It wasn't a "launch" unit but it wasn't that far afterwards. Maybe 1-2 of months afterwards.
I wasn't planning on getting one, but I'd purchased an HD TV a few months prior and then my original XBox died a few weeks after the 360 launch. Instead of going through any hassle I decided to replace it with a 360, the BestBuy I went to had a couple of HardDrive units in stock.
I should note, I've just been told on another forum that I might be in the minority on this issue. Apparently some of my peers do not share this problem (or the noise is in the tolerable range).
I'm used to background noise in my place, yet I had to bump up volume considerably to hear the dialog over the noise. So maybe my unit is on the way out (it is an older one). Playing the discs on my Toshiba HD-A2 unit brought the ambient noise to an acceptable level.
Between a nice sale and gift card I bought the 360 HD-DVD addon for a song. An HD-DVD player for (practically) free that didn't take up an extra set of Component inputs, how could I loose? Plus I could now watch Heroes season 1 on HD-DVD (I missed all of the first season on TV).
Unfortunately it didn't take me too long to realize that my 360 is just too flippin' loud to enjoy movies. It's one thing if I'm gaming, but if I'm watching an old classic I'd rather not heard the buzzing of those fans. Since I was already jazzed to get Heroes I decided to return the unit and get the cheap Toshiba HD-A2 for a small price instead.
If they want to seriously consider doing this, they need to engineer the unit so it's a lot quieter or perhaps makes sure it doesn't get so loud with age.
Huh? Plug the box into the VCR input and the VCR output to the TV input/antenna jack. Now go get a cup of coffee before we susppend your nerd license.
Funny, but you're missing something.
From my understanding this isn't just going to be a fancy antenna but a Set Top Box that does the decoding and tuning, just like a Cable Company's Set-Top-Box. So if you want to watch channel X you must change the channel on the Set Top Box.
So while the VCR knows to record a show @ 8:00 PM, it can't tune to that channel. You'd need to make sure the tuner is set to the appropriate channel before going out for the evening.
Unless I'm missing something, but good luck prying my nerd license from my cold dead hands.
That's not to mention how they drive on ice. I was driving extremely carefully in my RWD sedan when the roads were completely iced over. I saw a couple of SUVs driving recklessly and start flying all over the place.
People need to understand that if the entire road is a sheet of ice your AWD or 4WD street-whales aren't going to magically ignore it. I hate driving in the winter, which is why I'm glad my commute is currently so short.
They've also touched on similar topics on the show, specifically smoking. On that episode, a woman who only smoked at home or offsite got fired because of a company rule. The boss was a health nut and wanted his employees healthier. In the end he hid behind having to supply health insurance, but his earlier conversations were zealous: I know better than you. The boss won.
It comes down to a lot of states having "right to hire" rules. This means they can fire you for just about any reason (or none at all) so long as it isn't motivated by certain things: race, religion, gender, perhaps age, etc.
Your boss could say "you wear the color blue too often" and they'd be fine.
I personally think it's a horrible law. I'm all for letting someone go if the person isn't performing well, or you need to make cutbacks, or if the boss feels the employee isn't working well within the team. But if you're going to fire someone because they're a bad bowler then you're in the wrong.
Well they're *supposedly* opening up 3rd party apps next year when they release a real SDK. I guess only time will tell.
As for unlocking them, eh. The only thing I'd really want that for is for when I go to Switzerland each year. Instead of paying the higher AT&T fees I could go with a prepaid card over there.
I live 5 min from my video rental store. So unless the cost is a lot less, I doubt I would want to wait the longer time for a download.
I also live about 5 min from my local Blockbuster, yet I still use Netflix and OnDemand services instead.
My local Blockbuster has a horrible selection, it's pretty atrocious how bad of a store it is in such a high-end area. I've complained to management but they don't care. They don't have much variety, and what they do have is always out of stock. Even supposed "Gauranteed in Stock" items are rarely there.
I still pop in every month or so to see if they've change, but they've yet to fix anything. So I use a combination of Netflix and OnDemand services for my movie needs. Netflix for stuff I can wait 2 days for, and OnDemand for spur-of-the-moment desires. The only thing I use my Blockbuster card for is the occasional game rental, which isn't often since they only have 1 or 2 copies of a game.
It depends on the model and revision. Some Apple laptops aren't too bad to swap out, some (maybe most) are a pain. Such as instead of a simple bay or screw you had to take apart the whole enclosure. Which isn't too bad, just intimidating and you have to google for instructions.
Bear in mind that I had PC laptops that weren't too old (P4 2.0 GHz) where the hard-drive was encased in a similar manner. So Apple isn't really the only one that does it this way.
Since he was out of warrantee I don't see why he didn't do it himself. My brother had to do that with a 5 year old PowerBook and it wasn't that bad. Bought a nice Seagate from NewEgg, installed the drive, and installed the OS. No problem. The hardest part was just taking the extra care to make sure he put everything back together correctly.
I also had a drive go bad on me with the iBook G4, only when I called them to replace it, they wanted to charge me $702 (Yes, you read correctly) to replace the drive. I told them the laptop itself is only $999 to begin with.
I find this a little hard to swallow, unless they also found something wrong with a mainboard. I had a new PowerBook G4, and around that time I was also building custom rigs. I purchased myself a lot of hard-drives (including high performance 2.5" drives) and they were never anywhere NEAR that. Granted Apple has a premium on their stuff, but even with that in consideration there's no way.
So either there was more to this story (like a lightning strike fried mostly everything) or I smell troll.
OnStar is with its merits, though not as major as they used to be. Between a decent GPS unit and a cellphone there's little need but they don't completely replace it.
The automatic 911 dialing can be a life saver. Sure, we all have cellphones but in an accident it's possible you'll be unconscious or otherwise too injured to get to your cellphone. Now as soon as the incident occurs you have someone asking if you're OK and able to send help to your coordinates.
The theft thing has its uses but is not that helpful if the thief knows what they're doing. It's easy to circumvent so pretty much any thief that knows what they're doing will not be caught. Unlike LoJak which hides the transmitter in different places in different cars I think all they need to do is disconnect the OnStar unit from the antenna.
The online diagnostics isn't too bad either. Once a month they check your sensors and stats and email them to you. Nothing major, but alright.
Which is why I say "or a new item." IE, something that's a fad OR new. I still consider the Wii new since it's only a year old.
Obviously it's a success, but that doesn't take away what I'm saying. The grandparent was implying that lost sales during this holiday aren't really lost because most consumers will buy them during the year when the supply/demand ratio is closer to 1.0.
I'm saying that later in the year, a lot of people who couldn't buy one for the holidays won't care if they see one on the shelf on June 2nd even if it's little Timmy's birthday on June 10th. It's possible a lost sale during the holidays is truly a lost sale.
Selling out, perhaps. But at least around where I live it was possible to find them in the late Spring through late Summer. They weren't crowding the shelves like the PS3 but they were there. Obviously last winter holiday and today they're impossible to find again, but such is the nature of popular items.
Where did you go to high school? I went to two high schools, one was an exclusive Catholic college prep school, the other was a public high school. I graduated in 1990, and neither of these schools had dedicated IT staff. And I'm pretty sure neither of them do now.
You sure about the "now" part? My HS went through a major shift during the mid 1990s. By the late 90's they had a decent computer lab, and an IT person. Granted the IT person was shared between 3 schools (1 HS, 2 elementary) but all 3 schools were small and the High School had the more important computer room. And I think things have grown since then.
If you graduated in 1990, then you were there during the late 1980s. That's a big difference from today. You're talking 486 CPUs and networks only being common-place in the workplace. I'd imagine any school today with any kind of decent computer room (or computer lab) has an IT guy, especially if they have a network (more-so if it also has an Internet connection). Then again, if it's a poorly funded school the Computer Science teacher admins it.
Not necessarily true (but quite possible). However...
One could have said the same thing about Tickle-Me-Elmos but the craze died down after the holidays. Were they any more fun because there was snow on the ground and holiday decorations up? No. Yet by the summer nobody really cared (I worked at a store that year). Besides the regular demand, people wanted one because "everyone" wanted one (whether in truth or just perception). Combine the holidays with a fad (or just a new item) and the demand can be multitudes higher than some random point in the year.
In other words, by the time the supply is back up and even a birthday or another holiday comes by, the craving might not be as strong and they'd look elsewhere for a gift.
Right now there's a big rush to get them because the holidays are coming up. Parents, Grandparents, good friends, etc might be looking to get someone a Wii for year-end Holidays (in whatever form they choose to celebrate). After all, the Wii is the gift kids want and isn't that expensive that someone well-to-do might not consider it for a loved one
I'm not saying that this is the case, but could be the case. Someone striving to give it to their child/grandchild/nephew/etc this holiday might just forget about it afterwards if they fail and focus on something else down the line.
Not sure why you think that's a typical setup. Of all the people I know with a Wii only one has more than two controllers, and that's because they host gatherings on a regular basis. Price for adding controllers to any other console is going to be similar, so that hardly makes a difference.
I agree.
Most Wii users I know have what came standard with the box. Some have the Component cable and very few have a second set of controllers (wand + nunchuck). I don't know anyone with more than 2 sets of controllers. If hey need more for guests, then those guests typically have their own Wiis so they plan ahead and bring their own controllers.
The answer is that any household that has joint tenancy only requires one license, and the simple way that is usually tested is if there are individual locks on the bedroom doors or separate contacts (in the case of rental) then it is not joint tenancy.
Hmm, most places I've been to have individual locks on all bedroom doors and none of them were joint tenancy. They were simply houses or multi-bedroom apartments occupied by a single family.
Sometimes (though rarely) a person needs more privacy than simply closing the door. IE you're working on a thesis paper and don't want to be bother by your kid brother of his friends, or you have a guest staying in the spare room and they want a little privacy, etc.
I don't buy CDs; not necessarly because of what the RIAA does (although it is scummy), its just I find them overpriced. I get get a decent DVD for $15. 90 minutes of video and sound. $0.17 / minute. A cd or track? $1 per track, or $0.33 / minute. For something I'll usually use as background noise and not even pay 100% attention to.
The common counter-argument I hear against that is that you tend to only watch a single DVD a couple of times throughout your life. Meanwhile there are many CDs and/or songs that you'll listen to over-and-over-and-over throughout your life.
The biggest benefit in my eyes with online retailers like iTunes or UnBox is the a-la-carte model. As it's been stated countless times on Slashdot on any given CD there are usually 1 or 2 songs that I like, so why buy the whole thing at a premium if I just want those 1-2 songs. As such I've only purchased 3 CDs in the last 5 years, yet I've purchased 100-200 songs on iTunes since it started.
It depends on how much effort the teacher puts into it. You have to figure the time they need to grade homework, tests, essays, etc. I'd say anything with essay questions takes a while to grade, especially reports and papers. And depending on the time of year (midterms, finals, etc) that work increases a lot because they need to have the grades in ASAP. My final exams were always ridiculously close to the end of the year.
I knew HS teachers that would come in for 7:00 AM and stay until 5:00 PM to so they could be there for students that needed extra help. Sure, if no students came they'd use the time to work on their grading or tweak their lectures for the upcoming days, but they'd also make sure to stay just in case they were needed. And this was just during the "normal" portion of the year, forget about exams and thesis papers
Teaching is a lot more stressful than people assume, and they have to put a lot of hours in. Sure, there are lame teachers out there that barely do the minimum required for the students and their lack of effort tends to hurt the education of their students. But don't assume that it's "un-possible" that a teacher have to work insane hours, particularly during busy periods.
The router in question is the ActionTec MI424WR. It's very pretty, and the web admin page is quite intuitive.
Unfortunately it has a MAJOR flaw. They're giving it out to their FIOS customers now, and the router shuts down when it gets hit too many times. This happens when using a Torrent, but also when refreshing STEAM server lists!
It's quite annoying, and since it's used by the TV set-top-boxes in the house it's kind of necessary. It's a shame, my 20Mbit connection can't handle Steam.
The problem was found a while back (when the casing wasn't as pretty about a year ago) but still no fix. I believe it has to do with a small NAT table.
What, they think if they ban it all the other nations of the world are going to say, 'ooh, mighty america, she say no', and not do it either? Wow, at least read the friggin synopsis under the headline.
I know expecting people to read the article is losing battle, but at least read the 3-4 sentences found under the slashdot title people freaking out.
-EDIT- Ick, typo in the blockquote tag. This should display better.
,blockquote>What, they think if they ban it all the other nations of the world are going to say, 'ooh, mighty america, she say no', and not do it either?
Wow, at least read the friggin synopsis under the headline.
I know expecting people to read the article is losing battle, but at least read the 3-4 sentences found under the slashdot title people freaking out.
There are only two BT keyboard on the market in the UK at the moment. One is by Apple and you have drag your arse to an applestore as they refuse to ship it and the other one is by targus and is a supermicro keyboard. Situation with mice is not much different. Same story with IR which while not having encryption does not have a lot of eavesdropping problems either. There is nothing available. Only crap.
It's not that much better on this side of the pond. I don't know why there aren't more BlueTooth devices out. It makes no sense.
OK, I can understand the market for some non-Bluetooth wireless devices because I guess a Bluetooth dongle is more expensive than a generic radio receiver USB dongle. But that shouldn't completely replace BlueTooth. Yet the market is flooded with regular radio input devices to the point it's hard to find decent Bluetooth mice and keyboards.
The last non-Bluetooth mouse/keyboard combo I had was getting interference with something (or its signals crossed with another similar device). The mouse cursor would occasionally move and click on it's own even with new batteries. Granted this was in a densely populated office, but still it was quite annoying. I'm not having that problem with the Bluetooth devices though.
I'm using the Apple BlueTooth keyboard right now. The only problem I have is that it doesn't come with a number pad, but that's less of a big deal for me now. But I wish there were more choices.
Slashdot Mirror
It wasn't a "launch" unit but it wasn't that far afterwards. Maybe 1-2 of months afterwards.
I wasn't planning on getting one, but I'd purchased an HD TV a few months prior and then my original XBox died a few weeks after the 360 launch. Instead of going through any hassle I decided to replace it with a 360, the BestBuy I went to had a couple of HardDrive units in stock.
I should note, I've just been told on another forum that I might be in the minority on this issue. Apparently some of my peers do not share this problem (or the noise is in the tolerable range).
I'm used to background noise in my place, yet I had to bump up volume considerably to hear the dialog over the noise. So maybe my unit is on the way out (it is an older one). Playing the discs on my Toshiba HD-A2 unit brought the ambient noise to an acceptable level.
Between a nice sale and gift card I bought the 360 HD-DVD addon for a song. An HD-DVD player for (practically) free that didn't take up an extra set of Component inputs, how could I loose? Plus I could now watch Heroes season 1 on HD-DVD (I missed all of the first season on TV).
Unfortunately it didn't take me too long to realize that my 360 is just too flippin' loud to enjoy movies. It's one thing if I'm gaming, but if I'm watching an old classic I'd rather not heard the buzzing of those fans. Since I was already jazzed to get Heroes I decided to return the unit and get the cheap Toshiba HD-A2 for a small price instead.
If they want to seriously consider doing this, they need to engineer the unit so it's a lot quieter or perhaps makes sure it doesn't get so loud with age.
From my understanding this isn't just going to be a fancy antenna but a Set Top Box that does the decoding and tuning, just like a Cable Company's Set-Top-Box. So if you want to watch channel X you must change the channel on the Set Top Box.
So while the VCR knows to record a show @ 8:00 PM, it can't tune to that channel. You'd need to make sure the tuner is set to the appropriate channel before going out for the evening.
Unless I'm missing something, but good luck prying my nerd license from my cold dead hands.
That's not to mention how they drive on ice. I was driving extremely carefully in my RWD sedan when the roads were completely iced over. I saw a couple of SUVs driving recklessly and start flying all over the place.
People need to understand that if the entire road is a sheet of ice your AWD or 4WD street-whales aren't going to magically ignore it. I hate driving in the winter, which is why I'm glad my commute is currently so short.
Yeh.
They've also touched on similar topics on the show, specifically smoking. On that episode, a woman who only smoked at home or offsite got fired because of a company rule. The boss was a health nut and wanted his employees healthier. In the end he hid behind having to supply health insurance, but his earlier conversations were zealous: I know better than you. The boss won.
It comes down to a lot of states having "right to hire" rules. This means they can fire you for just about any reason (or none at all) so long as it isn't motivated by certain things: race, religion, gender, perhaps age, etc.
Your boss could say "you wear the color blue too often" and they'd be fine.
I personally think it's a horrible law. I'm all for letting someone go if the person isn't performing well, or you need to make cutbacks, or if the boss feels the employee isn't working well within the team. But if you're going to fire someone because they're a bad bowler then you're in the wrong.
Well they're *supposedly* opening up 3rd party apps next year when they release a real SDK. I guess only time will tell.
As for unlocking them, eh. The only thing I'd really want that for is for when I go to Switzerland each year. Instead of paying the higher AT&T fees I could go with a prepaid card over there.
My local Blockbuster has a horrible selection, it's pretty atrocious how bad of a store it is in such a high-end area. I've complained to management but they don't care. They don't have much variety, and what they do have is always out of stock. Even supposed "Gauranteed in Stock" items are rarely there.
I still pop in every month or so to see if they've change, but they've yet to fix anything. So I use a combination of Netflix and OnDemand services for my movie needs. Netflix for stuff I can wait 2 days for, and OnDemand for spur-of-the-moment desires. The only thing I use my Blockbuster card for is the occasional game rental, which isn't often since they only have 1 or 2 copies of a game.
It depends on the model and revision. Some Apple laptops aren't too bad to swap out, some (maybe most) are a pain. Such as instead of a simple bay or screw you had to take apart the whole enclosure. Which isn't too bad, just intimidating and you have to google for instructions.
Bear in mind that I had PC laptops that weren't too old (P4 2.0 GHz) where the hard-drive was encased in a similar manner. So Apple isn't really the only one that does it this way.
Since he was out of warrantee I don't see why he didn't do it himself. My brother had to do that with a 5 year old PowerBook and it wasn't that bad. Bought a nice Seagate from NewEgg, installed the drive, and installed the OS. No problem. The hardest part was just taking the extra care to make sure he put everything back together correctly.
So either there was more to this story (like a lightning strike fried mostly everything) or I smell troll.
OnStar is with its merits, though not as major as they used to be. Between a decent GPS unit and a cellphone there's little need but they don't completely replace it.
The automatic 911 dialing can be a life saver. Sure, we all have cellphones but in an accident it's possible you'll be unconscious or otherwise too injured to get to your cellphone. Now as soon as the incident occurs you have someone asking if you're OK and able to send help to your coordinates.
The theft thing has its uses but is not that helpful if the thief knows what they're doing. It's easy to circumvent so pretty much any thief that knows what they're doing will not be caught. Unlike LoJak which hides the transmitter in different places in different cars I think all they need to do is disconnect the OnStar unit from the antenna.
The online diagnostics isn't too bad either. Once a month they check your sensors and stats and email them to you. Nothing major, but alright.
Which is why I say "or a new item." IE, something that's a fad OR new. I still consider the Wii new since it's only a year old.
Obviously it's a success, but that doesn't take away what I'm saying. The grandparent was implying that lost sales during this holiday aren't really lost because most consumers will buy them during the year when the supply/demand ratio is closer to 1.0.
I'm saying that later in the year, a lot of people who couldn't buy one for the holidays won't care if they see one on the shelf on June 2nd even if it's little Timmy's birthday on June 10th. It's possible a lost sale during the holidays is truly a lost sale.
Selling out, perhaps. But at least around where I live it was possible to find them in the late Spring through late Summer. They weren't crowding the shelves like the PS3 but they were there. Obviously last winter holiday and today they're impossible to find again, but such is the nature of popular items.
If you graduated in 1990, then you were there during the late 1980s. That's a big difference from today. You're talking 486 CPUs and networks only being common-place in the workplace. I'd imagine any school today with any kind of decent computer room (or computer lab) has an IT guy, especially if they have a network (more-so if it also has an Internet connection). Then again, if it's a poorly funded school the Computer Science teacher admins it.
Not necessarily true (but quite possible). However...
One could have said the same thing about Tickle-Me-Elmos but the craze died down after the holidays. Were they any more fun because there was snow on the ground and holiday decorations up? No. Yet by the summer nobody really cared (I worked at a store that year). Besides the regular demand, people wanted one because "everyone" wanted one (whether in truth or just perception). Combine the holidays with a fad (or just a new item) and the demand can be multitudes higher than some random point in the year.
In other words, by the time the supply is back up and even a birthday or another holiday comes by, the craving might not be as strong and they'd look elsewhere for a gift.
Right now there's a big rush to get them because the holidays are coming up. Parents, Grandparents, good friends, etc might be looking to get someone a Wii for year-end Holidays (in whatever form they choose to celebrate). After all, the Wii is the gift kids want and isn't that expensive that someone well-to-do might not consider it for a loved one
I'm not saying that this is the case, but could be the case. Someone striving to give it to their child/grandchild/nephew/etc this holiday might just forget about it afterwards if they fail and focus on something else down the line.
Most Wii users I know have what came standard with the box. Some have the Component cable and very few have a second set of controllers (wand + nunchuck). I don't know anyone with more than 2 sets of controllers. If hey need more for guests, then those guests typically have their own Wiis so they plan ahead and bring their own controllers.
Sometimes (though rarely) a person needs more privacy than simply closing the door. IE you're working on a thesis paper and don't want to be bother by your kid brother of his friends, or you have a guest staying in the spare room and they want a little privacy, etc.
The biggest benefit in my eyes with online retailers like iTunes or UnBox is the a-la-carte model. As it's been stated countless times on Slashdot on any given CD there are usually 1 or 2 songs that I like, so why buy the whole thing at a premium if I just want those 1-2 songs. As such I've only purchased 3 CDs in the last 5 years, yet I've purchased 100-200 songs on iTunes since it started.
Does this work w/ FIOS TV? I've heard mixed reviews of this solution.
It depends on how much effort the teacher puts into it. You have to figure the time they need to grade homework, tests, essays, etc. I'd say anything with essay questions takes a while to grade, especially reports and papers. And depending on the time of year (midterms, finals, etc) that work increases a lot because they need to have the grades in ASAP. My final exams were always ridiculously close to the end of the year.
I knew HS teachers that would come in for 7:00 AM and stay until 5:00 PM to so they could be there for students that needed extra help. Sure, if no students came they'd use the time to work on their grading or tweak their lectures for the upcoming days, but they'd also make sure to stay just in case they were needed. And this was just during the "normal" portion of the year, forget about exams and thesis papers
Teaching is a lot more stressful than people assume, and they have to put a lot of hours in. Sure, there are lame teachers out there that barely do the minimum required for the students and their lack of effort tends to hurt the education of their students. But don't assume that it's "un-possible" that a teacher have to work insane hours, particularly during busy periods.
The router in question is the ActionTec MI424WR. It's very pretty, and the web admin page is quite intuitive.
Unfortunately it has a MAJOR flaw. They're giving it out to their FIOS customers now, and the router shuts down when it gets hit too many times. This happens when using a Torrent, but also when refreshing STEAM server lists!
It's quite annoying, and since it's used by the TV set-top-boxes in the house it's kind of necessary. It's a shame, my 20Mbit connection can't handle Steam.
The problem was found a while back (when the casing wasn't as pretty about a year ago) but still no fix. I believe it has to do with a small NAT table.
I know expecting people to read the article is losing battle, but at least read the 3-4 sentences found under the slashdot title people freaking out.
-EDIT-
Ick, typo in the blockquote tag. This should display better.
,blockquote>What, they think if they ban it all the other nations of the world are going to say, 'ooh, mighty america, she say no', and not do it either? Wow, at least read the friggin synopsis under the headline.
I know expecting people to read the article is losing battle, but at least read the 3-4 sentences found under the slashdot title people freaking out.
OK, I can understand the market for some non-Bluetooth wireless devices because I guess a Bluetooth dongle is more expensive than a generic radio receiver USB dongle. But that shouldn't completely replace BlueTooth. Yet the market is flooded with regular radio input devices to the point it's hard to find decent Bluetooth mice and keyboards.
The last non-Bluetooth mouse/keyboard combo I had was getting interference with something (or its signals crossed with another similar device). The mouse cursor would occasionally move and click on it's own even with new batteries. Granted this was in a densely populated office, but still it was quite annoying. I'm not having that problem with the Bluetooth devices though.
I'm using the Apple BlueTooth keyboard right now. The only problem I have is that it doesn't come with a number pad, but that's less of a big deal for me now. But I wish there were more choices.
To add insult to injury, apparently it's a growing trend to send the CT images electronically to India for a specialist to analyze.