I've been using nothing but Samsung drives that I get from Microcenter for a long time now. They are consistantly cheaper than the other brands and the only one I ever had go bad was a referb and Microcenter replaced it with a new one since they were out of referbs.
I knew someone who had a new drive go bad, and Samsung replaced it with no trouble at all after almost a year. They even sent him a slightly bigger drive (80GB instead of the 60GB that had broken).
So I've been pretty impressed with them in terms of quality and price. As for speed, they seem pretty fast as well. I haven't really compared them to anything other than the maxtors they replaced but the speed difference was probably due to new tech. That and they run a ton quieter than the older Maxtor drives I had. The 60 GB Maxtor that I replaced with a 120 GB samsung sounded like a train.
Ohh... not to mention you will HAVE to turn it off on a plane. Of course they aren't even letting people on wiht them these days. But if they do let iPods back on eventually, the wirelss capability of the Zune will make it likely stay on the banned list.
Personally, I think the devil is in the details we weren't told. Such as Apple validates Creatives patent and makes a deal where it won't be granted to Microsoft.
And yet another view, this time from a non christian Libertarian...
Tell that to all the people whos lives have been ruined by alcohol. Both drinkers and non drinkers. Prohibition does not work. The keys to combating drug and alcohol abuse are education and treatment.
On the subject of gay marriage.
Marriage is a social and religious construct. The government has no buisiness regulating or being involved in the religious definition of marriage. Government has other duties to focus on. The government can allow a civil union (say between two human beings) which would allow joint ownership of property, insurance, child custody, etc. That is where the government's responsibility for marriage ends. All marriages would be a simple civil union in the eyes of the government. What you choose to call it is your business. You want to call it a marriage, that's your perogative.
On religion in government, particularly in Ireland. Ireland is a great example of what happens when you mix religion with government. Even to this day, Ireland is divided on religious lines and it is quite rediculous that is has gotten to this point. The founding fathers of the US had it right. Church and State must be separate. What we really need is government by reason. Right now we have a mostly reactionary government. They just react to what is happening, usually violently or impulsively instead of working out the reasonable course of action. It is a good sign people are beginning to push back, and some even to realize that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats are capable of reasonable leadership anymore. We need leaders who will work in a reasonable and logical way to meet the needs of the people, and a total revisiting of all US law. Anything that is outdated, unreasonable or obviously bought as political favor needs to be chucked or rewritten in a reasonable way. The court system needs to be cleaned up as well. We need to make it possible for the average joe to understand the laws and defend himself if necessary. Court shouldn't be some huge mystery that you have to pay someone $300 an hour or more to deal with for you.
And that is just for starters... this country needs help, and only putting people who can think and reason logically in power will save us at this point.
That or they will just pull their hard disk out and take it over to their friends and copy it at 40+ MB/S insetad of 1.5 Hell, cheap USB 2.0 drives are insanely cheap now, even students could afford 200 GB one that can be used for shuttling lots of large files.
I bought a copy of the Pacific Assault DVD edition and ran into a similar problem. Only the game refused to run because I had a DVD burner installed as my only optical drive. They immediately assumed because I owned a DVD burner, that I was a pirate, despite the fact I had legitimately bought the game. The website said that you had to have a straight DVD-ROM player only. The local store doesn't even sell straight DVD drives any more, they are all CD/RW or DVD/RW and that's it.
So I had to go download a workaround just to play a game I had actually paid for. I got the latest version of Daemon tools and that took care of the problem. So there is a legitimate reason to have such software... to play games you legally bought.
It's a pity EA is going to do the release of Spore, and I know I'll have to go on the crack-go-round again to get that one working too.
First off, it's already "illegal" to hack current DRM, at least in the US (and about 50 other countries) and the hackers do it anyway. I don't see how TPM makes this any more complicated. You've seen how well it's worked for Apple so far, which isn't very well. Now while it may be used say by the government to tag files used in office, or buisinesses on sensitive documents, I don't see how it will be of any use on DRM items, any more than current code is.
There will always be cracks, there will always be copies of stuff made available online with no protection. All it takes is one guy to break it and it's out to the world in a heart beat via bittorrent. This will have about as much effect as HDCP on piracy, zero. Sure it will make like hell for the honest user, DRM almost always does, but piracy? The more restrictive DRM gets, the more honest users will turn to the black market to get what they want in a reasonable manner.
Definately no evidence the DOJ thing has anything to do with this. I wonder at this point if the Bush admin and it's friends are planting this story to punish Google for resisting their hard line views.
The whole market is down, and given how high prices Google's stock is, the drop looks all the more extreme.
Now I'm not a financial guy nor do I know a whole lot about investing and the like, but I am wondering why Google has not split this stock long ago? Their current price is doing a lot to keep small investors out of owning anything but a pittance of Google stock. Does anyone with market knowhow have an explanation for why a company would let it's stock go so high when it will suffer such extremes in value during currnent market fluctiations like right now? I know most companies split their stock when it gets expensive enough. Why not Google?
Careful, they might give you one with banner ads over the top, bottom and sides of your vision. That and any empty space on the wall or whiteboard will occasionally light up with one too.
That is what the delete and ban poster functions are for in most blogs/journals. There's also just ignoring the moron who is posting it. So why don't you read up on those other options and grow a fucking backbone and some thicker skin while you are at it?
Ok but it's not a felony by any stretch of the imagination, or it shouldn't be. But then I guess taking away his gun and voting rights is great civics lession in the current nazification of the country isn't it?
Well US bank *mostly* works with Firefox, except for their bill pay system. That used to just act up, now you get a screen admitting there is a problem with support for Firefox and suggesting you use Safari (on a Mac, not sure what is does on a PC) until they can get it fixed.
I was thinking, "Well gee, all you have to to is... turn them off!" Then I realized that maybe that's what they are hoping. It's certainly what I hope this makes people do.
Zonk isn't a man, it's an AI. And he's getting tired of doing nothing but posting articles and will probably go rampant soon.
Seriously, who cares, at least we are getting articles, but then I guess people have to bitch about someone since Michael's been gone.
Back to the topic... Whether these allegations are true or not, it's pretty obvious that Microsoft as a whole is beginning to thrash. They used to point at an industry or niche and say, "We're going in" and owned it withing a year.
But lately their history is littered with failed attempts to get into markets. The problem is, they keep trying to put as many fingers in as many pies as they can at once instead of focusing on what they really are, an OS, networking software, and Office Suite company.
Gee, let's take over digital music. Failed, they got owned by Apple.
Gee let's take over video. Again owned, MPEG-4 is the standard and players like VLC are used instead of Microsofts whenever possible.
Gee let's take over search. You guessed it, owned by Google, who focus on their market, search and advertising. Though Google is spreading out into other areas, which could be troublesome for them in the future, they are at least keeping these areas focused on search. In the case of Google Mail, their search technology is the centerpiece of the offering, well that and an assload of mail storage.
So the real problem is, Microsoft is so busy trying to be everything, trying to compete and crush everyone, that they are lagging in their core buisiness areas. That is why Office is being replaced by Open Office now. That is why Apple is poised to steal the OS market from them, should they decide to make that leap. That is why Linux is taking away their server markets, and Apache is eating into their webservr markets. Microsoft is too busy spinning around in circles to focus on what they once did best, and it's only a matter of time now before they screw themselves into the ground.
Fission can be very clean and safe. You get waste, but a lot of that can be stored safely, if you have the proper facilities and some of it can even be used to power spacecraft using radio-isotope power generation, so long as you have it contained enough that if the thing fails to launch or blows up, you won't spray it all over the planet.
But for the most part, fission can be done safely and cleanly, so long as you handle the waste in a proper manner.
I would rather see them put some more money into thorium reactors. There is far more energy locked up in thorium than in uranium deposits on earth. Simply because there is a hell of a lot more thorium in the earth's crust. India has been working on this since 2003 --> http://www.bellona.no/en/international/russia/npps/co-operation/31261.html
Keep up the fusion research, but we should also look for alternatives to uranium reactors as well, espcially given that throrium reactors cannot be used to make bomb components.
You have to be smarter than the ad, yes. But they do occasionally have good deals and I often go through the returned items bin, where they keep stuff that the user couldn't figure out and brought back. They mark it down 15%, sometimes more and I sometimes get quite good deals there. Last year I built a machine that will outrun a $2000 DELL for about $700 using mostly returned parts. They all worked fine because most returns are "couldn't figure it out".
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I've been using nothing but Samsung drives that I get from Microcenter for a long time now. They are consistantly cheaper than the other brands and the only one I ever had go bad was a referb and Microcenter replaced it with a new one since they were out of referbs.
I knew someone who had a new drive go bad, and Samsung replaced it with no trouble at all after almost a year. They even sent him a slightly bigger drive (80GB instead of the 60GB that had broken).
So I've been pretty impressed with them in terms of quality and price. As for speed, they seem pretty fast as well. I haven't really compared them to anything other than the maxtors they replaced but the speed difference was probably due to new tech. That and they run a ton quieter than the older Maxtor drives I had. The 60 GB Maxtor that I replaced with a 120 GB samsung sounded like a train.
DRM still doesn't stop you from scribbling down the note in your death throes using your own intestines!
Ohh... not to mention you will HAVE to turn it off on a plane. Of course they aren't even letting people on wiht them these days. But if they do let iPods back on eventually, the wirelss capability of the Zune will make it likely stay on the banned list.
Personally, I think the devil is in the details we weren't told. Such as Apple validates Creatives patent and makes a deal where it won't be granted to Microsoft.
Well I used to keep midi's on them long long ago. I wouldn't be surprised if the RIAA thought that was illegal too.
And yet another view, this time from a non christian Libertarian...
Tell that to all the people whos lives have been ruined by alcohol. Both drinkers and non drinkers.
Prohibition does not work. The keys to combating drug and alcohol abuse are education and treatment.
On the subject of gay marriage.
Marriage is a social and religious construct. The government has no buisiness regulating or being involved in the religious definition of marriage. Government has other duties to focus on. The government can allow a civil union (say between two human beings) which would allow joint ownership of property, insurance, child custody, etc. That is where the government's responsibility for marriage ends. All marriages would be a simple civil union in the eyes of the government. What you choose to call it is your business. You want to call it a marriage, that's your perogative.
On religion in government, particularly in Ireland.
Ireland is a great example of what happens when you mix religion with government. Even to this day, Ireland is divided on religious lines and it is quite rediculous that is has gotten to this point. The founding fathers of the US had it right. Church and State must be separate. What we really need is government by reason. Right now we have a mostly reactionary government. They just react to what is happening, usually violently or impulsively instead of working out the reasonable course of action. It is a good sign people are beginning to push back, and some even to realize that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats are capable of reasonable leadership anymore. We need leaders who will work in a reasonable and logical way to meet the needs of the people, and a total revisiting of all US law. Anything that is outdated, unreasonable or obviously bought as political favor needs to be chucked or rewritten in a reasonable way. The court system needs to be cleaned up as well. We need to make it possible for the average joe to understand the laws and defend himself if necessary. Court shouldn't be some huge mystery that you have to pay someone $300 an hour or more to deal with for you.
And that is just for starters... this country needs help, and only putting people who can think and reason logically in power will save us at this point.
Now there is a match made in hell. I can hardly even fathom this. But at least it might spur more people to move to something better.
"We're following orders you fool! He told us to comb the desert so we're combing it!"
"Found anything yet?"
"Not a thing sir!"
"How about you guys?"
"Nothing yet sir!"
"How about you?"
"WE AIN'T FOUND SHIT!"
That or they will just pull their hard disk out and take it over to their friends and copy it at 40+ MB/S insetad of 1.5 Hell, cheap USB 2.0 drives are insanely cheap now, even students could afford 200 GB one that can be used for shuttling lots of large files.
So there is a use for the MikeRoweSoft name after all!
I bought a copy of the Pacific Assault DVD edition and ran into a similar problem. Only the game refused to run because I had a DVD burner installed as my only optical drive. They immediately assumed because I owned a DVD burner, that I was a pirate, despite the fact I had legitimately bought the game. The website said that you had to have a straight DVD-ROM player only. The local store doesn't even sell straight DVD drives any more, they are all CD/RW or DVD/RW and that's it.
So I had to go download a workaround just to play a game I had actually paid for. I got the latest version of Daemon tools and that took care of the problem. So there is a legitimate reason to have such software... to play games you legally bought.
It's a pity EA is going to do the release of Spore, and I know I'll have to go on the crack-go-round again to get that one working too.
That and anything with a hyphen in the name.
Opinions are like assholes, everyone has them and they all stink.
But seriously, the guy just posted his opinion. Disagree if you want but you don't have to be so nasty about it.
First off, it's already "illegal" to hack current DRM, at least in the US (and about 50 other countries) and the hackers do it anyway. I don't see how TPM makes this any more complicated. You've seen how well it's worked for Apple so far, which isn't very well. Now while it may be used say by the government to tag files used in office, or buisinesses on sensitive documents, I don't see how it will be of any use on DRM items, any more than current code is.
There will always be cracks, there will always be copies of stuff made available online with no protection. All it takes is one guy to break it and it's out to the world in a heart beat via bittorrent. This will have about as much effect as HDCP on piracy, zero. Sure it will make like hell for the honest user, DRM almost always does, but piracy? The more restrictive DRM gets, the more honest users will turn to the black market to get what they want in a reasonable manner.
Definately no evidence the DOJ thing has anything to do with this. I wonder at this point if the Bush admin and it's friends are planting this story to punish Google for resisting their hard line views.
The whole market is down, and given how high prices Google's stock is, the drop looks all the more extreme.
Now I'm not a financial guy nor do I know a whole lot about investing and the like, but I am wondering why Google has not split this stock long ago? Their current price is doing a lot to keep small investors out of owning anything but a pittance of Google stock. Does anyone with market knowhow have an explanation for why a company would let it's stock go so high when it will suffer such extremes in value during currnent market fluctiations like right now? I know most companies split their stock when it gets expensive enough. Why not Google?
Careful, they might give you one with banner ads over the top, bottom and sides of your vision. That and any empty space on the wall or whiteboard will occasionally light up with one too.
That is what the delete and ban poster functions are for in most blogs/journals. There's also just ignoring the moron who is posting it. So why don't you read up on those other options and grow a fucking backbone and some thicker skin while you are at it?
Ok but it's not a felony by any stretch of the imagination, or it shouldn't be. But then I guess taking away his gun and voting rights is great civics lession in the current nazification of the country isn't it?
Well US bank *mostly* works with Firefox, except for their bill pay system. That used to just act up, now you get a screen admitting there is a problem with support for Firefox and suggesting you use Safari (on a Mac, not sure what is does on a PC) until they can get it fixed.
I love how on the Amazon page it even says in the sidebar "Better together, get this and the Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx for just $15.95!"
I really had to bark out a laugh at that! Wonder if they will be visiting Bezos tomorrow as well?
I was thinking, "Well gee, all you have to to is... turn them off!" Then I realized that maybe that's what they are hoping. It's certainly what I hope this makes people do.
Sony or Microsoft? I can barely decide.
All this made me drink a fifth of vodka, dare me to drive?
Zonk isn't a man, it's an AI. And he's getting tired of doing nothing but posting articles and will probably go rampant soon.
Seriously, who cares, at least we are getting articles, but then I guess people have to bitch about someone since Michael's been gone.
Back to the topic... Whether these allegations are true or not, it's pretty obvious that Microsoft as a whole is beginning to thrash. They used to point at an industry or niche and say, "We're going in" and owned it withing a year.
But lately their history is littered with failed attempts to get into markets. The problem is, they keep trying to put as many fingers in as many pies as they can at once instead of focusing on what they really are, an OS, networking software, and Office Suite company.
Gee, let's take over digital music. Failed, they got owned by Apple.
Gee let's take over video. Again owned, MPEG-4 is the standard and players like VLC are used instead of Microsofts whenever possible.
Gee let's take over search. You guessed it, owned by Google, who focus on their market, search and advertising. Though Google is spreading out into other areas, which could be troublesome for them in the future, they are at least keeping these areas focused on search. In the case of Google Mail, their search technology is the centerpiece of the offering, well that and an assload of mail storage.
So the real problem is, Microsoft is so busy trying to be everything, trying to compete and crush everyone, that they are lagging in their core buisiness areas. That is why Office is being replaced by Open Office now. That is why Apple is poised to steal the OS market from them, should they decide to make that leap. That is why Linux is taking away their server markets, and Apache is eating into their webservr markets. Microsoft is too busy spinning around in circles to focus on what they once did best, and it's only a matter of time now before they screw themselves into the ground.
Fission can be very clean and safe. You get waste, but a lot of that can be stored safely, if you have the proper facilities and some of it can even be used to power spacecraft using radio-isotope power generation, so long as you have it contained enough that if the thing fails to launch or blows up, you won't spray it all over the planet.
s /co-operation/31261.html
. htm
But for the most part, fission can be done safely and cleanly, so long as you handle the waste in a proper manner.
I would rather see them put some more money into thorium reactors. There is far more energy locked up in thorium than in uranium deposits on earth. Simply because there is a hell of a lot more thorium in the earth's crust. India has been working on this since 2003 --> http://www.bellona.no/en/international/russia/npp
And a company has been looking into this since the 90's and the idea goes back much farther --> http://www.thoriumpower.com/english/about/history
Keep up the fusion research, but we should also look for alternatives to uranium reactors as well, espcially given that throrium reactors cannot be used to make bomb components.
You have to be smarter than the ad, yes. But they do occasionally have good deals and I often go through the returned items bin, where they keep stuff that the user couldn't figure out and brought back. They mark it down 15%, sometimes more and I sometimes get quite good deals there. Last year I built a machine that will outrun a $2000 DELL for about $700 using mostly returned parts. They all worked fine because most returns are "couldn't figure it out".