Well, I can tell ya the the drives failing isn't a normal problem with Win2k or XP. (At my office, it'd be my job to fix it. Never ever ran across anything like that.)
I do want to ask, though, have you tried them in safe mode? Have ya tried flushing the BIOS? Have you been able to rule out anything i.e. CD burning software?
Yah you shoulda backed up your license file thing. Microsoft gave you an out, you didn't take it. Not their fault you lost data.
I'm not a proponent of DRM. I think it's silly. I'm not defending Microsoft. I have the same fears everybody else does. However, I'm not having a panic attack about it because Microsoft is still dependent on people giving them money. They have to have smiles on their faces to give them money. Microsoft only has so far they can go.
"Actually what scares me most about this is what happens when your motherboard dies, you now have a new pc with the old hardware and no access to your files."
The potential exists, but that's not necessarily what would happen. (I imagine your music collection could end up irretrievable tho..)
Guys, you all are forgetting something rather important. Apple and Linux. If Microsoft uses DRM in such a way that it pisses ppl off like that, do you really think ppl will just take it and not switch to alternatives?
You guys wanna stop this problem? Go work on making Linux a better desktop OS.
"Needless to say I was not too happy that with three trips to their depot they still couldn't properly fix my problem. It seems like their techs should have at least tried turning on my computer before shipping it back."
I have like the opposite story. I bought a laptop, and a couple of months later the backlight on the LCD died. Called Dell, a couple of days later I had a box ready to strap my laptop in and ship back. I sent it out on a Friday, and by Monday morning I had a laptop with a brand new LCD screen in it.
My story doesn't disprove your point, but I think it does prove the saying your mileage my vary.
" So, with their definition I would be in trouble."
Only if you replied to 20+ of them within the alotted time. Frankly, I don't think I could do that on purpose, let alone through casual email use.
Frankly, I don't see what's so bad about this. Not only would it make spamming harder through that ISP, but it'd also cut down on the damage caused by somebody who's machine is infected with a maliscious worm.
I think there are better ways they could approach this, but I'm not ready to knee-jerk into thisisevilville.
"You know what's funny, if this is an image from a classified satellite (ie a spy satellite with such high resolution) you could determine the altitude it was at when it took that image if you knew some of the dimensions of downtown New York... you can determine the altitude of the satellite. Pretty interesting, I might try it if I have some time and can find some of the dimensions I need."
Blecky..? Hello? Anybody know why our ICQ connection went blank?
" and usually, if the avatars are blatantly over the top, the game sucks anyways."
Were ya picturing Tomb Raider?;) Man that game was dull.
" just that systematic choices in that direction by the game industry does strongly push an entire - and large - group of people away from games."
Hmm.. are ya saying it's sorta like a boys only club? I can see it working out that way. I think I have a clearer idea of why my previous comment was a problem. Probably felt like I was saying "who cares if women don't wanna play games?" or something along those lines. *Sigh* I'm not terribly proud of myself at times. (If I missed the point, lemme know? I'd hate to make somebody else feel like that again.)
"And I'm sorry I overreacted a bit to your attempted joke. I didn't mean to come across like I was attacking you just for being male - if that's what you felt, I apologize. No hard feelings?"
I'm really glad we were able to talk about it it. And I'm sorry I was dismissive to what you were saying.:)
"Sorry to reply my own post... just read that the other kid lost 90 lbs. from regular use of the game."
I need to get back in shape. I've seriously been considering frequenting an arcade that has that and a couple of other games that involve physical activity.
" She states the reasons why she would not buy a game that has specific gender biases and you brush them off as being trivial."
It wasn't my intention to brush them off as trivial, it was to let her know she's over-reacting.
"Maybe, but have you considered that she might not be the only one who missed the point of your joke?"
Ya know, I can kind of see how why she was upset. And I'm sorry about that. I really wish we could have settled it more tactfully, though. I really do care about feelings like this, but I tend to go off a bit half-cocked when I feel like I'm being attacked for being a guy. (note: not saying that's what she was after, but I did feel defensive.)
"Women don't choose based on the "I wanna do that character" feeling. And besides, it doesn't seem like a huge request just to have some realistic choices for avatars."
No, it really isn't an unreasonable request. Then again, what's the BFD?
"And what the fuck is this supposed to mean? We don't want to choose the blond sex-kitten avatar so our only other choice is a fat female character? This is just plain insulting."
It's a joke, and obviously you missed the point of it.
Lighten up. If you're going to get that mad over a joke (that was actually at male's expense btw)then don't expect anybody to take your feelings seriously.
I'm a 3D artist. I may one day be involved in a game where I have to design 3d avatars. Do you want me to understand your PoV or do you want me to go "wow, there are women out there that go off on the pettiest things"? Give me a little credit, will ya?
Slashdot Mirror
Heh that was actually kind funny.
Well, I can tell ya the the drives failing isn't a normal problem with Win2k or XP. (At my office, it'd be my job to fix it. Never ever ran across anything like that.)
I do want to ask, though, have you tried them in safe mode? Have ya tried flushing the BIOS? Have you been able to rule out anything i.e. CD burning software?
Go argue with Microsoft about it, I'm not endorsing it.
Frankly, though, if you're backing up your music files, it isn't a huge stinking deal to back up the license file as well.
Yah you shoulda backed up your license file thing. Microsoft gave you an out, you didn't take it. Not their fault you lost data.
I'm not a proponent of DRM. I think it's silly. I'm not defending Microsoft. I have the same fears everybody else does. However, I'm not having a panic attack about it because Microsoft is still dependent on people giving them money. They have to have smiles on their faces to give them money. Microsoft only has so far they can go.
" Linux has vulnerabilities, but, so far, none of them even enable the kind of widespread damage of Microsoft's vulnerabilities."
Again, it was a roll of the dice that it ended up that way. The fact that there aren't millions of Linux machines out there helps as well.
"Actually what scares me most about this is what happens when your motherboard dies, you now have a new pc with the old hardware and no access to your files."
The potential exists, but that's not necessarily what would happen. (I imagine your music collection could end up irretrievable tho..)
Guys, you all are forgetting something rather important. Apple and Linux. If Microsoft uses DRM in such a way that it pisses ppl off like that, do you really think ppl will just take it and not switch to alternatives?
You guys wanna stop this problem? Go work on making Linux a better desktop OS.
"It kind of irks me that the person who coins a word gets more credit than a person who talked about the actual process--nearly thirty years prior."
Let history remember Gene Roddenberry as the inventor of the transporter!
"Needless to say I was not too happy that with three trips to their depot they still couldn't properly fix my problem. It seems like their techs should have at least tried turning on my computer before shipping it back."
I have like the opposite story. I bought a laptop, and a couple of months later the backlight on the LCD died. Called Dell, a couple of days later I had a box ready to strap my laptop in and ship back. I sent it out on a Friday, and by Monday morning I had a laptop with a brand new LCD screen in it.
My story doesn't disprove your point, but I think it does prove the saying your mileage my vary.
"If the FP is on a game story, does it count? "
Remember when Al Bundy won a senior citizen's race? It's sorta like that. Hold your head high, brother!
.. so I can see the spin put on this that proves Microsoft is evil.
"Microsoft just built a bullet proof game machine so nobody'll be able to throw it away."
" So, with their definition I would be in trouble."
Only if you replied to 20+ of them within the alotted time. Frankly, I don't think I could do that on purpose, let alone through casual email use.
Frankly, I don't see what's so bad about this. Not only would it make spamming harder through that ISP, but it'd also cut down on the damage caused by somebody who's machine is infected with a maliscious worm.
I think there are better ways they could approach this, but I'm not ready to knee-jerk into thisisevilville.
"But an obvious solution, I guess, is simply to not recommend Dell to your friends and family. Not that I ever did in the first place."
Why? Because they won't help their customers get into trouble? Look, I think it sucks too, Dell lives in the land of frivilous lawsuits.
Interesting? Hmm I must have done too good of job of making a wild guess what it'd cost.
"You know what's funny, if this is an image from a classified satellite (ie a spy satellite with such high resolution) you could determine the altitude it was at when it took that image if you knew some of the dimensions of downtown New York... you can determine the altitude of the satellite. Pretty interesting, I might try it if I have some time and can find some of the dimensions I need."
Blecky..? Hello? Anybody know why our ICQ connection went blank?
"What, and you think mitochondria ain't sexy?"
Not after what Lucas used them for in Episode I.
"Is to print each one of them on a separate sheet of paper, and tape them together?"
Oh my.. that's like $300 worth of ink.
" and usually, if the avatars are blatantly over the top, the game sucks anyways."
;) Man that game was dull.
:)
Were ya picturing Tomb Raider?
" just that systematic choices in that direction by the game industry does strongly push an entire - and large - group of people away from games."
Hmm.. are ya saying it's sorta like a boys only club? I can see it working out that way. I think I have a clearer idea of why my previous comment was a problem. Probably felt like I was saying "who cares if women don't wanna play games?" or something along those lines. *Sigh* I'm not terribly proud of myself at times. (If I missed the point, lemme know? I'd hate to make somebody else feel like that again.)
"And I'm sorry I overreacted a bit to your attempted joke. I didn't mean to come across like I was attacking you just for being male - if that's what you felt, I apologize. No hard feelings?"
I'm really glad we were able to talk about it it. And I'm sorry I was dismissive to what you were saying.
"My biggest problem with this is that I just want to put 'Babe' on the freakin' TV so I can go make dinner."
Makin bacon on the TV?
"Are you sure that's not $400 million New Zealand dollars? (That's about $US200 million.)"
And if I download a ripped copy of that movie from Kazaa, even if I own the DVD, that money won't go to buy a gaffer's glasses.
"Sorry to reply my own post... just read that the other kid lost 90 lbs. from regular use of the game."
I need to get back in shape. I've seriously been considering frequenting an arcade that has that and a couple of other games that involve physical activity.
"Whoopee. I had an Exchange Server and an NT server with 180+ days uptime."
(And that whole time it was a spam relay. *Sigh*)
Whoopee. I had an Exchange Server and an NT server with 180+ days uptime.
" She states the reasons why she would not buy a game that has specific gender biases and you brush them off as being trivial."
It wasn't my intention to brush them off as trivial, it was to let her know she's over-reacting.
"Maybe, but have you considered that she might not be the only one who missed the point of your joke?"
Ya know, I can kind of see how why she was upset. And I'm sorry about that. I really wish we could have settled it more tactfully, though. I really do care about feelings like this, but I tend to go off a bit half-cocked when I feel like I'm being attacked for being a guy. (note: not saying that's what she was after, but I did feel defensive.)
"Women don't choose based on the "I wanna do that character" feeling. And besides, it doesn't seem like a huge request just to have some realistic choices for avatars."
No, it really isn't an unreasonable request. Then again, what's the BFD?
"And what the fuck is this supposed to mean? We don't want to choose the blond sex-kitten avatar so our only other choice is a fat female character? This is just plain insulting."
It's a joke, and obviously you missed the point of it.
Lighten up. If you're going to get that mad over a joke (that was actually at male's expense btw)then don't expect anybody to take your feelings seriously.
I'm a 3D artist. I may one day be involved in a game where I have to design 3d avatars. Do you want me to understand your PoV or do you want me to go "wow, there are women out there that go off on the pettiest things"? Give me a little credit, will ya?
I vaguely recall seeing that once a couple of years ago. Stupid Nvidia drivers.