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User: zeno_2

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  1. Re:Could this be.... on Major Linux/Athlon CPU bug discovered · · Score: 2, Interesting

    From just the story, it looks like to me that the linux kernel could send the cpu pages that were bigger/smaller then 4k, and it would have a problem with that. His fix would automatically detect the bug and resize the info that is sent to the cpu to 4k.

    The original pentium bug had to do with the floating point processor on the chip, not with the size of page that was sent to the chip..

    Of course I could be wrong about all this =)

  2. Re:IE does not kick Netscape's behind anymore on AOL in Negotiations to Buy Red Hat? · · Score: 1

    You mean IE on anything but Windows XP right?

  3. Re:What will they do? on KaZaa Suspends Downloads · · Score: 1

    Ya, its always done that, and Ive always found another copy of the song, with maybe the track name added or something.. not really a big deal...

  4. Re:Au contraire on 2.4, The Kernel of Pain · · Score: 1

    No, but just a general, I run xwindows on my box and its slow doesn't automatically mean that its buggy... Most of these things are caused by misconfiguration (even on windows) of drivers and such.

    I dont have a problem with that on a slower machine, so my guess is he didn't do something right..

  5. Re:Two issues: on Steve Jobs And The Oh-So-Cool iMac · · Score: 2, Informative
    But, I could buy a PC that's faster, I'm guessing by at least 25%, for less money. And by faster I'm not talking about clock speed, I'm talking about running apps. So why should I spend a lot more money for less performance.

    Have you ever used an apple? I have before, I am a pc user, I have no mac's, but I have a lot of friends who fix them for a living, and when they do break, they are VERY easy to fix. There are rarely any large problems on a mac, and the reason why is you buy the unit as one thing, and you leave it alone. Apple has tested EVERYTHING in that machine to the point where its essentally perfect, and if something goes wrong, its usually easy to fix. (Im coming from OS9, not sure about OSX).

    I can understand what your saying, and as I said, I do not have a mac, I want to buy one, but mainly because I think OSX is a piece of art. If I were to buy a new imac, I would use it to read email, play music/movies, things like that. I can say that the machine problably wont have a single problem with it.

    Right now I work in a call center that takes calls on pc games. I work with about 15 people per day, fixing their computer over the phone. PC's can get real screwed up real quick, and with windows, sometimes the only thing you can do is reformat and try again.

    So, when you buy an apple, your buying a machine that is proven to be reliable. When I buy an apple, im not thinking well, its good enough for what I want to do, Im thinking, this is what I want to do, and its going to perform that well.

    So, im coming from the reliabilty standpoint. I might be coming from a skewed perspective (the only computers I deal with are mine, which work, and all my customers, which dont work (ive worked here for almost 4 years, so ive dealt with thousands of people calling me up over those years) but I feel that an apple computer is much more like a microwave then it is a computer. It does what it needs to do, and it does it well. If I want something more. You ask, why would I want to buy a machine that is 25% the speed of the fastest machine, but I will probably not run into as many problems as someone on a pc, unless they know what they are doing.. My home machine really hasn't had to reboot since I put winxp on it. I had to reboot once or twice when installing software/drivers, but not because of my resources going to hell or anything like that. Does that make me still want to get an imac? Hell yes it does =). I used to play a lot of games on my pc, but im getting sick of them now I think (4 years on a tech support call center for games will do that to ya), so now, I pretty much use my machine to download mp3's, look up guitar tabs, and small things like that, read email, look at the internet, bla bla.. The only thing that really kept me to windows was games, but now that I don't play games, why do I need a powerhouse of a computer to read my email?

    Anyway, I can see your point, but there is still a place in this world for macs, I hope they never go away myself. Im not saying that a mac is for everyone, as you yourself seem to be stuck on pc's right now, but there are others who may think a bit different then you, who just might beneifit more from having a machine that just works. I hope you can see my point...

    Oh and by the way, lets say im a big photoshop/premier and whatever else fan, buying a mac is going to be in my interest because the programs seem to work much better using the g4 processor vs. a pentium 4 lets say. Macs are heavily used in the media sections of many many many companies, and there is a reason why. Its not cause mac's are cute, its because they are reliable and they work... Josh

  6. Re:Liability. on Security Flaws May Be Microsoft's Undoing · · Score: 1

    What about the disclaimers that say that this software cannot be used in an enviorment where important data can be lost, etc etc etc...

    I mean, if I make some dumb program, and someone actually uses it for something in a buisness, why should I be held liable for that, especially if I did not market this program as something that would be used in such an enviorment?

  7. Re:hmmm on Steve Jobs And The Oh-So-Cool iMac · · Score: 1

    This new imac isn't built for speed or anything, its a very small computer with a really nice screen, people know they wont be folding protiens on it, nor making the latest 3d rendered movie, but for what people want it for (watching movies, surfing the net, reading email) you can't get much better then buying a new imac in my opinion..

    If your a person who wants to have speed, buy a pc, or buy a machine from apple thats built for that.. I just maxed out all the options on a dual g4 tower and it turns out to be a very fast machine, but also very expensive.

    And for your example.

    Lets say theres a person who needs to get from point a to point b. They have some money, they can get what everyone else has, a big fast car, but theres a lot of work involved in that, keeping it running, giving it gas, all sorts of stuff. Now, this person could also buy a bike, which is good enough for what he needs, and this person really never has to worry about maintenance, not compared to a car anyway.

    The machine isn't built for everyone, so dont try to put it into a performance market, or whatever else, its a small computer, and it does what it does well..

  8. Re:Is this like... on Swarms Of Tiny Robots To Monitor Water Pollution · · Score: 1

    Im kinda thinkin more like the robot in the matrix that neo finds after 'waking up', just REAL small =).

  9. Re:Great. on Swarms Of Tiny Robots To Monitor Water Pollution · · Score: 1

    Your post kinda reminded me of this quote:

    "There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.

    There is another theory which states that this has already happened."

    Douglas Adams

  10. Re:How long .. on Swarms Of Tiny Robots To Monitor Water Pollution · · Score: 1

    Well, I would hope that this university would test this stuff before actually doing it, our little minds dont really know everything that they have been dealing with, but im sure the topic has come up at least once as they were talking about all this..

    If it does happen, I have full faith that they would have tested that as much as they could before trying it. As with anything, you can't test it perfectly until you try..

  11. Re:802.11a..... on Consumer Electronics Show 2002 Report · · Score: 1

    Yea, pretty much what I figured, I was in area 1, and the new modems were for the newer areas.

    Which is why im kinda amazed that linksys would open this can of worms upon themselves. I have a linksys router now, and I have not a single problem in the world with having my cable modem plugged into it, then to my machine.

    I really dont see why getting them both in one box would help, im sure my cable company wouldn't be happy if I called them up with a "new" modem they know nothing about. I doubt it would make things run any different, heck my cable modem, the only time it hasn't worked, was when a physical problem happened in one of the lines around my house, and there isn't much I can do to prevent that. So im kinda wondering what their idea is behind this, I guess it simplifies things a bit, having one box instead of 2, but its looking more like one of those solutions that dont have a problem yet..

    Ah well, linksys is making some cool stuff, let em keep on going I guess.

  12. Re:802.11a..... on Consumer Electronics Show 2002 Report · · Score: 1

    I just had some problems with my cable service, the guy came out and gave me a new modem to see if it would fix it.

    The modem he gave me was a different model, and he had to call into the main office because the modem I have usually isn't in the area that I was in, and they had to let it on the cable network.

    So im curious to see if its something that will cause problems or not. I am also kinda thinking my cable guy was bullshitting me but who knows..

  13. Re:Projector story on Consumer Electronics Show 2002 Report · · Score: 1

    I played descent at Gameworks in Las Vegas a few years ago, they had 8 screens kinda in a circle, and you would sit in this chair with the controls, and play against the other 7 people.

    Well the nice thing about it was the screen was concave a bit (similar to imax i guess) so when you sat down in the chair, your whole field of view was the screen.

    It was pretty fun, id love to be able to try it again, if you stop by a gameworks try descent out if they still have it setup.

  14. Even more then that on RMS: Putting an End to Word Attachments · · Score: 1

    I say we make all email programs only accept plain text and thats it. If you need to do something more, make a page and send a link as text.

    I really see no reason why we have html email, its a waste of bandwidth. I would be very happy if the only emails I saw were plain text, I dont need animated gifs in my email, I dont need your webpage sent to me in email everyday (thanks mp3.com)..

    Ah well, the corporate people here at work love sending out emails that are just covered in animated gifs, clipart, sounds, all sorts of crap.. seems like a waste of time/space to me.

  15. Re:Eh... on Square, FFXI, and the MMORPG · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yea, I would have to agree with you.

    I LOVED final fantasy 1 for NES. There was really not many games like that, and I just was hooked. Being able to take your basic warrior, and when he got to a certain point, give him a new job as like a paladin was great.

    Final Fantasy 2 was great also, as well as Final Fantasy 3, each of them had the same basic game, but new story and whatnot. Back then, they had to depend on this story, character development, gameplay, and whatever else to keep people hooked. The graphics were just there to portray the above.

    Next, in the US at least, came Final Fantasy 7. First FF game (in the us at least) that was on a non-nintendo console. They put this game on the new bad boy of the block, the playstation. This is when I started to not like Final Fantasy. It seemed to me in this game that they were using graphics as the main hook to get people to play it. I didn't get hooked into the story, I didn't like the very linear gameplay in it. There would be times when I wouldn't have any idea where to go, I was stuck in a certain part of the world, and all I had to do was just follow the outer part of each screen until I found a door or something. A whole lot less adventuring in that game, as you were almost pushed to where you needed to go next. Needless to say, I didn't finish that game, I gave up about halfway into it.

    You can repeat that same story for Final Fantasy 8 and 9 also. I never bought 8, I think I rented it and thats about it. I did buy 9, didn't finish it. I just bought 10 (so im a sucker heh) and I am liking it more then the past 3, but it still comes down to a final fantasy game. For those who have played, I just beat my first blitzball game (against that damn team that taunted me a bunch) in the big tournament. Took me about 6 tries to do it, but i finally did it. I even got to use the Jeict Shot in the game, which was pretty cool looking.

    Im hoping to finish this one though, it seems a lot better, and the graphics are just jaw dropping. What is nice about this game is you dont get pulled from the game much. What I mean is that you will be walking along, and you'll run into something and it will go into a big scene, but it uses the same graphics, not cutting into a pre-rendered movie. There are pre-rendered movies in the game, but they aren't everywhere, and they are put in just the right places. I would also say that some of the movies in the game are better looking then final fantasy the movie.

    Well anyway, im hoping I will end up liking the game (ff10), I don't like the futuristic aspect of it much, but it has a lot of old world feel to it as well, peole using swords still and things like that. As for this next final fantasy that will be online, im sure its going to be a huge hit, seeing that final fantasy has a very large fan base already.

  16. Re:Eh? on Square, FFXI, and the MMORPG · · Score: 1

    Each final fantasy takes place on a new planet/world, and it shows the story of the possible destruction of the world, and you have to save it..

    So, none of the final fantasies tie in with each other, but they have the same overall theme.

    Now, about the original story, this 'genre' has been tested on the consoles.. Phantasy Star Online. Dunno if the worlds are as big as lets say everquest or camelot, but you definately could group with people on the internet and go have fun...

  17. Re:Not terribly acuurate. on "Fast Packet Keying" Improvements to WEP · · Score: 1

    No, I have one of the original ps2's that was sold when they came out, and mine plays DVD disks fine.

    I think with the XBOX you do need to buy the DVD kit but not sure.

    My ps2 has a menu that i can access with my ps2 controller, for ff, rewind, play, all the normal stuff.

  18. Re:login required on Pictorial Passwords · · Score: 1

    Heh, ok I was looking at the wrong story...

    Anyway, im pretty amazed that you haven't picked up on the changing www to archive yet. NYtimes seems to archive their news the second it gets posted to their site, and the archive is open (no logins required).

    This is really a redundant post, as EVERY time a story is posted that is linked to NYTimes.com, I can guarantee that there will be at least one post that says to replace www with archive. Ah well, maybe one day people will get it..

  19. Re:login required on Pictorial Passwords · · Score: 1

    Hmm.. the website in question (the one in the story) doesn't need any sort of registration to look at.

    I agree with you though, it is very annoying to find a site with a news story that MAKES you register. I can understand having a registration system for those who like and read the site daily, being able to customize news and such, but why force people to make a name/password if they are only going to read a single article from the site and thats it.

    Some good examples of this is IGN, fileplanet, new york times (easy way to get around that last one though). IGN really has pissed me off with the registering deal, as I can read some of the news from the site, but other news I need to login to read it. I can say that I really don't visit the site anymore because of that. I wonder if these website creators realize that they are probably losing readers by FORCING registration..

    Ah well, not really a big deal when it all comes down to it, I just skip over the news stories that are registration protected..

  20. Re:Out of hand... on Europe Adding RFID Tags to Euro Currency · · Score: 1
    actually, it's called "seignorage" and it's quite a bit different than profit)

    Actually, its called seigniorage. Don't worry, i looked it up I had never heard the word before.. those that are like me this is what it means:

    seigniorage (snyr-j)
    n.
    Revenue or a profit taken from the minting of coins, usually the difference between the value of the bullion used and the face value of the coin.

  21. Re:Not true at all, not even in North America on Europe Adding RFID Tags to Euro Currency · · Score: 1

    You still can't wirelessly find out what money I have in my pocket, I think thats the big problem.

    Most stores do not write down each serial number on each bill that they get. The reason why is that it would be a major pain in the ass. With this chip in the bill, the cash register could easily record each bill with no intervention with the cashier. The credit card thing I agree with, but if you dont like it use cash I guess..

    Zeno

  22. Re:WAAAAA! on Europe Adding RFID Tags to Euro Currency · · Score: 1

    Or heck, you get a speeding ticket, they shoot this radar gun deal at your car, and disable 100 of your dollars automatically. Next time you try to use them, the cashier will confiscate the money and send it to the gov't. Sounds fun =)

  23. Re:Smart Money... on Europe Adding RFID Tags to Euro Currency · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You could always use www.wheresgeorge.com, I think its only for one dollar bills but its interesting nonetheless. And there is no privacy concerns as far as I can see =)

    Zeno

  24. Re:Here's what Tolkien thought of allegory on LotR Takes Top Spot on IMDB · · Score: 1
    Granted, I have never read any of the books

    That is quite a bold statement coming from someone who JUST said:

    It is based on a piece of literature, so it is much deeper than the average fantasy story.

    Go read the books. First, so you can actually back your claim of it being deeper then an average fantasy story. I really feel sorry for those who have not read the book and saw the movie actually. There were about 14 or so 'main' characters that were introduced in the film, which I think was done a lot better then I was hoping, is still alot of characters to get to know in 3 hours. I could spend 3 hours reading a section of the book when the movie will shorten it to 15 minutes.

    In any case, I think you have a somewhat skewed view on life if, "the parallels in the first movie are as clear as day" as you put it. I myself am not a religious person, and I didn't get one single *hint* of any religous (meaning real world religions) overtones at all. In fact, I haven't heard ANYONE mention anything about that in ANY review I have read anywhere. I am starting to wonder if this is a troll heh..

  25. Re:no wheel on No More Sweaty Mouse Hands · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I thought about this for a while, and I think I know why.

    You didn't specifically bash Microsoft in your post, and the mouse was even a Microsoft one?! Now, if your post would have been something like this:

    "Microsoft sucks because they forced this guy to use a mouse with no wheel!"

    It probably would have been mod'd to +5 insightful.

    Ah well, maybe next time...

    Zeno