And I thought we were going to get out of these stupid laws in Europe.. and then they go and propose it.
The thing that frustrates the most, is that the people who try and introduce the bill obviously have no interest in the technologies that laws like this affect - so why on earth do they get involved? *cough* cash bribes *cough*.
Said in the style of FatBot from the Mars University episode of Futurama...
"Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!!"
I am 21 now.. and I fondly remeber having a pretty huge Transformers collection.. this special edition DVD is pretty much one of the reasons I got a DVD player in the first place.. and now they have been released I plan to get them:)
And as for the toys.. well, if they re-release them in the UK I will be buying them. All.:)
Well I can talk from some kind of experience.. we had a bit of a botched attempt at trying this one year and decided never to bother again.
Someone had the great idea to buy a load of AMD K6's and some cheap generic 'all in one' motherboards.. our team of 8 or so techies all sat and built about 30 of this machines in an afternoon or two.. but the machines are pretty stubborn and are already very very out of date - we just used old cases complete with 2GB drives which were more than enough at the time. Now the CPU's are still quick enough for office tasks, but the drives are much to small.. and its too much hassle to go around adding new drives and re-imaging.
I think buying complete systems is the best way to go about this for a number of reasons:
a) Standardised hardware (makes imaging a lot easier)
b) Probably more reliable (you know the hardware combination they give you IS going to work.. sometimes you can put together a troublesome combination of parts and never get the system working right)
c) Having someone else to blame if the system gives you hassle.. (just call their tech support and get them out to fix it!):-)
I am not at school. I have been employed for about 5 years.. I know a lot of people who own consoles and could easily afford to buy Xbox's - its just that they are not really that good.. and they dont want em!
Try getting a few facts right before trying to be a smartass.. and an anonymous one at that.
I think the way it generally works for IT staff is that they are expected to perform miracles with ageing computer equipment and lack of training.. at least thats what ususally happens. Then they take the flack when it all goes a bit wrong.
Apply the 'mushroom' theory.. kept in the dark and fed on sh*t:)
It astounds me that Steve Ballmer hasn't had a heart attack or somthing yet.. not that I wish the guy any ill health, but just watching the famous Steve Ballmer videos, he exhausts himself just bouncing round a stage for 30 seconds - and can barely get his breath back for almost as long.
I guess giving them away would be the only way people would actually buy the things.. I dont even know a single person who owns an Xbox (and I do know quite a few console owners).
That said, I have contemplated picking up an Xbox for two simple reasons:
a) I really want to play Halo.. Microsoft should use that Warthog Jump video as a promotional item.. just watching that made me want the game:)
b) I have been offered an Xbox for £75 ($109) - even if I decide it sucks I can sell it back on for double what I bought it for:)
I guess I am glad that I decided that computing was going to be my chosen vocation, whilst I was at school - just to see things like this career drive by the US Government proves that there is still a great demand for techie type people.
If you are seriously into computers & IT, and you have a few thousand dollars to spend on certified training, you can pretty much go anywhere you like.
I'm currently studying my way through a Cisco CCNA (two years of night school!) - I know that once that is complete, I should be able to walk into a $35,000+ job - and the beauty of actually being a computer geek is that I love the job that I do. Its working out pretty well:)
"Your sig isn't a Pokey reffrence is it? San Quinton hold the key you know..."
Um.. not quite sure I get what you mean.
I borrowed this sig off a friend of mine.. he rarely used his shell, and this little gem was sat in his.plan file - I dunno, maybe its just the only way you'd ever get the A-Team & UNIX in a single related sentance:)
I can't remeber the exact game now.. perhaps it was F-15 Flight Simulator for MS-DOS.. used to have a boss key - when you pressed it, the game was paused and fake spreadsheet was fired up.
Great idea I guess.. unless you work for a graphics design company or somthing.
"We dont pay you to do maths.. now go and draw somthing."
This new product is a lame attempt to try and quash the 'music copying' market - amusingly, I couldnt have imagined anyone else to be the 'flagship' artist to launch this product than Britney Spears.. gawd knows I am sick of seeing her on Pepsi Commercials, and now she goes and sells out on somthing like this too.
It sure as hell doesnt make me want to buy one - if I was to buy another portable media player (seeing as I have a car, I sold my MiniDisc player a while back) it would either be one of Sonys new NetMD MiniDisc players, or somthing groovy like an iPod.
What a monster! Should dominate the number one spot at Top500 for some time!:)
I should imagine a computer system of this power will have the US Government a little concerned.. I shouldnt imagine it will be long before they announce that they have designed a 'more powerful' system though:)
At least it shouldnt be a big problem for most users.. the internet isn't exactly the fastest thing unless you are hooked up through a T1 or better - Modem or ADSL users shouldnt really be able to notice a huge difference.
"Ah nuts.. dropping an equivilant 0.01k/sec off my overall download speed because I wanted the animated dock and hi color icons!"
..that one of the new 'what if' topics to come up will be the US Government mulling over whether to use Microsofts Passport as a national ID system (for the USA at least) as detailed in the earlier thread.
That is quite alarming.. Microsoft are not renowned for having 'the best interest of the consumer at heart' - how long till you start getting bombarded with junk mail and trial CD's for MSN, or the latest version of Windows because of your National ID? Scary..
I can appreciate that.. but this is factory fresh, as is, just out of the door. I could appreciate some unusual little bug that someone perhaps didnt notice at first..
I just felt that it left a sour taste in the mouth.
Hm.. I'd have to debate Apples claim that their UNIX based OS sits as king of the hill..
Coincidentally enough, I had to unbox a brand new Titanium iBook and just run the initial setup for a department at the college I work at..
Pretty straight forward enough.. unboxed, plugged in, "insert restore discs 1-->3" and off you go.
MacOSX looked nice enough.. so on first boot, I thought I would try out the Apple DVD player. Plopped in a DVD, waited a few seconds, and got a message "This application has terminated unexpectedly" or some crap.. oh.. great. If I had just paid for that iBook instead of going for an unreliable Windows machine I would be pretty peeved - is that the sign of things to come?
To re-iterate my point.. I dont think a UNIX OS as young as MacOS X (and yes, I know its based off NextStep, but so much has been added since then) can compete in the speed and reliability market, alongside such kings as Sun and SGI.
Seems to be a pretty clear decision by the/. readership that this is a pretty lame idea..
Gawd - WinModems were terrible devices.. even though CPU's are fast these days, they still put a hell of a strain on the system - not to mention their inoperability with other Operating Systems.
I personally though WiFi was at quite a good stage - a powerful technology that has been made relatively simple to setup and use.. dont let it get polluted by stripping it down and making it software based!
A little bit of competition can only help the market.
Am I the only one who finds this a little ironic? Microsoft - the company that tries to stifle all competition that threatens its business - and you praise their efforts in making a little competition?
I am somewhat sceptical about this.. I dont Microsoft just switching over like this? I think they'll get people cosy with using.NET for a few years, then just pull the FreeBSD version, and make.NET inoperable with the older versions.. so its Windows or bust.
Call me anti-Microsoft, but they do this kind of thing all the time.. and I certainly dont think they have changed their tack overnight.
..I still love to read articles like this for one reason.. it makes me feel waaay more el1te than I really am.
If we were to go by everything the media tries to put down the technologically 'uninitiated's throats, I could consider myself to be an Uber:
a) Hacker (Hey, I use IRC.. so I MUST hate the corporate world, and hack for fun!)
b) Pirate (GASP.. he has MP3 copies of his own CD's.. oh, and he uses a broadband connection.. oh, and throw the IRC thing in there again.. he must be using his connection to download illegal copies of movies!!)
I wont bother going on, but I think you know what I am getting at. Misinformed respresentatives of the media go and spread stories like that, which ultimately only rallies support for zealots like Senator Hollings, and his Disney cronies. They just piggyback off the public uncertainty to make geeks like, like most of us here, look bad...
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And I thought we were going to get out of these stupid laws in Europe.. and then they go and propose it.
The thing that frustrates the most, is that the people who try and introduce the bill obviously have no interest in the technologies that laws like this affect - so why on earth do they get involved? *cough* cash bribes *cough*.
B*stards.
Said in the style of FatBot from the Mars University episode of Futurama...
:)
:)
"Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!!"
I am 21 now.. and I fondly remeber having a pretty huge Transformers collection.. this special edition DVD is pretty much one of the reasons I got a DVD player in the first place.. and now they have been released I plan to get them
And as for the toys.. well, if they re-release them in the UK I will be buying them. All.
Well I can talk from some kind of experience.. we had a bit of a botched attempt at trying this one year and decided never to bother again.
:
:-)
Someone had the great idea to buy a load of AMD K6's and some cheap generic 'all in one' motherboards.. our team of 8 or so techies all sat and built about 30 of this machines in an afternoon or two.. but the machines are pretty stubborn and are already very very out of date - we just used old cases complete with 2GB drives which were more than enough at the time. Now the CPU's are still quick enough for office tasks, but the drives are much to small.. and its too much hassle to go around adding new drives and re-imaging.
I think buying complete systems is the best way to go about this for a number of reasons
a) Standardised hardware (makes imaging a lot easier)
b) Probably more reliable (you know the hardware combination they give you IS going to work.. sometimes you can put together a troublesome combination of parts and never get the system working right)
c) Having someone else to blame if the system gives you hassle.. (just call their tech support and get them out to fix it!)
Talk about getting anal.
I am not at school. I have been employed for about 5 years.. I know a lot of people who own consoles and could easily afford to buy Xbox's - its just that they are not really that good.. and they dont want em!
Try getting a few facts right before trying to be a smartass.. and an anonymous one at that.
I think the way it generally works for IT staff is that they are expected to perform miracles with ageing computer equipment and lack of training.. at least thats what ususally happens. Then they take the flack when it all goes a bit wrong.
:)
Apply the 'mushroom' theory.. kept in the dark and fed on sh*t
"I love this channel.. YEAH!"
It astounds me that Steve Ballmer hasn't had a heart attack or somthing yet.. not that I wish the guy any ill health, but just watching the famous Steve Ballmer videos, he exhausts himself just bouncing round a stage for 30 seconds - and can barely get his breath back for almost as long.
I guess giving them away would be the only way people would actually buy the things.. I dont even know a single person who owns an Xbox (and I do know quite a few console owners).
:
:)
:)
That said, I have contemplated picking up an Xbox for two simple reasons
a) I really want to play Halo.. Microsoft should use that Warthog Jump video as a promotional item.. just watching that made me want the game
b) I have been offered an Xbox for £75 ($109) - even if I decide it sucks I can sell it back on for double what I bought it for
Like floppy disks stuck to the back of condom vending machines with chewing gum.. well it worked for z3r0c00l and his buddies right?
:)
Ahh.. good old cheesy Hackers
Its because its only two nights a week that we do it - and only in term time.
:)
And the college I work for is paying for the course anyway.. so dont worry, the blood suckers aren't getting a penny outta me
*slightly OT*
:)
I guess I am glad that I decided that computing was going to be my chosen vocation, whilst I was at school - just to see things like this career drive by the US Government proves that there is still a great demand for techie type people.
If you are seriously into computers & IT, and you have a few thousand dollars to spend on certified training, you can pretty much go anywhere you like.
I'm currently studying my way through a Cisco CCNA (two years of night school!) - I know that once that is complete, I should be able to walk into a $35,000+ job - and the beauty of actually being a computer geek is that I love the job that I do. Its working out pretty well
"Your sig isn't a Pokey reffrence is it? San Quinton hold the key you know..."
.plan file - I dunno, maybe its just the only way you'd ever get the A-Team & UNIX in a single related sentance :)
Um.. not quite sure I get what you mean.
I borrowed this sig off a friend of mine.. he rarely used his shell, and this little gem was sat in his
I can't remeber the exact game now.. perhaps it was F-15 Flight Simulator for MS-DOS.. used to have a boss key - when you pressed it, the game was paused and fake spreadsheet was fired up.
Great idea I guess.. unless you work for a graphics design company or somthing.
"We dont pay you to do maths.. now go and draw somthing."
Parties, chicks, and drugs... right buuuuuudy? :)
..rubbish.
This new product is a lame attempt to try and quash the 'music copying' market - amusingly, I couldnt have imagined anyone else to be the 'flagship' artist to launch this product than Britney Spears.. gawd knows I am sick of seeing her on Pepsi Commercials, and now she goes and sells out on somthing like this too.
It sure as hell doesnt make me want to buy one - if I was to buy another portable media player (seeing as I have a car, I sold my MiniDisc player a while back) it would either be one of Sonys new NetMD MiniDisc players, or somthing groovy like an iPod.
What a monster! Should dominate the number one spot at Top500 for some time! :)
:)
I should imagine a computer system of this power will have the US Government a little concerned.. I shouldnt imagine it will be long before they announce that they have designed a 'more powerful' system though
Thats what you get for not reading the article beforehand.. I was hoping that no one would notice my lame comment..
At least it shouldnt be a big problem for most users.. the internet isn't exactly the fastest thing unless you are hooked up through a T1 or better - Modem or ADSL users shouldnt really be able to notice a huge difference.
"Ah nuts.. dropping an equivilant 0.01k/sec off my overall download speed because I wanted the animated dock and hi color icons!"
A fair point well taken.. I have yet to recieve an MSN CD, but I have had many many AOL CD's.
:)
The funniest thing is that, even though I have a cable modem, relatives keep handing these AOL CD's that they get, asking me "if they are any use..."
"Sure! I need a new coaster for my coffee mug!"
..that one of the new 'what if' topics to come up will be the US Government mulling over whether to use Microsofts Passport as a national ID system (for the USA at least) as detailed in the earlier thread.
That is quite alarming.. Microsoft are not renowned for having 'the best interest of the consumer at heart' - how long till you start getting bombarded with junk mail and trial CD's for MSN, or the latest version of Windows because of your National ID? Scary..
Scary.. thats the first thing I went to look for on that list. Nearly a dollar a minute!
:)
Would probably be cheaper to pipe a phone call up to the International Space Station than over to Afghanistan !
I can appreciate that.. but this is factory fresh, as is, just out of the door. I could appreciate some unusual little bug that someone perhaps didnt notice at first..
I just felt that it left a sour taste in the mouth.
Hm.. I'd have to debate Apples claim that their UNIX based OS sits as king of the hill..
Coincidentally enough, I had to unbox a brand new Titanium iBook and just run the initial setup for a department at the college I work at..
Pretty straight forward enough.. unboxed, plugged in, "insert restore discs 1-->3" and off you go.
MacOSX looked nice enough.. so on first boot, I thought I would try out the Apple DVD player. Plopped in a DVD, waited a few seconds, and got a message "This application has terminated unexpectedly" or some crap.. oh.. great. If I had just paid for that iBook instead of going for an unreliable Windows machine I would be pretty peeved - is that the sign of things to come?
To re-iterate my point.. I dont think a UNIX OS as young as MacOS X (and yes, I know its based off NextStep, but so much has been added since then) can compete in the speed and reliability market, alongside such kings as Sun and SGI.
Seems to be a pretty clear decision by the /. readership that this is a pretty lame idea..
Gawd - WinModems were terrible devices.. even though CPU's are fast these days, they still put a hell of a strain on the system - not to mention their inoperability with other Operating Systems.
I personally though WiFi was at quite a good stage - a powerful technology that has been made relatively simple to setup and use.. dont let it get polluted by stripping it down and making it software based!
A little bit of competition can only help the market.
Am I the only one who finds this a little ironic? Microsoft - the company that tries to stifle all competition that threatens its business - and you praise their efforts in making a little competition?
I am somewhat sceptical about this.. I dont Microsoft just switching over like this? I think they'll get people cosy with using
Call me anti-Microsoft, but they do this kind of thing all the time.. and I certainly dont think they have changed their tack overnight.
..I still love to read articles like this for one reason.. it makes me feel waaay more el1te than I really am.
:
:-|
If we were to go by everything the media tries to put down the technologically 'uninitiated's throats, I could consider myself to be an Uber
a) Hacker (Hey, I use IRC.. so I MUST hate the corporate world, and hack for fun!)
b) Pirate (GASP.. he has MP3 copies of his own CD's.. oh, and he uses a broadband connection.. oh, and throw the IRC thing in there again.. he must be using his connection to download illegal copies of movies!!)
I wont bother going on, but I think you know what I am getting at. Misinformed respresentatives of the media go and spread stories like that, which ultimately only rallies support for zealots like Senator Hollings, and his Disney cronies. They just piggyback off the public uncertainty to make geeks like, like most of us here, look bad...
*grrrrrrrrr*