Remember that expensive network card that was supposed to improve gaming network performance by leaps and bounds, using more buzzwords than Al Gore, and failed to do so?
It was the Killer NIC and it actually was found to increase your framerate by taking some load off of your CPU. $279 worth? Arguable, though the company now does make cheaper versions
Or the bajillions of CPU fans out there that don't even perform better than the stock one Intel/AMD ships on the chip?
I imagine some do not but there are many that do - especially if you're into overclocking. Yes, if you don't do overclocking then go ahead and use the stock fan.
Or dare I mention Ageia and their PhysX, whose marketing was founded upon misinformation and outright fabrication (especially the Cell Factor demo)?
What are you talking about? PhysX does what it claims to do - offers physics acceleration. The Cell Factor demo is more or less a tech demo of a game to show this and it does work. It also generally lowers framerates since, at the time, most video cards couldn't keep up. The real criticism of PhysX is that it's another expensive add-in card doing something that, long term, can probably be offloaded to a CPU core or a spare GPU, so Ageia is probably doomed, long-term.
As for cases... I've seen many a case that claimed some magical airflow design properties... It would not surprise in the least if the vast majority of them never had their airflow measured in any way.
Look, first off a lot of enthusiast sites do measure the airflow, even if the manufacturers themselves do not. But even then, it's not "magic", that's how airflow works. And if you don't believe in airflow or fans being important then strip your case of them and see how long your CPU lasts.
It sounds like you have some sort of issue with PC Enthusiasts or modders and I'm not sure why that is but a modicum of research can disprove every point you've set forward here.
I would just like to point out that in all my years of reading Slashdot posts, yours is the single best post I have ever seen with regards to both eloquently explaining why copyright infringement is not the same thing as theft, legally, and also conceding the fact that it is still illegal and wrong. I predict many other posters will take you to task over what you said but you really nailed it perfectly.
Do you honestly think that most people even notice?
Most people probably pick up on the fact that their laptop is slower than a desktop PC at some point and they can't put their finger on exactly why. Hard drive speed is one reason, especially if your tasks are hard drive intensive. But no, most people don't say "damned slow hard drives!" and neither did the author of this article, but it is a valid reason. If you don't think hard drive speed is important then you must not be doing something needing the speed.
To me the most annoying thing about laptops is the slow hard drives. By default just about every OEM equips the things with 5400RPM drives, which is less than the standard 7200RPMs that desktop machines usually come with. I know you can get 7200RPM hard drives but most of the time a company-issued laptop will have the 5400RPM variety, which for development purposes is annoyingly slow. And of course upping the RPM's on a hard drive is going to make battery life even worse. The answer to increased productivity is not slower machines, portable or no.
In all fairness, that was a review from 1994, thirteen years ago and in the first year of the magazine. The situation has improved since then, though PC Gamer is still guilty of the "hey you let us review the game early and put it on the cover of course you get a high rating" syndrome. In a recent episode of the PC Gamer Podcast, columnist Gary Whitta actually blasted the rest of the staff for giving Crysis 98%.
Since lots of people have third party apps loaded on iPhones today, the only conclusion it is possibly to reach is that you are an idiot. No, I take that back - a blithering idiot.
So you think that hacking you phone to possibly turn it into a brick qualifies it to be a smartphone? That's like saying that adding a hot rod engine to your Camry means that everyone who drives a Camry owns a hot rod...
Made a C&C game that actually has a story connected to the rest of the C&C games
Not sure if you're aware, but C&C games have three "universes", Tiberian, Red Alert and Generals. So the reason that, say, Red Alert had nothing to do with C&C1 was because they were in different universes.
But yeah the fact that C&C3 is the first RTS in the original universe since Tiberian Sun (technically C&C2) is pretty cool
If money is no object, having seven kids can be fun.
My wife is a fan of the show Jon & Kate plus 8, a reality show which follows a family which, after having twins, decided to have one more child and due to overzealous fertility drugs, had sextuplets. So they have eight children.
I can definitively say that in my opinion, absolutely nothing about having more than two children looks like fun at all. This show actually brought my wife and I to an agreement about the concept of selective abortion. Hell, if I had twins I would not only be "done" with the whole kid thing, but I would be pissed off that I had to put them through college at the same time (instead of only having a short window that they'd both be in)
I wonder if corporate knows they're actually losing customers because of this?
They probably do, and they don't care because ultimately they make more money. Sure, you are pissed off enough to not shop there anymore but for the people who either tolerate the policies or better yet, really do buy more stuff or spend more money, it makes it worthwhile. I worked for Babbage's ages ago, it's remarkably easy to talk some kid into spending more money on the strategy guide to the wrestling game he's also buying. Sure, VERY long term it might have negative repercussions but in the meantime it brings in money, which is all that matters. I'm not saying it's right but some companies that put their customers above profits have been known to crash and burn.
I really want to know why companies do this to their employees. It makes the employees unhappy and pissed off, and the customers irate.
Because retail employees are exchangeable, easily replaced cogs. Seriously, these aren't heart surgeons. GameStop doesn't even really care if you know what you're selling (though, it does help). If one talks back you fire him and replace him with some unemployed sap who will sell video game guides without giving you any lip. And as we discovered previously, the customers who do get pissed off and never come back are handily outnumbered by the ones who will spend more money as a result of being snookered.
I would shop at gamestop if they differentiated themselves a bit from other retailes (besides being annoying). They could do this by doing things like hosting lan parties in store, or gaming tournaments, something that would make it fun to go there.
All of which take up time, floor space, and money, and none of which are necessary when you're pulling in record profits. And none of which will make one lick of difference when digital distribution eventually takes their legs out from under them. Look at all the stories of record stores that have tried similar tactics and still go out of business.
Despite what the article is trying to claim, there really is no reason to shop at Gamestop. Their used prices are way too high, and their new games aren't any cheaper than other retailers that don't hassle you as much.
There's one reason - they probably won't screw up your preorder. Best Buy will have some handful of the collector's edition and the odds are some retail moron there will put your preordered copy on the store floor. Or they won't get any. GameStop, though not infallible, will keep your preordered copy for 48 hours and get it right most of the time. Best Buy and Target couldn't care less.
I don't know what's worse, that there seems to be a large number of people who don't know how to take their Led Zeppelin CD's and just rip them to MP3, or that there's a lot of people who will pay 4x as much to put a short MP3 on their phone...
My sister, who couldn't spell Xbox if you put it in front of her in 50 foot letters, loves to play Halo at Christian singles parties. This is the same one who literally couldn't figure out how turn on her PC sometimes in college but figured out Napster (the original version).
Ironically my sister was, at the time, one of those born-again types that seeks to annoy everyone who doesn't agree with her, and even she could see that Halo is fun and to just get over it with the whole "OMG violent video game" thing.
Additionally, there have been several studies that indicate that children who are home schooled have significantly better social skills than those who went through the school system
Then why is everyone who I've ever met who is home schooled socially retarded? I'm not trying to be mean, and it very well could be I've met several "normal" people who have been home schooled and just never mentioned it. But most of the time when I meet someone who was home schooled, it's pretty obvious within a few minutes that their social skills are just not there.
Paul Steed, their modeler, got fired in retaliation though for going along with John's mutiny.
It's worth noting that a few years earlier Steed had shot his mouth off several times and embarrassed the company, something he never recovered from. Pulling a maneuver like this while working there on borrowed time wasn't the smartest move. Sure, it was retaliation, but it was also the straw that broke the camel's back.
Incidentally some years later the bought out Adrian to get him out of the company - no one knew this until he sued them for it.
So yeah in that case I can see why you'd be hesitant to install any "dial home" sorts of software. However, in fairness to BioShock, you can still call up SecureROM and get a new activation dealie. Yeah I know you shouldn't have to but it doesn't sound like you're the type to let something like this get in the way...
Please explain this comment further. In all my years of PC using and PC gaming I've never had a monitor give me problems (I didn't even know they had firmware) much less to the extent that they caused me to reformat my hard drive every month.
I'm not saying you're doing something wrong, I've just honestly never heard of such a thing before.
I think we've entered Semantics territory. What you describe is an ecosystem of iPod accessories, not of iTunes. iTunes-the-program only works with one player, the iPod. iTunes-the-music-store does now sell non DRM'd music but it still doesn't work with any other music players besides iPod (iTunes-the-program that is, the music could in theory work elsewhere). And how is the iPod any more compatible with other players on the market than its competitors? You're comparing the twelve companies that make iPod competitors with the thousands of companies that make iPod accessories. Apples to oranges.
That being said, yes - the sheer number of iPod accessories out there is a compelling reason to go with iPod over Zune or Sansa or whatever.
How is an online store whose songs can only be played by one type of player from a single vendor (the same one who runs the store) considered an "ecosystem"? PlaysForSure, had it ever taken off, would have been an ecosystem - lots of players, lots of vendors, one thing in common.
Of course it didn't work, which is why the Zune cut it off at the knees in hopes that the Zune Store could do what the iTunes Music Store did.
I don't know if the original from-day-one intention was to be in the cartridges, but I do remember hearing early on how you could "run a razor blade across the surface of a CD and it would still play perfectly". Well, I let someone borrow one of my CD's once and they put it in a Discman but didn't push it all the way down so when the spindle started spinning, it got tossed around and scratched. It never played a couple of songs right again. And these weren't deep scratches, either. I think it has something to do with the quality of the CD player in question (this incident was back in High School so I didn't have thousands to drop on a CD player, I went with the boom box solution) and of course CD's are more durable than vinyl. But for various reasons, in practice CD's weren't very durable. I've only purchased a few CD's in the last few years, only listened to them in the car, always put them back in their cases - I still get the problems that come with scratched discs. My iPod however never gives me shit, so I haven't had the need for CD's for a while.
Slashdot Mirror
It sounds like you have some sort of issue with PC Enthusiasts or modders and I'm not sure why that is but a modicum of research can disprove every point you've set forward here.
I was with you right up until the part where you pay the recycling place to take your stuff. I'd just as soon throw it away.
I would just like to point out that in all my years of reading Slashdot posts, yours is the single best post I have ever seen with regards to both eloquently explaining why copyright infringement is not the same thing as theft, legally, and also conceding the fact that it is still illegal and wrong. I predict many other posters will take you to task over what you said but you really nailed it perfectly.
To me the most annoying thing about laptops is the slow hard drives. By default just about every OEM equips the things with 5400RPM drives, which is less than the standard 7200RPMs that desktop machines usually come with. I know you can get 7200RPM hard drives but most of the time a company-issued laptop will have the 5400RPM variety, which for development purposes is annoyingly slow. And of course upping the RPM's on a hard drive is going to make battery life even worse. The answer to increased productivity is not slower machines, portable or no.
In all fairness, that was a review from 1994, thirteen years ago and in the first year of the magazine. The situation has improved since then, though PC Gamer is still guilty of the "hey you let us review the game early and put it on the cover of course you get a high rating" syndrome. In a recent episode of the PC Gamer Podcast, columnist Gary Whitta actually blasted the rest of the staff for giving Crysis 98%.
But yeah the fact that C&C3 is the first RTS in the original universe since Tiberian Sun (technically C&C2) is pretty cool
I can definitively say that in my opinion, absolutely nothing about having more than two children looks like fun at all. This show actually brought my wife and I to an agreement about the concept of selective abortion. Hell, if I had twins I would not only be "done" with the whole kid thing, but I would be pissed off that I had to put them through college at the same time (instead of only having a short window that they'd both be in)
I don't know what's worse, that there seems to be a large number of people who don't know how to take their Led Zeppelin CD's and just rip them to MP3, or that there's a lot of people who will pay 4x as much to put a short MP3 on their phone...
My sister, who couldn't spell Xbox if you put it in front of her in 50 foot letters, loves to play Halo at Christian singles parties. This is the same one who literally couldn't figure out how turn on her PC sometimes in college but figured out Napster (the original version).
Ironically my sister was, at the time, one of those born-again types that seeks to annoy everyone who doesn't agree with her, and even she could see that Halo is fun and to just get over it with the whole "OMG violent video game" thing.
Windows Vista has been slow to gain acceptance and adoption in the less-than-a-year since it was released
Abandon it! Kill it! It's had its chance, but it's too late!
Linux has been slow to gain acceptance and adoption in the sixteen years it's been available
Linux is improving! It's getting better! Give it a chance! Yes it has problems but these things take time!
Incidentally some years later the bought out Adrian to get him out of the company - no one knew this until he sued them for it.
Not that it makes it OK, but it was only about 12,000 users in the dark.
But yeah if millions of people had all gone to validate their copies of Windows at the same time then your figure would have been accurate.
Fascinating, thanks. Truly a unique situation.
So yeah in that case I can see why you'd be hesitant to install any "dial home" sorts of software. However, in fairness to BioShock, you can still call up SecureROM and get a new activation dealie. Yeah I know you shouldn't have to but it doesn't sound like you're the type to let something like this get in the way...
Please explain this comment further. In all my years of PC using and PC gaming I've never had a monitor give me problems (I didn't even know they had firmware) much less to the extent that they caused me to reformat my hard drive every month.
I'm not saying you're doing something wrong, I've just honestly never heard of such a thing before.
I think we've entered Semantics territory. What you describe is an ecosystem of iPod accessories, not of iTunes. iTunes-the-program only works with one player, the iPod. iTunes-the-music-store does now sell non DRM'd music but it still doesn't work with any other music players besides iPod (iTunes-the-program that is, the music could in theory work elsewhere). And how is the iPod any more compatible with other players on the market than its competitors? You're comparing the twelve companies that make iPod competitors with the thousands of companies that make iPod accessories. Apples to oranges.
That being said, yes - the sheer number of iPod accessories out there is a compelling reason to go with iPod over Zune or Sansa or whatever.
Of course it didn't work, which is why the Zune cut it off at the knees in hopes that the Zune Store could do what the iTunes Music Store did.
I don't know if the original from-day-one intention was to be in the cartridges, but I do remember hearing early on how you could "run a razor blade across the surface of a CD and it would still play perfectly". Well, I let someone borrow one of my CD's once and they put it in a Discman but didn't push it all the way down so when the spindle started spinning, it got tossed around and scratched. It never played a couple of songs right again. And these weren't deep scratches, either. I think it has something to do with the quality of the CD player in question (this incident was back in High School so I didn't have thousands to drop on a CD player, I went with the boom box solution) and of course CD's are more durable than vinyl. But for various reasons, in practice CD's weren't very durable. I've only purchased a few CD's in the last few years, only listened to them in the car, always put them back in their cases - I still get the problems that come with scratched discs. My iPod however never gives me shit, so I haven't had the need for CD's for a while.
Reminds me of this