a look at any of you major credit card company and you'll get an idea of the size and score of the organization required to handle such a task.
Could this work? Maybe. Do I think I'll ever see it? Nope. If a website owner needs to make money in order to run their site, then they need to do the same thing that every small business man does. Offer a product or service that's in demand. Manage cost. Attract and retain customers and get the hell outta that business if they can't make a go of it! I think the more likely answer to the web commerce issue is subscriptions. A number of site already have them and they are work...Consumer Reports and the WSJ come to mind. Paying websites per visit would be like a store charging you to walk in the door. You should feel lucky if I walk in the door of your store because that's your opportunity. If you fail to get me to buy something while I'm there it's your problem, not mine.
Ruger
Slashdot Mirror
...and it doesn't matter, as one poster pointed out about how his mother and grandmother bought his games prior to him getting a job.
:^)
...I do enjoy the component and gadget reviews, coverage of industry trends and the articles on web topics. I'm not sure I agree with the "game" focus suggested in the article. I think ZD would have better success with their trade pubs if they could figure out a way to be a "one-stop-IT-reference" pub for small business. I think lots of small business owners with minimal IT needs would love to have a pub they could use to address 90% of their IT needs and questions. I think this is what PC Mag has tried for the past few years, I just don't think they've succeeded.
My son got a GameCube for his birthday, bought by his mother. She also buys him games for the PC as well. She buys more games for him than I buy for myself. Aren't statistics a funny thing
And just to clarify, I don't have a problem with female gamers...heck, I belong to an on-line game community that counts several amongst our number (not 40%) and they are good players (One great PvP player) and fun to play with. I'm not advocating that women should be excluded, but the original post I objected too suggested there was something wrong with ZD, or the way games are developed and marketed. The success or failure of a game determines that, and if adding more women to ZD's staff will help them succeed, then I suggest they do it.
What I object to is the call to add women for the sake of gender ratio alone.
In order to get back on-topic...
I would miss ZD's trade pubs. While I don't place much faith in their PC coverage...I mean who wants an assembly line beige box from (you name the PC company here)
For the love of god, hire some more women.
...why do people feel the need to have a gender balance (which is actaully an imbalance in many cases) in places where none exist?
Why? The gaming population is approx. 99.44% male. The fact is that that PC gaming (heck all gaming) is predominately an XY passtime
No booth babe pictures.
You can't be serious. Have you ever been to a Car or Boat show? The majority of the people that attend these events are guys! Guys hot women! Marketers want to draw attention to their male oriented products! Simple math: A (XY product) + B (what attacts guys) = C (booth babes).
They only time an industry, institution or organization needs to hear the call "You need to hire, recruit, attract more women" is when they do not accurately reflect their audience/populous. It don't see that as an issue here.
...if they came up with IT Babe of the month. Hot babe of the month...it's a proven magazine publishing strategy!
...to handle this scenerio.
Spaced Penguins
Ruger
foul-mouthed No arguement there.
perverted You must be taking about Rock Hound, the Buscemi character.
semi-illiterate WRONG! At least in the case of Buscemi's character who had TWO PhD's according to the movie. Let's get our facts straight here fellas!
Ruger
He has experience with this sorta thing and if the Die Hard movies and Unbreakable have tough us one thing...it's that you can't kill the SOB no matter what you try. I'll bet in Aramageddon II he comes back as a ghost to help destroy another planet killer.
Ruger
basically - i think your a moron. Look it up in the dictionary.
Funny...the way it reads, you're the moron.
Ruger
How the heck does a missle hit this guy? He flies fast enough to travel through time but he can't avoid or destroy a freakin' missle with his heat vision, super breath or by throwing something at it really hard???
I must confess, I've not much of a comics guy, although in my youth...talking 60's and early 70's here...I read a buttload of Spiderman, DareDevil and Incredible Hulk. I suspose I read and watched my share of Batman as well (was Adam West hillarious as Batman or what!!!).
I read all the posts about outsmarting the super dude, but I just don't buy it. When you can move as fast as he can, are as strong as he is along with all the other powers it just don't add up.
Batman vs. Superman just ain't a fight.
I could maybe buy Batman assasinating Superman, if he snuck up on him when he was on the crapper or something...ummm, Superman does crap doesn't he?
Ruger
If you'll visit IBM's Security Solutions webpage you'll find tons of information in the form of white papers, webcasts, links to other security websites, etc., etc. They also offer computer based training and other resources you may be able to take advantage of at little or no cost.
I must confess that I only knew of your Xanth and Adept books prior to going to the Piers Anthony website linked here on /. I had no idea you'd written so many books (126 by my rough count). The earlist publication date I saw was 1956, which means you've been writing for approx. 45 years.
How are you able to churn out almost three books a year?
When you're writing a series, how many of the books in the series do you outline prior to writing the first word of the first book?
Did you have a number of books (27 & counting) planned for the Xanth series when you wrote 'A Spell for Chameleon'?
Why has the Xanth series continued?
It's a very good movie. I haven't seen Minority Report yet, so I can't offer a comparison. I suspect your wife will enjoy BI, better than MR, unless of course she's a big Cruise or SciFi fan.
Just to get this thread back On Topic...
The new LOTR:TT trailer would be great if I could actually see anything. The damn thing's so small you really don't see much. I'm sure I'll be able to find a downloadable copy on a Newsgroup when I get home tonight. What I don't understand is why they have to make the trailer 240x180? Would it hurt anything to make it twice as big?!?!?!
Ruger
Check this BBC story out for some background on Scottish Beers. I suspect that most beer drinkers in the US have never drank one. Personally, the only scottish brew I have ever drank in McEwan. I'm a Murphy's drinker myself...a superior stout to Guinness IMO
Ruger
IBM is the #4 PC maker in the world according to IDC's estimates in this article. The ThinkPad is considered the "Corp Standard" for laptop computers. They still make a line a "business" desktops...none of them are worth a crap for gaming since they have only business quality sound and video cards. Analysts have been asking the same question you asked for years and IBM continues to make and sell PCs so they can offer a "soup to nuts" IT solution for their customers.
/. took a poll of all their readers, I suspect they'd find the majority of them use windows as their desktop OS. Also, I think you'd have to agree the majority of laptop users aren't techs, they're execs or marketing or sales professional who just need their laptops to read/write email and the occasional document or simple spreadsheet. Windows and MS Office handles these tasks rather well. For Linux to become a serious consideration for IBM and other laptop makers, the linux laptop user niche will have to grow some.
Just so I won't get modded OT...there's no doubt IBM stop funding LINUX support for Thinkpad because it was a smart business decision. If
Ruger
...was a system they had at my local Y involving recumbent bikes. It was very similar to something like this, except the game involved four bikes networked together where you play free-for-all or teams that tried to shoot a ball into your opponents goal. The faster you pedaled, they fast your pod went. The were some controls on the handles to fire the ball. The same game also allowed you to race on a variety of courses against on another or solo for best time. It was without doubt the best exercise equipment I've ever used. The time in the bike flew by and when you played against others I found myself work much harder than I normally would've. The game their describing in the article sound a lot like "Stomp a Mole." A great game for a kid, but what about Death Rally hooked up to a bank of stationary bikes. There's no end to the games they could marry up with exercise equipment.
Ruger
I used to work for a large charge card company...a card "you should never leave home [without]"...and all the card numbers were stored in a scrambled (or encrypted if you will) form. An algorithm was used to compress the card number into a shorter form than its orginal length. Our system could recompile them on the fly so personel could see the actual account numbers on screens and such. I'm not certain how this was done (not my area), but when data was pulled from our database using simple file extracts, the card numbers were unique, but didn't look anything like the real ones.
Ruger
How are the different flavors (Redhat, SuSE, etc.) of Linux affecting IBM's development efforts? What are the teams' favorite(s)? Why?
Ruger
The title of your post suggests migrating your office OS to Linux, which would be very painful and might actually run some of your employees off...no kidding. If we're only talking about a new Office Suite, then I think Lotus would be your best bet. The Apps are sumilar to M$ Office, the Lotus apps can read all the existing M$ files and the learning curve for your employees would be minimal. I use Lotus apps everyday (123, Word Pro, Freelance) and prior to coming to this company had used nothing but M$ Office. I suffered a bit of a learning curve, but it didn't take long to adapt. The office app that's been the hardest to get used to is Freelance, Powerpoint is easier to use. But there's almost no difference between 123 & Excel and Word processing is word processing...right?
There are certainly some less expensive choice than Lotus, but I think you'll find it cheaper than Micro$oft. Definitely an option you should consider...IMO.
Are there plans for Soma to produce some all talk channel(s)? NPR and AM Radio are the main sources for talk radio fans, but I'd love to be able to tune into TALK on my PC. My local AM station has a variety of talk programs from your typical morning news and traffic, to sports(NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL, racin'), to Tech Talk (Mostly PCs), as well as golf and financial news and investing.
Ruger
...for non-Windows systems. IBM used to offer them, but stopped because the demand was so low. It's my understanding that if you buy a Notebook with Windows, but do not accept the Windows EULA, uninstall it and install another OS, you can get your money back for the unused Windows OS. I don't know how one goes about this, but I've heard that it's possible...but may be more trouble than it's worth.
On another note, if you want to run LINUX on your notebook, IBM's the way to go. Most ThinkPads are certified for almost any release of LINUX.
*Disclaimer - I work for IBM*
...is that unlike Desktops, they are not the sum of their parts. Desktops are all about "speeds and feeds", for the most part. Processor, HDD, RAM, VidCard, etc., etc. Notebooks are more about when, where and how you use the system. Do you travel => 50% of the time on your job? Do you need a robust platform that you can take home occasionally? Do you need a compromise between power and portability? How much battery life do you need and do you need swapable components or will a built in CD ROM handle your needs. Do you work with highly sensitive information? Do you work in a wireless office? IBM's suite of Notebooks is designed with these types of user requirements in mind.
IBM's are easily differentiated by Letter designation. X's are ultra portable, T's are powerful and portable, R's are budget T's (a little heavier and not as flexible when it comes to components), and A's are powerhouses, possibly desktop replacements, that you wouldn't want to travel with on a regular basis. IBM offers features on their notebooks you can't find anywhere else:
Wireless components - Many ThinkPad notebooks come standard with integrated 802.11b wireless technology to let you interface with an existing wireless network. Since the antenna is built into the screen bezel, reception is better.
Security - Select IBM NetVista desktops and ThinkPad notebooks feature the IBM Embedded Security Subsystem, designed for use with IBM Client Security Software - two solutions that comprise the heart of the IBM Secure Client.
Awards - ThinkPad notebooks lead the pack in design and innovation.
Also, IBM has finally heard the cry of all those user who hate our highly praised TrackPoint pointing device and added a touch pad to our new models. I don't have the time to list all the design points here, but if you're looking for a state of the art Notebook, regardless of your computing needs, you can't go wrong with a ThinkPad.
...if you'll run Notepad or something in the background you can always Alt+TAB and put the game in the background. But Jeez, who has time to play games? I put in 9-10 hours days and still have to spend an hour ever night just catching up on freakin email.
Ruger
...a Western with some sword fighting thrown in. Of course there's "the force" and all the mumbo jumbo pseudo-religion surrounding it...but doesn't the force seem more like a "treatment" of ESP and such, than religion? I've enjoyed all the movies (Jar Jar can be over-looked), but I don't think Lucus had a truly new or amazing vision when he wrote the first one (4th I guess). But I do think he has a wonderful sense of the visual and a gift for action based story telling.
Since IBM is crushing their competition rather than assimilating it.
Ruger
...was even mentioned as a finalist. Even more amazing is that Micheal Dell was!!!
The top 1,000 Web sites agree that everyone will switch over to a penny per page on a specific date under a unified system.
The sites need to work together. If some sites switch and others don't, you will get the same problem that happens now when a site decides to unilaterally charge for its content. If there is not a uniform and super-simple billing model (so that users get one simple, easy-to-understand bill), the thing just won't work.
This sounds like collusion to me. Afaik, only major league baseball is allow to do this due to an ancient law that they still operate under that should be repealed.
The community charters a new, non-profit corporation that will handle the flow of cash from the audience to the Web sites. This is the same sort of corporate model that today allows users to register domain names at a standard price. That corporation will be able to charge a handling fee on the penny that each page receives. That handling fee should be capped at something like five percent.
There's no doubt that this piece of it would be fairly simple, but what about when disputes occur. Also, since the web is the most international, unregulated medium in the world, who's going to police & enforce it. In the US we have laws like the Fair Credit Billing Act, Fair Debt Collections Act and many other law to protect consumers. I think it would be a virtual (no pun intended) impossibility to ever regulate the web.
Either that corporation handles billing, or billing flows through the customer's ISP, with the ISPs keeping a small handling fee to handle their costs. Personally, I can't imagine an ISP wanting this responsibility. Do you have any idea what kind of system and infrastructure are necessary to handle fund dispersal such as these? Take a look at any of you major credit card company and you'll get an idea of the size and score of the organization required to handle such a task.
Could this work? Maybe. Do I think I'll ever see it? Nope. If a website owner needs to make money in order to run their site, then they need to do the same thing that every small business man does. Offer a product or service that's in demand. Manage cost. Attract and retain customers and get the hell outta that business if they can't make a go of it! I think the more likely answer to the web commerce issue is subscriptions. A number of site already have them and they are work...Consumer Reports and the WSJ come to mind. Paying websites per visit would be like a store charging you to walk in the door. You should feel lucky if I walk in the door of your store because that's your opportunity. If you fail to get me to buy something while I'm there it's your problem, not mine. Ruger