I never did play Everquest. But, I played Shadowbane, an Everquest-like game - where players completely controlled the economy, built cities, and created nations and guilds and fought among one another..
The first two months the game was out. One million gold pieces went for ~$100 on Ebay. It took my brother's farming character about 5 hours to earn $100. He made about $500 on Ebay when I decided to get the game. Twenty bucks an hour isn't bad for playing a video game..
Soon after I got it, gold quickly lowered in price. After about six months, 100 million gold went for $100 on Ebay. The economy was completely flooded. Any remotely valuable in-game item sold for millions of gold - or an impossibly-long farming time for a new player.
I read that some new MMORPGS that are coming out are actually going to try to take advantage of the players' willingness to pay for an advantage. Supposedly, people will be able to buy uber items that are impossible to get in-game.
1. You bought an Alienware for admittedly $500 more than price of same components. 2. You ruined your motherboard by overclocking too high.
You, sir, would fit into the 'gamer dork' category.
My original post had nothing to do with marketing. I simply stated that most real gaming nerds will build their computers anyway - and the likes of Alienware, Dell EXTREME, and Compaq SUPER DUPER will remain for those that still need to learn about computers.
overclock/oh'vr-klok'/ vt. To operate a CPU or other digital
logic device at a rate higher than it was designed for, under the
assumption that the manufacturer put some slop into the
specification to account for manufacturing tolerances. Overclocking
something can result in intermittent crashes, and can even burn
things out, since power dissipation is directly proportional to
clock frequency. People who make a hobby of this are sometimes
called "overclockers"; they are thrilled that they can run their
450MHz CPU at 500MHz, even though they can only tell the difference
by running a benchmark program.
LOL, I like dictionary.com's propaganda inserted into their definition of overclocking. And I was going to try and argue that the definition of overclocking meant running a cpu at faster-than-designed speeds while preserving stability.
Seriously, what kind of overclocker allows his computer to crash at random? You don't know how to overclock if you can't get it to run stable.
There's the gamer nerd. Gamer nerd builds his computer and tweaks the hell out of it. It never runs at the specified bus speed, voltage, and it never crashes. The graphics card is overclocked along with every other component in the computer.
Then, there's the gamer dork. Gamer dork spends $2000 extra for an Alienware. He brags to his friends about how awesome it is. Then, he screws it up with spyware and it runs slow. Then, he pays Gamer Nerd $50 and a 12-pack to fix it.
Perhaps if Compaq offered a real savings over building the computer yourself, Gamer Nerd will be interested in it. However, Gamer Nerd quickly sees that $2000 of the price of the computer is for unneeded software, brand name, and unneeded support.
Bill Gates demonstrated business genius by screwing real programmers out of their own code and then playing the arrogant IBM execs. He didn't exactly do much for computers other than establish a monopoly. He should get a business award.
Michael Dell basically built a computer. Then, he put his name on it. Then, he figured out how to build them really fast and cheap. (He doesn't make fast computers.. just makes them fast and cheap.) Other companies did this too. Dell could get a marketing award - but for computing, he's probably holding us back just like Gates. What kind of computing company ignores the fastest processor and only sells one brand? So, again, marketing award.
Perhaps this "Hall of Fame" should be discredited and smart nerds can come up with a better one. It seems like just another industry award where the people controlling it get to honor themselves.
Why is the GBA the center of portable gaming?
on
GPS for GBA
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
Nintendo really does have a monopoly on portable gaming. The GBA is 1/10 as powerful as most handheld PDAs, the screen is hard to see (even on the newer SP), and yet they come out with a GPS attachment for it that will only work for the GBA. Plus, I can't see entering address information with five buttons being very viable.
Though GPS on a GBA is somewhat nifty, I think that a normal compactflash (or other media style) of GPS unit for a PDA would be more useful.
Perhaps Nintendo can turn global navigation into a 2d mario-style game. Then, I could break the road blocks in my way by jumping up at them.
It's unfair that AMD is always compared to Intel using processors that are generally the same speed. Like, Intel has a 3.2ghz P4 so the article compares a 3200+ AMD to it. Then, the 3.2ghz P4 beats the AMD in a few benchmarks...
But what the hell is the real benchmark? PRICE. PRICE. PRICE.
When you can get a 3.2ghz P4 for $410 and an Athlon XP 3200+ for $200, AMD is a better deal. The +/- 5% performance is nothing. AMD will always beat Intel in terms of price/performance - except for the few instances where an Intel chip would overclock well.
Review sites should compare Intel and AMD in terms of price for processor. Like, they review the top processors for each company, then the $400 range, then the $200 range, then the $100 range, etc.. It's not like someone says 'I need either a 2.8ghz P4 or a 2800+ Athlon. A 3.2ghz will not do.'
I am so sick of seeing Anandtech, Ars Technica, Tom's, etc, etc reviewing processors and then saying something to the effect of, "After exhausting review of the two processors, it seems Intel pulls out ahead in 57% of the benchmarks. Therefore, in this case, we recommend Intel." But, the Intel CPU is twice the price. The way CPUs are reviewed is kind of like a car review magazine reviewing cars solely on engine displacement while the $30,000 difference between random GM and random Mercedes is ignored..
The CPU marketplace is fucked up./I'm gonna go shoot myself.
Not wanting to succumb to Microsoft's ability to create crappy logos (Paperclip, Bob), the Open Source community has introduced a logo that promises to trump the 'non-business like' and 'unprofessional' of all previous Microsoft logos into one logo.
However, at least with Open Source, we may see an improvement in the next version of the logo unless of course they fork it. Personally I hope they fork it and fork it quickly.. and they should fork whoever decided on that logo.
That logo makes the running man AOL icon look deep. Last time I saw a happy fish in a Seagall's mouth was during a bad acid trip.
I'm sick of the people that will Star Trek to die. If you don't like Star Trek nowadays, quit trying to ruin it for me. Why badmouth it if you're not going to watch it?
Some of you people have seen maybe three episodes of Enterprise and declared it horrible. The same goes for Deep Space Nine or Voyager. However, we find Star Trek fans whos' favorite series are any of the series made so far. Ya, TNG is the amazing god of Star Trek - but some of us find Enterprise, DS9, or Voyager to be a hundred times more interesting than a new sci-fi show on a choked budget.
My friends and I have been watching Enterprise religiously. It is an amazing show. Every week they put out a movie-quality episode. Ya, there are some corny parts. But, the all-amazing TNG had corny parts too. And don't forget how corny the original series was - all computers are a grid of colorful blinking lights.
However, willing the Star Trek universe to simply die is such a waste. Star Trek fans know the aliens, we know the different politics for different alliances, we know the history... starting a whole new universe with a new show makes that all wasted.
Also, what is the deal with hating Rick Berman? He worked on part of TNG, DS9, Voyager, and now Enterprise. He's contributed as much to the Star Trek universe as Gene Roddenberry.
I hope they make another series after Enterprise.. and I hope Enterprise goes for at least 5 years. It's simply an entire wealth of creativity larger than Lord of the Rings and Star Wars combined.
Now you can fart in church..
on
SimChurch
·
· Score: 1
This is just wrong on so many levels.. "The blood of Christ, shed for you." *in underwear, toasting a beer
Dammit! It seems like everything bad that happens to Microsoft, Microsoft turns around and uses it in their favor...
I mean: - States sue Microsoft for abusing monopoly powers; Microsoft pays lawsuit with Microsoft products that indoctrinate kids (future buyers) into Microsoft products.
- Microsoft sues Lindows for it's impossible common word trademark of windows in US courts. Microsoft loses. Microsoft sues Lindows in other world courts; Lindows is forced to change name. Microsoft loses, yet wins. Lindows runs out of lawsuit money.
- States sue Microsoft over alleged undocumented Windows routines that allow MS software to run better on Windows than other software. Source code is released later on that shows MS lied in court. Nothing happens to MS!
How is this new lawsuit good for anything but Microsoft? It's like Microsoft basically paid $440million to ensure that 3rd party software has a disadvantage - something Microsoft has already been sued for! This, once again, screws consumers by causing 3rd party manufacturers to pay more for licensing and allows MS to eat another market.
MS is really clever at screwing us all in the ass as efficiently as possible.
I hate to be off-topic, but why do you consider Antec to be better than Enermax? I thought most people would consider Enermax to be better than Antec as it commonly puts out more power per rail than Antec.
Um, are u mking fun of slashdot cause' if u r u are making a big mistake because we now what we talking about and news isnt always about grammer so why don't you stfu noob and go learn some english you 14yo fat kid U are obviously uninformed about inteligense cause it is not always about how u spel yer words!!!!
Ya, I use Windows XP. Even though I have a firewall and keep my patches up to date, I still get adware/spyware once in a while.
I would get 0 adware/spyware if Microsoft wrote a little bit of security into their operating system in a few ways:
- Record log of installed files (prompt for any files being installed in non-specified directlories.. ie: If realplayer trys to install realisawesome.dll in C:\windows\system32, WINDOWS itself prompts me.)
- Prompt for any programs trying to start up with the computer
- Have only one method for a program starting up with a pretty little 'startup' icon in the control panel
- Disable IE's install on demand by default (probby most common method for spyware)
- Allow users to disable popups without a fucking extra program (fuck developers and their incessant popups - MS gives way too much control to them and none to the end user)
- Have Windows control the uninstall and not some crappy script written by the same company that wrote the crappy software that user wants to uninstall cause' it was crappy
- Allow the user to enable plugins only when desired (disable flash advertisements and stuff)
- Quit allowing programs to install a shortcut in startup, the quicklaunch bar, the desktop, every goddamn folder on the computer, favorites, and quit launching a secondary program just to launch a button that launches the main program!!!
This is how you could fix things in Windows.. Linux is pre-fixed.
So, you Linux nerds, why the hell aren't we trashing Microsoft in this thread? They're fixing 'security', but not the type of shit Mr. Stupid Enduser cares about.
My family and I went to New York for a few days in the summer for a break between college semesters. It was a fun 3 days.
My mom and I were sitting in the airport about 1 hour before our plane was to take off when the power went out. Being from Florida, we didn't think much of it (lightning knocks out power all the time). However, the other people seemed nervous. My dad and brother were waiting for a different flight that was to take off one hour after hours. We had different flights because my dad came directly from a business trip and my brother was out of state before the trip also.
Well, after about 10 minutes of no power, they announced all flights would be cancelled. Our flight still took off, but we weren't allowed to board it because we had electronic tickets and only paper tickets were allowed for boarding.
My dad and brothers' flight also ended up taking off.. But they hadn't passed the security checkpoint before the blackout and no one was allowed to after the blackout.
My brother and I had Tmobile cell phones with plenty of battery. My dad had already used most of his battery power to reschedule appointments for work. My mom used her cell phone for the same thing. Tmobile worked for about 1 hour after the blackout. Then, it went dead for the next two days - wasn't able to use it until I got out of New York.
So, since my mom and I had no way to contact my brother and dad, and all hotels were instantly booked, we just sat around in LaGuardia (a totally crappy airport) all night. She slept; I didn't. We were next to a typical Mexican family of 47 that were being unnecessarily loud. I decided to use my abundant battery power in my cell phone to try to force it onto another cellular network (Tmobiles are supposed to be able to roam). I saw AT&T available and selected it, but when I did, it said emergency calls only. Fuck Tmobile.
My bro and dad got on a bus headed back towards Manhattan and went back to our former hotel room. Since power went out, no new rooms were able to be booked so they were able to have the same room again. The hotel (New York Hilton Towers) was very well prepared for the whole incident. They laid out a buffet (since their food was gonna go bad anyway) and let anyone at it - even people not staying at the hotel. They also gave out a bunch of glowsticks to anyone that wanted one.
The next morning, my mom and I decided to carpool with a business man who was taking a rental car to Washington DC to get a flight out from there. The cab ride at 4am through Manhattan to the rental dealer was scary. Everything was pitch black. Every few blocks there was a police car with police lights running. Other than that, there was very little light. My mom and I booked flights. We drove the 3 hours without a hitch. Our plane was 1 hour late, but we made it home fine. It felt so good to be home and finally be able to take a shower.
My dad and brother, however, were still stuck in New York. My brother's cell phone would still not work. When my dad walked by a news crew, they asked him his opinion. Being an electrical engineer, he explained fairly accurately why the power in such a large area went out. He said he didn't know if he made it onto the TV, but he thought it was funny that the news crewman was saying exactly what he said right after the 'interview'. My dad used this opportunity to charge his cell phone by plugging it into the news crew van. He said they didn't mind as long as he didn't tell other people about it.
After a half hour or so of charging, my dad was finally able to book a flight out of LaGuardia, but it was soon cancelled. My bro and dad went out and bought some new clothes since they were sick of smelling. They ended up staying in New York for another night. They did eventually make it back, though.
Airport computers really oughta be on backup power. LaGaurdia's weren't. Though, the lights and televisions in the airport stayed on for about 10 hours after the initial blackout.
Slashdot Mirror
Isn't that a little outdated? I thought our scientists were working on controls built around electrodes attached to the brain.
I really can't think of any games (other than RPGs) that don't require multiple buttons pressed simultaneously.
Windows killed my mother.. and raped my father!!!
I never did play Everquest. But, I played Shadowbane, an Everquest-like game - where players completely controlled the economy, built cities, and created nations and guilds and fought among one another..
The first two months the game was out. One million gold pieces went for ~$100 on Ebay. It took my brother's farming character about 5 hours to earn $100. He made about $500 on Ebay when I decided to get the game. Twenty bucks an hour isn't bad for playing a video game..
Soon after I got it, gold quickly lowered in price. After about six months, 100 million gold went for $100 on Ebay. The economy was completely flooded. Any remotely valuable in-game item sold for millions of gold - or an impossibly-long farming time for a new player.
I read that some new MMORPGS that are coming out are actually going to try to take advantage of the players' willingness to pay for an advantage. Supposedly, people will be able to buy uber items that are impossible to get in-game.
Back in my day, you didn't have a hard drive! You just had to put a floppy into the computer and boot from there.
and I'm 22..
1. You bought an Alienware for admittedly $500 more than price of same components.
2. You ruined your motherboard by overclocking too high.
You, sir, would fit into the 'gamer dork' category.
My original post had nothing to do with marketing. I simply stated that most real gaming nerds will build their computers anyway - and the likes of Alienware, Dell EXTREME, and Compaq SUPER DUPER will remain for those that still need to learn about computers.
There's the gamer nerd. Gamer nerd builds his computer and tweaks the hell out of it. It never runs at the specified bus speed, voltage, and it never crashes. The graphics card is overclocked along with every other component in the computer.
Then, there's the gamer dork. Gamer dork spends $2000 extra for an Alienware. He brags to his friends about how awesome it is. Then, he screws it up with spyware and it runs slow. Then, he pays Gamer Nerd $50 and a 12-pack to fix it.
Perhaps if Compaq offered a real savings over building the computer yourself, Gamer Nerd will be interested in it. However, Gamer Nerd quickly sees that $2000 of the price of the computer is for unneeded software, brand name, and unneeded support.
I completely agree..
Bill Gates demonstrated business genius by screwing real programmers out of their own code and then playing the arrogant IBM execs. He didn't exactly do much for computers other than establish a monopoly. He should get a business award.
Michael Dell basically built a computer. Then, he put his name on it. Then, he figured out how to build them really fast and cheap. (He doesn't make fast computers.. just makes them fast and cheap.) Other companies did this too. Dell could get a marketing award - but for computing, he's probably holding us back just like Gates. What kind of computing company ignores the fastest processor and only sells one brand? So, again, marketing award.
Perhaps this "Hall of Fame" should be discredited and smart nerds can come up with a better one. It seems like just another industry award where the people controlling it get to honor themselves.
Nintendo really does have a monopoly on portable gaming. The GBA is 1/10 as powerful as most handheld PDAs, the screen is hard to see (even on the newer SP), and yet they come out with a GPS attachment for it that will only work for the GBA. Plus, I can't see entering address information with five buttons being very viable.
Though GPS on a GBA is somewhat nifty, I think that a normal compactflash (or other media style) of GPS unit for a PDA would be more useful.
Perhaps Nintendo can turn global navigation into a 2d mario-style game. Then, I could break the road blocks in my way by jumping up at them.
It's unfair that AMD is always compared to Intel using processors that are generally the same speed. Like, Intel has a 3.2ghz P4 so the article compares a 3200+ AMD to it. Then, the 3.2ghz P4 beats the AMD in a few benchmarks...
/I'm gonna go shoot myself.
But what the hell is the real benchmark? PRICE. PRICE. PRICE.
When you can get a 3.2ghz P4 for $410 and an Athlon XP 3200+ for $200, AMD is a better deal. The +/- 5% performance is nothing. AMD will always beat Intel in terms of price/performance - except for the few instances where an Intel chip would overclock well.
Review sites should compare Intel and AMD in terms of price for processor. Like, they review the top processors for each company, then the $400 range, then the $200 range, then the $100 range, etc.. It's not like someone says 'I need either a 2.8ghz P4 or a 2800+ Athlon. A 3.2ghz will not do.'
I am so sick of seeing Anandtech, Ars Technica, Tom's, etc, etc reviewing processors and then saying something to the effect of, "After exhausting review of the two processors, it seems Intel pulls out ahead in 57% of the benchmarks. Therefore, in this case, we recommend Intel." But, the Intel CPU is twice the price. The way CPUs are reviewed is kind of like a car review magazine reviewing cars solely on engine displacement while the $30,000 difference between random GM and random Mercedes is ignored..
The CPU marketplace is fucked up.
Jesse Jackson offers his services to negotiate a peace treaty between the microbes on Titan and the humans on Earth..
With bits that small, there's plenty of room for parity bits.
Not wanting to succumb to Microsoft's ability to create crappy logos (Paperclip, Bob), the Open Source community has introduced a logo that promises to trump the 'non-business like' and 'unprofessional' of all previous Microsoft logos into one logo.
However, at least with Open Source, we may see an improvement in the next version of the logo unless of course they fork it. Personally I hope they fork it and fork it quickly.. and they should fork whoever decided on that logo.
That logo makes the running man AOL icon look deep. Last time I saw a happy fish in a Seagall's mouth was during a bad acid trip.
Did I read you wrong or did you just tell us to wait a generation or two for the pop-up version?
I swear.. if I start reading a book and I get a popup, I'm gonna have to break something.
All my plans of turning worthless motherboards into precious pencils has failed!!
I'm sick of the people that will Star Trek to die. If you don't like Star Trek nowadays, quit trying to ruin it for me. Why badmouth it if you're not going to watch it?
Some of you people have seen maybe three episodes of Enterprise and declared it horrible. The same goes for Deep Space Nine or Voyager. However, we find Star Trek fans whos' favorite series are any of the series made so far. Ya, TNG is the amazing god of Star Trek - but some of us find Enterprise, DS9, or Voyager to be a hundred times more interesting than a new sci-fi show on a choked budget.
My friends and I have been watching Enterprise religiously. It is an amazing show. Every week they put out a movie-quality episode. Ya, there are some corny parts. But, the all-amazing TNG had corny parts too. And don't forget how corny the original series was - all computers are a grid of colorful blinking lights.
However, willing the Star Trek universe to simply die is such a waste. Star Trek fans know the aliens, we know the different politics for different alliances, we know the history... starting a whole new universe with a new show makes that all wasted.
Also, what is the deal with hating Rick Berman? He worked on part of TNG, DS9, Voyager, and now Enterprise. He's contributed as much to the Star Trek universe as Gene Roddenberry.
I hope they make another series after Enterprise.. and I hope Enterprise goes for at least 5 years. It's simply an entire wealth of creativity larger than Lord of the Rings and Star Wars combined.
This is just wrong on so many levels.. "The blood of Christ, shed for you." *in underwear, toasting a beer
We might as well store data on ice cubes, bananas... or hell, even magnets!
Dammit! It seems like everything bad that happens to Microsoft, Microsoft turns around and uses it in their favor...
I mean:
- States sue Microsoft for abusing monopoly powers; Microsoft pays lawsuit with Microsoft products that indoctrinate kids (future buyers) into Microsoft products.
- Microsoft sues Lindows for it's impossible common word trademark of windows in US courts. Microsoft loses. Microsoft sues Lindows in other world courts; Lindows is forced to change name. Microsoft loses, yet wins. Lindows runs out of lawsuit money.
- States sue Microsoft over alleged undocumented Windows routines that allow MS software to run better on Windows than other software. Source code is released later on that shows MS lied in court. Nothing happens to MS!
How is this new lawsuit good for anything but Microsoft? It's like Microsoft basically paid $440million to ensure that 3rd party software has a disadvantage - something Microsoft has already been sued for! This, once again, screws consumers by causing 3rd party manufacturers to pay more for licensing and allows MS to eat another market.
MS is really clever at screwing us all in the ass as efficiently as possible.
I hate to be off-topic, but why do you consider Antec to be better than Enermax? I thought most people would consider Enermax to be better than Antec as it commonly puts out more power per rail than Antec.
Um, are u mking fun of slashdot cause' if u r u are making a big mistake because we now what we talking about and news isnt always about grammer so why don't you stfu noob and go learn some english you 14yo fat kid U are obviously uninformed about inteligense cause it is not always about how u spel yer words!!!!
Ya, I use Windows XP. Even though I have a firewall and keep my patches up to date, I still get adware/spyware once in a while.
I would get 0 adware/spyware if Microsoft wrote a little bit of security into their operating system in a few ways:
- Record log of installed files (prompt for any files being installed in non-specified directlories.. ie: If realplayer trys to install realisawesome.dll in C:\windows\system32, WINDOWS itself prompts me.)
- Prompt for any programs trying to start up with the computer
- Have only one method for a program starting up with a pretty little 'startup' icon in the control panel
- Disable IE's install on demand by default (probby most common method for spyware)
- Allow users to disable popups without a fucking extra program (fuck developers and their incessant popups - MS gives way too much control to them and none to the end user)
- Have Windows control the uninstall and not some crappy script written by the same company that wrote the crappy software that user wants to uninstall cause' it was crappy
- Allow the user to enable plugins only when desired (disable flash advertisements and stuff)
- Quit allowing programs to install a shortcut in startup, the quicklaunch bar, the desktop, every goddamn folder on the computer, favorites, and quit launching a secondary program just to launch a button that launches the main program!!!
This is how you could fix things in Windows.. Linux is pre-fixed.
So, you Linux nerds, why the hell aren't we trashing Microsoft in this thread? They're fixing 'security', but not the type of shit Mr. Stupid Enduser cares about.
Then where is this 364*$3,000,000 on M....I's financial statements?
Do you have to throw your own poop?
My family and I went to New York for a few days in the summer for a break between college semesters. It was a fun 3 days.
My mom and I were sitting in the airport about 1 hour before our plane was to take off when the power went out. Being from Florida, we didn't think much of it (lightning knocks out power all the time). However, the other people seemed nervous. My dad and brother were waiting for a different flight that was to take off one hour after hours. We had different flights because my dad came directly from a business trip and my brother was out of state before the trip also.
Well, after about 10 minutes of no power, they announced all flights would be cancelled. Our flight still took off, but we weren't allowed to board it because we had electronic tickets and only paper tickets were allowed for boarding.
My dad and brothers' flight also ended up taking off.. But they hadn't passed the security checkpoint before the blackout and no one was allowed to after the blackout.
My brother and I had Tmobile cell phones with plenty of battery. My dad had already used most of his battery power to reschedule appointments for work. My mom used her cell phone for the same thing. Tmobile worked for about 1 hour after the blackout. Then, it went dead for the next two days - wasn't able to use it until I got out of New York.
So, since my mom and I had no way to contact my brother and dad, and all hotels were instantly booked, we just sat around in LaGuardia (a totally crappy airport) all night. She slept; I didn't. We were next to a typical Mexican family of 47 that were being unnecessarily loud. I decided to use my abundant battery power in my cell phone to try to force it onto another cellular network (Tmobiles are supposed to be able to roam). I saw AT&T available and selected it, but when I did, it said emergency calls only. Fuck Tmobile.
My bro and dad got on a bus headed back towards Manhattan and went back to our former hotel room. Since power went out, no new rooms were able to be booked so they were able to have the same room again. The hotel (New York Hilton Towers) was very well prepared for the whole incident. They laid out a buffet (since their food was gonna go bad anyway) and let anyone at it - even people not staying at the hotel. They also gave out a bunch of glowsticks to anyone that wanted one.
The next morning, my mom and I decided to carpool with a business man who was taking a rental car to Washington DC to get a flight out from there. The cab ride at 4am through Manhattan to the rental dealer was scary. Everything was pitch black. Every few blocks there was a police car with police lights running. Other than that, there was very little light. My mom and I booked flights. We drove the 3 hours without a hitch. Our plane was 1 hour late, but we made it home fine. It felt so good to be home and finally be able to take a shower.
My dad and brother, however, were still stuck in New York. My brother's cell phone would still not work. When my dad walked by a news crew, they asked him his opinion. Being an electrical engineer, he explained fairly accurately why the power in such a large area went out. He said he didn't know if he made it onto the TV, but he thought it was funny that the news crewman was saying exactly what he said right after the 'interview'. My dad used this opportunity to charge his cell phone by plugging it into the news crew van. He said they didn't mind as long as he didn't tell other people about it.
After a half hour or so of charging, my dad was finally able to book a flight out of LaGuardia, but it was soon cancelled. My bro and dad went out and bought some new clothes since they were sick of smelling. They ended up staying in New York for another night. They did eventually make it back, though.
Airport computers really oughta be on backup power. LaGaurdia's weren't. Though, the lights and televisions in the airport stayed on for about 10 hours after the initial blackout.