Last PC users' "get together" I went to was AMD's thing where I was at the Altemonte Springs, FL (USA) parking lot at like 6:00AM listening to AMD's marketing schpeel. There was no free food, no music, no activites other than AMD's raffle, it was freezing cold out (okay, wussy Florida-type cold, but it SEEMED freezing) and worse, there were no hot topless women.
Say what you will about Apple, but they sure know how to make a get together event fun...
I hope that's just a mistake made by the news reporter and not the actual team behind this project. A car battery isn't designed to survive deep discharges and will end up unable to hold a charge rather quickly. They should have checked out the car and deep cycle battery FAQ at: http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/. A deep cycle battery is what really needs to be used.
While it would also make this project more expensive, a solar cell would be a worthwhile investment to keep the battery fully charged during periods of non-use, and to make up for people who cheat the system by using the computer but not contributing pedal power (obviously if there is a battery, this is possible).
The other concern I'd have is what happens to these batteries after their service life is exhausted? Hopefully the members of this project will collect and recycle them. Toxic lead and acid is the last thing we need to be making these people deal with.
I play video games specifically because I feel like sitting on my fat lazy ass and NOT moving about. This is just like those old interactive mats and power gloves Nintendo had that never really took off. Most gamers just want to press buttons, actually having to dance or beat up a virtual opponent is too much like -gasp- WORK.
Is it great for people who like to dance and also like video games? I guess. Is it going to get ME into an arcade? No. If I feel like doing something physically active, I'd much rather be doing it in the great outdoors.
The only problem might be its length, 150 minutes or so. Still, it's nice to dream, isn't it?
See, it *still* needs editing. While we're at it, let's digitally remaster all the special effects, add a new, more modern soundtrack and plenty of CGI anthropomorphic creatures with Jamaican accents.
Lipton Brisk in Lemon or Raspberry Pros: Cheap, tastes okay. Cons. Not as good as Snapple.
Hawaiian Punch (cans) Pros: Can be mixed with Bacardi for a rum runner. Cons: Can be mixed with Bacardi for a rum runner.
Hi-C Lemonade (cans) Pros: Can be made into spiked lemonade with Bacardi. Cons: Too acidic. Needs to be diluted with water.
Coke (cans) Pros: There's always some around. Cons: It's boring.
Vanilla Coke Pros: Different. Good with cherry flavor added. Cons: Not so good with pizza or nachos.
Rick's Spiked Lemonade Pros: Be the one NOT drinking it and the game seems a LOT easier. Cons: Very expensive.
Kahlua Mudslide (bottles) Pros: Same as Rick's spiked lemonade. Cons: Some people don't like the taste. Very expensive.
Wine Coolers (various flavors) Pros: Tasty and inexpensive as far as alcoholic beverages go. Cons: Not manly to drink.
Beer Pros: Very cheap as far as alcoholic beverages go. Cons: Tastes like piss. No one likes it. It's just around so we can offer it to people when they comment about the wine coolers not being manly.
As for Code Red, Mountain Dew, and Sobe, no one seems to like them here, so I never buy any...
A few days ago a couple of friends and I decided to do the deathmatch thing over at my place. Since I've got about 5 computers capable of running UT, Quake III Arena and GTAIII (okay it's not multiplayer but it's fun to play while an argument over which game to play takes place), usually no one needs to bring their own computer. My network server basically reflects the digital pack-rat that I am, and still contains mountable ISOs of Duke 3D, Desent II, Forsaken, Moto Racer, the entire Command and Conquer series, and quite a few other "old school" titles.
So we were having the usual argument about what game to play "Worms Armageddon? Nah, it crashes too much. Quake III Arena... Boring! Unreal... Maybe later. The Sims needs a deathmatch mode! (friend makes crack about selecting bitchslap from a pie menu)" and sure enough, the original Descent was brought up. "Hey, we haven't played Descent in forever." So, for the hell of it, I tried running Descent on one of my "modern" computers. Yuck. The music was messed up, and while the oldschool 320x200 graphics weren't immediately vomit-inducing, the RAPID bouncing up and down was! The effect originally intended to make it look like you were floating, on an Athlon XP2000 now looks like you're in an EARTHQUAKE.
I'd love to see the graphical glitches in oldschool games like Descent fixed. Hell, if Duke Nukem 3D could be improved, that'd be great too. Not like Duke Nukem (Taking) Forever is ever going to be released...
I ran a BBS back in the day (of the BBS, not the dinosaurs - I'm not *that* old!). It was one of those warez BBSs with a shareware/public domain file library as a front. Unfortunatly, appearing to be a shareware BBS had its disadvantages - namely it attracted people who loved playing online games.
Okay, so it was really my fault for downloading and setting up a few doors to keep the warez kiddies distracted while their upload/download ratio was out of whack, but after installing TradeWars 2002, LORD and Usurper, that was pretty much the death setence for the file libraries. Everyone just logged in to kill each other while they were asleep in a hotel or under a tree. While my BBS was primarially a one line system, I eventually went multinode towards the end of its popularity (as a futile attempt to make it more interesting, even though I knew the Internet would swallow all my users). During its days as a 2-line system, I saw few users actually battle each other online. For the most part, one would be downloading a file, the other would be upset that the other user is unavailble due to a file transfer and page me to see if I'd abort their file transfer. (No, I didn't abort it, I wasn't a BOFH.)
I think the real thing I miss about the days of the BBS is being able to create your own community. Nowadays, you set up a web page with a message forum and just get posts by anonymous cowards going "This place sucks, head on over to www.bettersite.com where there's more people!" Oh yea, and I also miss Zmodem.;)
BEFORE Napster hit the scene, I got a Memorex 1622 CD-RW drive (Amazingly, they're also the subject of a major class action law suit at the moment...) and used it to burn copies of EVERYTHING for all my friends.
It still all revolves around CD burners. Take the current MP3 situation and subtract being able to burn CDs. Sure, there's portable MP3 players, but the REAL album-purchase-killer is being able to actually have that shiny disc with the music on it in your hot little hands. Most of my friends who aren't interested in computers know that us computer geeks can burn CDs and won't hesitate to ask for a copy of the latest albums or songs they can't get out of their head.
Do you actually tell your friends that they have to go out and spend money on something you can burn for them on an inexpensive blank CD? "Come on, you're supposed to be my friend... Help me out here." Unlike home taping of the past, CD-RW drives have become VERY fast as of late... A C90 tape actually took 45 minutes per side (yes, it had to be flipped) to record, a 40X CD-RW can burn an entire CD in less than 8. CPUs have become much faster as well. It's become a whole lot easier to fire up your CD-R mastering software in the background and burn CDs while you're say, reading Slashdot.
When a friend asked for a copy of a tape, it meant rewinding, analog distortion, getting the levels right, and FLIPPING THE DAMN TAPE. Burning is just a blank CD and a few clicks away.
I actually take the time to e-mail sellers (a prewritten form letter) on eBay to tell them how annoying that is. (I use the right-click menu's "Back" option almost exclusively to go back)
In a nutshell, the form letter just basically tells them to start IE (they're ALL using IE) and look at that nice little "Save As..." option in the file menu. I also mention that most people know about their "Temporary internet files folder".
I'm 23 years old - exactly the demographic the RIAA is trying to sell to, and I have a confession to make. I actually ENJOY top-40 music. Yes, hear Nelly and Kelly sing Dilemma and I crank up the bass and enjoy it.
I'm not looking for a zen-like experience or heartfelt emotional lyrics, I just want a good beat and a good sound. It's entertainment just entertainment, people - different strokes for different folks. I don't buy into the whole story that the "Clear Channel monopoly" is the cause of "new" acts or sounds being overlooked. Have you ever heard of Daniel Beddingfield before "Gotta get through this" hit the charts? What about the "A little less conversation" Eminem vs Elvis remix done by a DJ at a Clear Channel station? These are just examples, but I've been exposed to plenty of new acts and music by both the radio as well as the Internet.
I'm not saying pop radio is the end-all-be-all of music, I'm just saying that some people actually enjoy it as much as you enjoy your indie music (or maybe you're a pop fan as well!).
So I enjoy the music, why am I not buying albums? I'll be quite honest, I'm mostly just interested in singles. I know it's been said like a broken record on here (pun intended) but if I could pay $.50 or so per download for a high-quality professionally made MP3, I'd be more than happy to. Throw copy protected formats into the mix and that sweet deal becomes sour... Leave the music in an open format.
Have I purchased any albums lately? Yes, I bought Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory album a few months ago. When I discover I like more than just the promotional airplay singles, *then* I consider purchasing the entire album. In this effect, without p2p file sharing, I'd have no way of knowing if an album was all filler and would actually purchase *less* albums as a result.
If you compare Billboard's top-40 to Kazaa search results, it's easy to see why music trading is so popular. Many people (including myself) do not believe that downloading an MP3 of a current promotional single that is played constantly on the radio constitutes ANY kind of theft. How many people are there with enough disposable income to purchase an entire $18.99 album just to listen to maybe 2 popular tracks and take a gamble on the rest? If the RIAA's current sales figures are honest about anything, it's that the rest of the population who AREN'T using P2P filesharing AREN'T willing to take that gamble.
Bah. I'm still using an old 2x CD-RW drive and it can't copy copyprotected CDs worth shit. I just head on over to gamecopyworld and get a crack. Since most of my games are stored as virtual mounted ISOs anyway, a crack is the *only* way to make it really work. Besides, do you *really* like hunting for the CD every time you load a game? Maybe it was necessary back in the days of floppies and small hard drives, but not anymore.
* Please note, I am not advocating the use of warez'd/pirated copies of games, I'm talking about applying a crack to a legally purchased game so I can use it on MY computer in a way I see fit.
Only if I get to throw a pie at that Steve kid. Gosh, he's annoying. Come to think of it, I'd like a Steve skin for GTA3 so every time I get beat to a bloody pulp by angry gang members, I won't feel so bad about it.
Don't get a Radeon 9000, it's a misleading name just like Nvidia's Geforce4 MX400. It's slower than the 8500. Get a Radeon 9700 for the fastest performence NOW, or get a Nvidia Geforce4 Titanium, the 2nd fastest card at the moment. The Radeon 8500 is only about as fast as a Geforce 3, and the lesser ATI offerings are MUCH SLOWER.
I agree with your statement to a point. (Pun intended) I bring a laptop with me when I go on fishing trips. Do I use it instead of fishing? Hell no, I enjoy the sunshine, salt and being out on the open ocean - and if I'm lucky, a good fight with a few fish.
Why do I bring the laptop then? The road trip to/from the boat is boring as hell. If I'm not the one driving, it gives me something to pass the time and lets me catch up on my VB projects or a few rounds of Worms Armageddon.
It seems to me if this almost-adult 17-year-old has the time and space to set up a full desktop computer system, he's missing the point of travel. Save for lan parties, desktop systems were meant to be left behind.
If it's an absolute necessity that he travels with a PC, a laptop is truly the only way to go... That way if a few friends come over to his hotel room, he doesn't have to face the embarassment of admitting he brought his PC with him.
If you can stand the sight of a computer in your living room, ripping DVDs to Divx is an easy solution to avoiding region coding, Macrovision and ads/previews/copyright notices.
In my living room I've got an Athlon 1GHz with 256MB of ram, a 5GB hard drive (removed from an AOLTV box that was discontinued at Sears for $20), SB16 ($7 on eBay), a 10/100 RealTek NIC ($15), a wireless IR keyboard ($70) and a Radeon 7000 ($59 retail). While the Radeon 7000 has all the the 3D rendering capabilities of a block of asphalt, I chose it becase it has excellent video playback and TV-out quality. I'm sure if I wanted to spend more I could have gotten a Radeon with VIVO and put in a larger hard drive for Tivo-type functionality, but I digress.
The computer serves the purpose of playing back Divx files stored on a Samba server with gobs of storage. Whenever I get a new DVD, I rip it, compress it to Divx and upload it to the server. Yes, my entertainment center still includes a standard DVD player so I can watch DVDs right away if need be, but it's nice to know the originals are stored safely away and that I can watch the movies whenever I want without sitting through copyright notices or previews.
(For those of you complaining about how 200GB hard drive is not any worthy news, there certainly was enough people interested to still bring the server to a standstill.)
We just wanted to see if their webserver has any similarities in the reliability department to their products. Now Maxtor's homepage, that's still loading just fine. I think I just figured out the inital story title mixup - it's an evil plot by Maxtor to DDoS Western Digital and promote their new liquid bearing hard drives!
Maxtor Dude: "So Mr. Taco, we still up for taking those guys at WD out tonight?" Taco: "Yep, story will be online in a few minutes." ---minutes later--- Maxtor Dude: "Woah, careful where you point that slashdot effect! Taco, that was supposed to be Western Digital!" Taco: (Fixes headline) "Oops, my bad. I still get those free drives, right?"
Am I the only one who has had every single Western Digital drive I've ever bought fail completely within months?
Nope, you're not alone, although your failure mechanism isn't the same as what I've experienced. I'm on my 3rd (or 4th, I forget) Western Digital 40GB drive... I've got it backed up to my file server and as soon as I get the extra cash to get a Maxtor, this drive is as good as/tmp space (funny, I won't need a cron job to dump it, heh heh).
They all seemed to have the same problems... Initally they work fine, after a few weeks they start making a high-pitched noise and then the random corruption comes. Never had a problem of this sort with a Maxtor, nor OLDER WD drives for this matter. As usual, tech support is no help so I'm just not buying WD drives anymore.
Okay, so it's a 200GB drive... Not trying to rain on/.'s parade or anything, but that's hardly newsworthy.
Give me an inexpensive medium to backup such a beast (even 700MB CD-Rs seem inadequate in terms of capacity lately). If you have to post a story about hard drives, give me a story about next generation storage technology - not a higher capacity version of the same technology we're currently using.
Please save the "Western digital now has a 200GB drive" messages for somewhere it belongs - on your banner ads.
Slashdot Mirror
My 800 MHz iMac seems much faster than my P4 2GHz. Maybe it's just me, but MHz isn't everything. You must not be using it to compress DivX.
Last PC users' "get together" I went to was AMD's thing where I was at the Altemonte Springs, FL (USA) parking lot at like 6:00AM listening to AMD's marketing schpeel. There was no free food, no music, no activites other than AMD's raffle, it was freezing cold out (okay, wussy Florida-type cold, but it SEEMED freezing) and worse, there were no hot topless women. Say what you will about Apple, but they sure know how to make a get together event fun...
For example, the current activity involves measuring the size of the moon
I know this one website that's got a FULL moon your can measure... Darnest thing is, the firewall at the school won't let it rise.
I hope that's just a mistake made by the news reporter and not the actual team behind this project. A car battery isn't designed to survive deep discharges and will end up unable to hold a charge rather quickly. They should have checked out the car and deep cycle battery FAQ at: http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/. A deep cycle battery is what really needs to be used.
While it would also make this project more expensive, a solar cell would be a worthwhile investment to keep the battery fully charged during periods of non-use, and to make up for people who cheat the system by using the computer but not contributing pedal power (obviously if there is a battery, this is possible).
The other concern I'd have is what happens to these batteries after their service life is exhausted? Hopefully the members of this project will collect and recycle them. Toxic lead and acid is the last thing we need to be making these people deal with.
Frostbite!
Hell, the Audigy already has every OTHER feature imaginable. "Now includes Sleep Blaster(TM) Technology via a FireWire-enabled aluminum foil hat!"
I play video games specifically because I feel like sitting on my fat lazy ass and NOT moving about. This is just like those old interactive mats and power gloves Nintendo had that never really took off. Most gamers just want to press buttons, actually having to dance or beat up a virtual opponent is too much like -gasp- WORK.
Is it great for people who like to dance and also like video games? I guess. Is it going to get ME into an arcade? No. If I feel like doing something physically active, I'd much rather be doing it in the great outdoors.
The only problem might be its length, 150 minutes or so. Still, it's nice to dream, isn't it?
See, it *still* needs editing. While we're at it, let's digitally remaster all the special effects, add a new, more modern soundtrack and plenty of CGI anthropomorphic creatures with Jamaican accents.
Find some way to use it to sue spammers!
At my place, the drinks of choice are:
IBC Root Beer
Pros: It's absolutely perfect root beer. Glass bottles are fun to break.
Cons: No caffine (just sugar). Expensive.
Barq's Root Beer
Pros: Lots of caffiene.
Cons: Makes your MORE thirsty.
Snapple Raspberry Iced Tea
Pros: Yum.
Cons: Expensive.
Lipton Brisk in Lemon or Raspberry
Pros: Cheap, tastes okay.
Cons. Not as good as Snapple.
Hawaiian Punch (cans)
Pros: Can be mixed with Bacardi for a rum runner.
Cons: Can be mixed with Bacardi for a rum runner.
Hi-C Lemonade (cans)
Pros: Can be made into spiked lemonade with Bacardi.
Cons: Too acidic. Needs to be diluted with water.
Coke (cans)
Pros: There's always some around.
Cons: It's boring.
Vanilla Coke
Pros: Different. Good with cherry flavor added.
Cons: Not so good with pizza or nachos.
Rick's Spiked Lemonade
Pros: Be the one NOT drinking it and the game seems a LOT easier.
Cons: Very expensive.
Kahlua Mudslide (bottles)
Pros: Same as Rick's spiked lemonade.
Cons: Some people don't like the taste. Very expensive.
Wine Coolers (various flavors)
Pros: Tasty and inexpensive as far as alcoholic beverages go.
Cons: Not manly to drink.
Beer
Pros: Very cheap as far as alcoholic beverages go.
Cons: Tastes like piss. No one likes it. It's just around so we can offer it to people when they comment about the wine coolers not being manly.
As for Code Red, Mountain Dew, and Sobe, no one seems to like them here, so I never buy any...
A few days ago a couple of friends and I decided to do the deathmatch thing over at my place. Since I've got about 5 computers capable of running UT, Quake III Arena and GTAIII (okay it's not multiplayer but it's fun to play while an argument over which game to play takes place), usually no one needs to bring their own computer. My network server basically reflects the digital pack-rat that I am, and still contains mountable ISOs of Duke 3D, Desent II, Forsaken, Moto Racer, the entire Command and Conquer series, and quite a few other "old school" titles.
So we were having the usual argument about what game to play "Worms Armageddon? Nah, it crashes too much. Quake III Arena... Boring! Unreal... Maybe later. The Sims needs a deathmatch mode! (friend makes crack about selecting bitchslap from a pie menu)" and sure enough, the original Descent was brought up. "Hey, we haven't played Descent in forever." So, for the hell of it, I tried running Descent on one of my "modern" computers. Yuck. The music was messed up, and while the oldschool 320x200 graphics weren't immediately vomit-inducing, the RAPID bouncing up and down was! The effect originally intended to make it look like you were floating, on an Athlon XP2000 now looks like you're in an EARTHQUAKE.
I'd love to see the graphical glitches in oldschool games like Descent fixed. Hell, if Duke Nukem 3D could be improved, that'd be great too. Not like Duke Nukem (Taking) Forever is ever going to be released...
I ran a BBS back in the day (of the BBS, not the dinosaurs - I'm not *that* old!). It was one of those warez BBSs with a shareware/public domain file library as a front. Unfortunatly, appearing to be a shareware BBS had its disadvantages - namely it attracted people who loved playing online games.
;)
Okay, so it was really my fault for downloading and setting up a few doors to keep the warez kiddies distracted while their upload/download ratio was out of whack, but after installing TradeWars 2002, LORD and Usurper, that was pretty much the death setence for the file libraries. Everyone just logged in to kill each other while they were asleep in a hotel or under a tree. While my BBS was primarially a one line system, I eventually went multinode towards the end of its popularity (as a futile attempt to make it more interesting, even though I knew the Internet would swallow all my users). During its days as a 2-line system, I saw few users actually battle each other online. For the most part, one would be downloading a file, the other would be upset that the other user is unavailble due to a file transfer and page me to see if I'd abort their file transfer. (No, I didn't abort it, I wasn't a BOFH.)
I think the real thing I miss about the days of the BBS is being able to create your own community. Nowadays, you set up a web page with a message forum and just get posts by anonymous cowards going "This place sucks, head on over to www.bettersite.com where there's more people!" Oh yea, and I also miss Zmodem.
BEFORE Napster hit the scene, I got a Memorex 1622 CD-RW drive (Amazingly, they're also the subject of a major class action law suit at the moment...) and used it to burn copies of EVERYTHING for all my friends.
It still all revolves around CD burners. Take the current MP3 situation and subtract being able to burn CDs. Sure, there's portable MP3 players, but the REAL album-purchase-killer is being able to actually have that shiny disc with the music on it in your hot little hands. Most of my friends who aren't interested in computers know that us computer geeks can burn CDs and won't hesitate to ask for a copy of the latest albums or songs they can't get out of their head.
Do you actually tell your friends that they have to go out and spend money on something you can burn for them on an inexpensive blank CD? "Come on, you're supposed to be my friend... Help me out here." Unlike home taping of the past, CD-RW drives have become VERY fast as of late... A C90 tape actually took 45 minutes per side (yes, it had to be flipped) to record, a 40X CD-RW can burn an entire CD in less than 8. CPUs have become much faster as well. It's become a whole lot easier to fire up your CD-R mastering software in the background and burn CDs while you're say, reading Slashdot.
When a friend asked for a copy of a tape, it meant rewinding, analog distortion, getting the levels right, and FLIPPING THE DAMN TAPE. Burning is just a blank CD and a few clicks away.
Don't forget your copy of RenderMonkey, otherwise your simian friends might look less than lifelike.
I actually take the time to e-mail sellers (a prewritten form letter) on eBay to tell them how annoying that is. (I use the right-click menu's "Back" option almost exclusively to go back)
In a nutshell, the form letter just basically tells them to start IE (they're ALL using IE) and look at that nice little "Save As..." option in the file menu. I also mention that most people know about their "Temporary internet files folder".
I'm 23 years old - exactly the demographic the RIAA is trying to sell to, and I have a confession to make. I actually ENJOY top-40 music. Yes, hear Nelly and Kelly sing Dilemma and I crank up the bass and enjoy it.
I'm not looking for a zen-like experience or heartfelt emotional lyrics, I just want a good beat and a good sound. It's entertainment just entertainment, people - different strokes for different folks. I don't buy into the whole story that the "Clear Channel monopoly" is the cause of "new" acts or sounds being overlooked. Have you ever heard of Daniel Beddingfield before "Gotta get through this" hit the charts? What about the "A little less conversation" Eminem vs Elvis remix done by a DJ at a Clear Channel station? These are just examples, but I've been exposed to plenty of new acts and music by both the radio as well as the Internet.
I'm not saying pop radio is the end-all-be-all of music, I'm just saying that some people actually enjoy it as much as you enjoy your indie music (or maybe you're a pop fan as well!).
So I enjoy the music, why am I not buying albums? I'll be quite honest, I'm mostly just interested in singles. I know it's been said like a broken record on here (pun intended) but if I could pay $.50 or so per download for a high-quality professionally made MP3, I'd be more than happy to. Throw copy protected formats into the mix and that sweet deal becomes sour... Leave the music in an open format.
Have I purchased any albums lately? Yes, I bought Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory album a few months ago. When I discover I like more than just the promotional airplay singles, *then* I consider purchasing the entire album. In this effect, without p2p file sharing, I'd have no way of knowing if an album was all filler and would actually purchase *less* albums as a result.
If you compare Billboard's top-40 to Kazaa search results, it's easy to see why music trading is so popular. Many people (including myself) do not believe that downloading an MP3 of a current promotional single that is played constantly on the radio constitutes ANY kind of theft. How many people are there with enough disposable income to purchase an entire $18.99 album just to listen to maybe 2 popular tracks and take a gamble on the rest? If the RIAA's current sales figures are honest about anything, it's that the rest of the population who AREN'T using P2P filesharing AREN'T willing to take that gamble.
Bah. I'm still using an old 2x CD-RW drive and it can't copy copyprotected CDs worth shit. I just head on over to gamecopyworld and get a crack. Since most of my games are stored as virtual mounted ISOs anyway, a crack is the *only* way to make it really work. Besides, do you *really* like hunting for the CD every time you load a game? Maybe it was necessary back in the days of floppies and small hard drives, but not anymore.
* Please note, I am not advocating the use of warez'd/pirated copies of games, I'm talking about applying a crack to a legally purchased game so I can use it on MY computer in a way I see fit.
Only if I get to throw a pie at that Steve kid. Gosh, he's annoying. Come to think of it, I'd like a Steve skin for GTA3 so every time I get beat to a bloody pulp by angry gang members, I won't feel so bad about it.
"Dude, I'm getting a TIVO. No more Dell Kid!"
Don't get a Radeon 9000, it's a misleading name just like Nvidia's Geforce4 MX400. It's slower than the 8500. Get a Radeon 9700 for the fastest performence NOW, or get a Nvidia Geforce4 Titanium, the 2nd fastest card at the moment. The Radeon 8500 is only about as fast as a Geforce 3, and the lesser ATI offerings are MUCH SLOWER.
I agree with your statement to a point. (Pun intended) I bring a laptop with me when I go on fishing trips. Do I use it instead of fishing? Hell no, I enjoy the sunshine, salt and being out on the open ocean - and if I'm lucky, a good fight with a few fish.
Why do I bring the laptop then? The road trip to/from the boat is boring as hell. If I'm not the one driving, it gives me something to pass the time and lets me catch up on my VB projects or a few rounds of Worms Armageddon.
It seems to me if this almost-adult 17-year-old has the time and space to set up a full desktop computer system, he's missing the point of travel. Save for lan parties, desktop systems were meant to be left behind.
If it's an absolute necessity that he travels with a PC, a laptop is truly the only way to go... That way if a few friends come over to his hotel room, he doesn't have to face the embarassment of admitting he brought his PC with him.
Do you have any recipies with (a) gerbil(s) as the main ingredient?
So far, I've collected:
Gerbil in the microwave (the perfect quick meal for the starving college student)
Gerbil Soup, She Devil-style
As you can see, my list is far from complete. I'd appreciate any new gerbil recipies you can offer.
If you can stand the sight of a computer in your living room, ripping DVDs to Divx is an easy solution to avoiding region coding, Macrovision and ads/previews/copyright notices.
In my living room I've got an Athlon 1GHz with 256MB of ram, a 5GB hard drive (removed from an AOLTV box that was discontinued at Sears for $20), SB16 ($7 on eBay), a 10/100 RealTek NIC ($15), a wireless IR keyboard ($70) and a Radeon 7000 ($59 retail). While the Radeon 7000 has all the the 3D rendering capabilities of a block of asphalt, I chose it becase it has excellent video playback and TV-out quality. I'm sure if I wanted to spend more I could have gotten a Radeon with VIVO and put in a larger hard drive for Tivo-type functionality, but I digress.
The computer serves the purpose of playing back Divx files stored on a Samba server with gobs of storage. Whenever I get a new DVD, I rip it, compress it to Divx and upload it to the server. Yes, my entertainment center still includes a standard DVD player so I can watch DVDs right away if need be, but it's nice to know the originals are stored safely away and that I can watch the movies whenever I want without sitting through copyright notices or previews.
(For those of you complaining about how 200GB hard drive is not any worthy news, there certainly was enough people interested to still bring the server to a standstill.)
We just wanted to see if their webserver has any similarities in the reliability department to their products. Now Maxtor's homepage, that's still loading just fine. I think I just figured out the inital story title mixup - it's an evil plot by Maxtor to DDoS Western Digital and promote their new liquid bearing hard drives!
Maxtor Dude: "So Mr. Taco, we still up for taking those guys at WD out tonight?"
Taco: "Yep, story will be online in a few minutes."
---minutes later---
Maxtor Dude: "Woah, careful where you point that slashdot effect! Taco, that was supposed to be Western Digital!"
Taco: (Fixes headline) "Oops, my bad. I still get those free drives, right?"
Am I the only one who has had every single Western Digital drive I've ever bought fail completely within months?
/tmp space (funny, I won't need a cron job to dump it, heh heh).
Nope, you're not alone, although your failure mechanism isn't the same as what I've experienced. I'm on my 3rd (or 4th, I forget) Western Digital 40GB drive... I've got it backed up to my file server and as soon as I get the extra cash to get a Maxtor, this drive is as good as
They all seemed to have the same problems... Initally they work fine, after a few weeks they start making a high-pitched noise and then the random corruption comes. Never had a problem of this sort with a Maxtor, nor OLDER WD drives for this matter. As usual, tech support is no help so I'm just not buying WD drives anymore.
Okay, so it's a 200GB drive... Not trying to rain on /.'s parade or anything, but that's hardly newsworthy.
Give me an inexpensive medium to backup such a beast (even 700MB CD-Rs seem inadequate in terms of capacity lately). If you have to post a story about hard drives, give me a story about next generation storage technology - not a higher capacity version of the same technology we're currently using.
Please save the "Western digital now has a 200GB drive" messages for somewhere it belongs - on your banner ads.