So you want to play someone a song... using their computer? Why not just plug the speakers into your iPod? Then you wouldn't have to plug it in, make sure they have iTunes, and authorize.
for most people, this means that I have to climb under their desk, unplug the GREEN plug and somehow get it back up to the top of their desk in such a way that I can control the ipod, still. And then when I'm done, I've gotta get back behind their desk and find the right hole, again.
you can just go to the iTunes store later and in your account options choose to deauthorize the computers.
if only they offered such fine-grained control. I've had to do this about 3 times already; the first time being when I had authorized my powerbook 3 times as different computers because I forgot to deauthorize before formatting. The option they give you is to deauthorize ALL computers. And they only let you do that once a year.
since I can't think of anyone I know with more than five computers.
well, me. I've got 6 machines at home, 6 servers colocated at my dad's (although I'd never attach my ipod to one of them; no reason to), and I use a lot of other machines for work and for contract jobs.
anyway, I'm sure someone's response to this is "so don't buy DRM'd music!" well... I generally don't. But for some reason, people have this strange habit of buying me iTMS gift certificates... I usually hint to them that I don't need it and I either sell it to someone, or in the case of this last xmas, I bought a movie and an iPod game to see what they were, exactly, since I didn't wanna waste 14$ of my own cash on such things.
in case you're wondering... I bought High Fidelity (I own the DVD, too) and compared the quality of the picture of the iTunes version to the DVD... there's a HUGE difference in quality and sharpness. Even when ripped using Handbrake to a filesize comparable to the itunes version, Handbrake created a much nicer image; albeit without the chapters. I got High Fidelity online at Amazon (from the marketplace) new for around $8 + $3 shipping. so I spent about a $1 premium for superior quality of picture, a case, and a physical disk.
Half.com offers used (yet, like-new) CDs for under $5 at times. If the CD is missing a jewelcase or a booklet, you can sometimes get it for under $5 shipped. If you're just going to MP3 it and chuck the CD on a shelf/spindle/binder, then that's all you really need. And for approximately $2.50 for shipping, you're still getting about half-off the retail price of a new CD.
btw, is it just me or have CD prices gone up significantly in the past 10 years? I thought they were supposed to get less expensive. I remember when I was in HS (late 90s) that I could go to a CDWorld and buy a popular CD for $12.99 (CD club price) and less popular music sold for $9.99 or $7.99 and sometimes even $5.99.
Personally, I avoid buying music from iTunes. The problem being that I travel pretty often with my iPod. I take it to work, I take it to my friend's house, I take it to my mom's if I'm gonna help her with a computer problem, I take it to my dad's work if I'm meeting him for lunch. Occasionally I'll want to plug it in (this happens most often at my own workplace, where I may plug it into one of three or more computers) and either listen to my music myself, or play someone a song. Big problems come into play when I haven't authorized that machine to play and I have to type in a password, then I have to remember to de-authorize the machine. I've also got 3 machines that I may attach the device to, myself; I've got a powerbook and two desktop machines. It's really annoying to have to deal with that and the cost savings over buying conventional CDs really doesn't overpower that fact.
One interesting fact... I subscribed to eMusic back when they had an unlimited plan available about 4 years ago. I grabbed about 20GB of music off there in a single month- pretty much the entire collection of everything I liked at the time. I really wish they would bring that back.
I'm lucky in that I have a Father who's technically (as in technology) coherent and understands basic design principals and a mother who's quite an artist. My dad's side of the family is peppered with artists, programmers, photographers and writers, so I think I'm pretty well rounded overall. The only pitfall with being like this is my inability to decide what I want to do. I think I may try to work for Adobe as a programmer, or something similar.
yeah, I'm terrible with finding my own typos. I just went through the site earlier this week, when I was rewriting the backend, and found about a dozen typos on the resume page....and to think I'm a proofreader for my friend's novels. heh.
I think it's rare for one guy to be really good at both graphics and code.
Well, being a graphics guy AND a code guy, I'd say that you're right for the most part. Most people I know who are good in graphics are terrible at code (they just don't have the mind for it), and people who are good at code generally suck when it comes to design.
However, to simply learn how to achieve an effect or to take a piece of art and modify it in such a way that it can make a nice site.
the only real problem is that you wind up with these sites that have beautiful graphics when looked at individually (like, a great dropshadowed frame for something), but it doesnt' quite fit properly with the rest of the site or the spacing is all wrong.
you really need a designer, not just to make sure the site actually looks good, but also because doing the graphics AND the code for any kind of large-scale project is really too much work for one person to do.
With respect to phones, I think the iPhone is going to be a flop. When it's all said and done, it's a $3000 phone (can't get one without 2 years of Cingular's worthless service) that plays mp3s and has a calendar with pixmaps borrowed from OS X.
well, it's a little more than that.
I was at the keynote and I've watched several apple demos of the iPhone and i'm mostly impressed. Immediately after leaving the keynote I was 90% sure that I wanted one. As I left the place, a guy from MacObserver stopped me and asked me some questions about what I thought, if I'd switch to cingular (I already am a cingular customer, so it doesn't matter, and I've been with ATT/Cingular for 10 years, so a 2-year contract doesn't affect me, really), and if there were any details that I felt steve left out.
My main concern at that moment was 3rd party support. I was curious if they'd have an SDK available, because there didn't seem to be any kind of IM software in there. IM is a big thing for me on phones since there are people that I may just wanna have a quick conversation with and chatting in IM is a lot better than SMS, and also, I don't always have people's cell #s. And, another thing, txting from the US to canada is not included in my 3000 txt per month plan. I have to pay 10 cents, iirc.
so I was hoping that Adium would be able to be ported to the device, and maybe the slingbox software (because that thing is just too cool).
Other concerns that I have are about replacing the battery (I've replaced the battery in 2 of my ipods, but I wish it wasn't so much of a hassle) and scratching the screen (every ipod I've had so far, I kept in my pocket without any sleeve or protector and they became extremely scratched... every one until my video ipod which I keep in the sleeve that came with it and the surface is still pristine). I mean, the thing's gonna get destroyed in my pocket. I keep my phone in the same pocket as my keys!
So, I just got a blackjack like 3 weeks ago. it's held up to my keys well enough in that time, but the thing is a pain to use. I can type sooo much faster on a standard phone keypad using T9 than with the tiny keyboard on the thing, and I can't imagine the iphone being any better than this. hopefully there will be a way of flipping the keyboard to landscape on the iPhone for a larger typing space.
but all in all... the iPhone is more than "a $3000 phone [...] that plays mp3s and has a calendar with pixmaps borrowed from OS X."
it's got a much better designed UI than any other smartphone I've used and it won't require any 3rd party syncing software (read: MissingSync). it's got a usable web browser (IE on the blackjack is TERRIBLE. it's GARBAGE. I installed Opera, but every time I click a link it asks me if I'll allow it... this is due to some security limitation of Java software in WindowsMobile). the UI for making calls and maneuvering around the system is a lot more agile than windows mobile.
windows mobile sucks. the iPhone feels like windows mobile done right.
although, for $600 (for the 8GB one), I can't really see it being totally worth it. especially since Apple has a habit of releasing something else a year later that makes you hate your previous purchase.
yeah, that's like my roommate's sister who refuses to get an ipod only because everyone has one and she has to be different. She wouldn't get a creative zen (that's my #2 choice in players) because it looks too much like the ipod.
she wound up getting some other player that has a shit interface. I forget what one it was. might be an RCA Lyra. but it's annoying and a pain in the ass to navigate to the songs, but she's happy because it's not an ipod.
although she borrowed my ipod one evening and was amazed at how quickly she was able to get around, even if she didn't like the scrollwheel.
GAH! I sure wish this mis-representation of the iPod would die
me, too...
and what's worse is that this employee wasn't just wrong, she was lying. She was either lying about owning an iPod or lying about the supported formats.
Anyone who gives a microsoft product "underdog" status should be castrated.
I like the way your brain works. we should move into less public forums to discuss how we'll put this plan into action.
although, I prefer lobotomy.
however, I know plenty of people who like microsoft only because they are so hated and who believe that they're "#1" because they ship a superior product and because they are good at marketing everyone. I'm frequently accused of being an Apple fanboy and a Linux zealot simply because I avoid windows like the plague. I don't push either product (or set of products) on anyone. in fact, I recommend Dell to people when they ask me about computer stuff because I don't wanna be the one to hold their hand for the first 6 months that they switch.
But in these people's eyes, MS is the underdog in that market and imagine them getting picked on only because they're M$ and not because their product blows. =)
One thing the Zune does have is underdog status. People who are anti-apple/anti-ipod who will do whatever it takes to get people into the zune culture.
So, I was in a GameStop this weekend (my friend was trading in his gamecube) and this woman behind the register was talking to a customer about the zune and she was talking it up like I've never heard anyone talk up any product in my life. I mean, she wasn't just saying how great it was, she was making up lies on the spot to this guy and she even managed to sell one to the guy.
When I heard the conversation start, it began with "so, is that zune actually any good?" and the woman behind the counter says "yeah, I have one and it's awesome. I threw my ipod out after I got it because that thing was such a waste of money. It only plays music that you buy from apple in the iPod store and I have an extensive MP3 collection, so that was all useless, and the Zune is compatable with your xbox360 points, so you can use that money for that. try that with APPLE!"
she went on to say how the ipod is $400, but the zune is only $200 and the zune can share the music which the ipod can't do. She also claims to have contacted microsoft and quized the about it and she was saying how music purchased at any online music store can be played on the zune, plus it has an FM radio, which is a huge plus.
now, I don't know what her deal was and I'm not even sure if she realized if she was lying, but I was ready to throw something at her. seriously.
Also, my dislike for the zune isn't fueled by any hate for microsoft that I have. it's directly related to the quality of the product and its featureset. it's a poorly designed music player (and I'm not talking aesthetically) and doesn't do what it should (namely, the #1 thing it should do that it doesn't is play Plays For Sure(TM) files).
That's actually the cover to one of the first issues of EGM (I believe it's #3 or #4?). I had that issue sitting on my coffee table for posterity at an old apartment, but my roommates and guests seemed to prefer to use that as a coaster/notepad rather than the 60s/70s era playboys and early Penthouse.
It's also the Wizards & Warriors II cover art (as is illustrated above the Great Fabio).
well, I haven't done any workout that's impacted my muscles in that way in like... yeah... years? having a job kinda takes away time to do activities that require being active. although I walk about 2 miles a day between work and food (I don't have a car and live in new york city) .
The only thing pre-college education ever taught me was that people are fucked up and you basically can't trust anyone. Everythign else I learned on my own.
yeah, and you really don't have real friends until you're outside of that environment.
So I think they figure they can beat the competition and start working earlier.
That's kind of how I felt (and kind of still feel), but it doesn't work for everyone. Some fields (mostly technology fields), this applies to... but many kids dropping out of high school are going to work at car shops and fast food. And even with tech, there's not many Hans Reisers out there (dropping out of school, then going to college and getting their bachelors).
Personally, for me, high school was almost a complete waste of time. I never studied and I screwed around for all four years. I was a B, C and D student (with 10th grade being my only good year where I got almost straight As) mostly due to my lack of effort. I'd spend nights staying up late reading about tech and programming and such. Senior year was a bitch because of the whole Columbine thing (I graduated in 99). I always dressed in black, and at the time, I was a big Quake/Doom player and avid listener of KMFDM and Marilyn Manson and I was singled out by the faculty because before Columbine I was known for my dark humor. I'd make jokes about murdering and defiling corpses or raping a sack of someone's removed skin... but once school shootings became a threat, they cracked down on me and any other kid that fit the general description and school became hell. At that point I seriously considered dropping out. especially since I missed countless classes due to questioning and interviews from that and I wound up failing calculus because I couldn't keep up (I didn't like doing extra work for that stuff, I was too busy programming and such).
I managed to get into a university, but I flubbed that from smoking entirely too much pot and never going to class... but that's a different story altogether...
I don't regret failing out of college. up until the last year or so, I was making more money than nearly all of my friends, but now that they have degrees (and I only work part-time so I can have time to work on my own projects), some of them are making twice what I make... but I'm pretty sure I know as much if not more than most of them. I've gotten 6 years of experience and I've had 6 years of much more concentrated learning than any of them. I've cranked through more tech books than most of them probably will ever touch in their lifetimes.
All I've gotta do now is get off my ass and get a full-time gig.
But back to the point... The main problem with schools today, which was completely apparent in my high school, is that they only care about you passing and they'll do everything they can to make sure you do. They've lowered the standards so much just to get every kid to pass both classes and standardized tests. They force incapable kids into classes that are too hard for them (kids in remedial reading/math classes were placed into my senior year C++ class who never used a computer and had to be taught what a monitor is and how to format a floppy and never took the intro to computers or the VB classes; each of which were prerequisites). And they look too much at the numbers and not enough at the kid when it comes to placement and who needs extra help.
I've got dozens of stories of how my high school screwed up and I'm sure they're not all isolated to my school only. I'm sure this happens everywhere. And I'm sure it's worse in places like Florida where evolution is being/has been taught as a theory next to intelligent design.
And I'm sure other contributing factors to kids dropping out is the proliferation of teachers who don't care/can't teach/have a bad attitude and all these new, asinine rules about violence and drugs that are being implemented in today's public and private schools.
I love it when a review doesn't bother to mention the system specs. Will this run on a basic Core System, do you need a hard drive or a high resolution screen?
all games will run on the core system. they're the same exact system except for the fact that the core system lacks the harddrive and wireless controller (and the rev. A packages came with a remote). The harddrive is really a convenience for unlimited save-game space instead of needing those stupid memory cards. Although the full experience of the 360 platform is really injured if you don't have a harddrive. you can't download demos and I'm not sure where anything else (themes, icon packs, etc) would get stored.
but, aside from original Xbox games, I don't think any game requires a harddrive. at least, to my knowledge, none do.
the high-res screen isn't really a *requirement*. it's really more of a convenience, but this game looks incredible even on a standard TV. There's not really much small type on the screen that really makes a HDTV a necessity.
yeah, I was hoping for something similar to that. I figured Nintendo would be cool like that. Maybe I should have gone to the Nintendo store yesterday morning. there may have been some nice giveaways.
Speaking of which, you just reminded me... Whilst we were waiting outside (starting at 5am; in the cold), at around 8:30am, one of the Circuit City workers came in with 4 boxes of joe and 2 big boxes of donuts. For a moment we all got pretty excited, but the girl went straight inside and never showed her face again. It was quite the big tease.
...but I'm 30 and don't know anyone else with a Wii.
you know me! we should be wii buddies!
I actually live in Brooklyn, but was shopping with a friend in NJ, but I'm sure there was a similar situation in every major metropolitan area (NJ being kinda part of NYC for all intents and purposes... at least the northeastern part)
I too was a bit disappointed with the lack of real internet support. I know 4 people that got wiis and we've traded console IDs and have sent some messages back and forth and I've copied my mii to my wiimote so I can play as myself at my friend's.
I guess it's better to have no experience than a crappy experience. If it had half-assed multiplayer support or half-assed chat... I might not have anything to look forward to at this point.
the one thing about nintendo is that they like giving their fans a solid experience.
yeah, I'm surprised that they didn't come up with a way of having the IR pulse in such a pattern as to make it distinguishable from other light sources.
Remote control sensors in TVs usually handle this fine because the signal they received is conveyed on a carrier, which is easy to pick out from the "DC" signal of the sun.
When I used to live with my mom when I was like 9, the remote never worked in the mornings because the sunlight would go right on that part of the TV for a couple of hours. we eventually realized what caused it and moved the TV. but it baffled us for quite some time.
Yeah, I'm a fan of racers. I'm a big fan of anything that's fast-paced, arcade-style, pick up and play. Ridge Racers was the original reason I didn't sell my PSP, and luckily I kept it long enough to get Lumines which is the only reason that I'm sad that my PSP is bricked (well, that and the mobile NES games through emulation).
I'm gonna pick up excite truck on my way home from work tonight. if they've got any left. And I think rayman, too. I know 3 people that got it and they're all saying how great it is (not to mention countless people on/. and several other forums).
I'm really curious what kinds of puzzle games they're going to come out with. I think a lumines-like game would be great for the Wii.
yeah, I was playing with that last night because we were having some SERIOUS trouble with games once I got home, but everything was working flawlessly at my friend's house. We were having cursor stability issues (namely, the finger would jump all over the fricken screen).
it turns out that the wiimote was picking up the lights from this lamp next to the TV. I wouldn't have realized that that's what it was except that it's got 5 bulbs in a very unique pattern that I could see when adjusting the sensitivity. Once we turned the lamp off, everything worked great.
Although, this morning, I was having issues again. But it turned out that it was being caused by the fact that our TV is in front of our wall of windows and it was picking up the light from outside... so I guess that means no play during the day. sucks.
but if I didn't want a wii so bad, I probably would have gotten one if I was waiting in line just so I could be the cool cousin who gets his cousin the wii that no one else in the family could obtain.
Slashdot Mirror
So you want to play someone a song... using their computer? Why not just plug the speakers into your iPod? Then you wouldn't have to plug it in, make sure they have iTunes, and authorize.
for most people, this means that I have to climb under their desk, unplug the GREEN plug and somehow get it back up to the top of their desk in such a way that I can control the ipod, still. And then when I'm done, I've gotta get back behind their desk and find the right hole, again.
you can just go to the iTunes store later and in your account options choose to deauthorize the computers.
if only they offered such fine-grained control. I've had to do this about 3 times already; the first time being when I had authorized my powerbook 3 times as different computers because I forgot to deauthorize before formatting. The option they give you is to deauthorize ALL computers. And they only let you do that once a year.
since I can't think of anyone I know with more than five computers.
well, me. I've got 6 machines at home, 6 servers colocated at my dad's (although I'd never attach my ipod to one of them; no reason to), and I use a lot of other machines for work and for contract jobs.
anyway, I'm sure someone's response to this is "so don't buy DRM'd music!" well... I generally don't. But for some reason, people have this strange habit of buying me iTMS gift certificates... I usually hint to them that I don't need it and I either sell it to someone, or in the case of this last xmas, I bought a movie and an iPod game to see what they were, exactly, since I didn't wanna waste 14$ of my own cash on such things.
in case you're wondering... I bought High Fidelity (I own the DVD, too) and compared the quality of the picture of the iTunes version to the DVD... there's a HUGE difference in quality and sharpness. Even when ripped using Handbrake to a filesize comparable to the itunes version, Handbrake created a much nicer image; albeit without the chapters. I got High Fidelity online at Amazon (from the marketplace) new for around $8 + $3 shipping. so I spent about a $1 premium for superior quality of picture, a case, and a physical disk.
You're forgetting one more great option.
1.5. Buy your CDs used... at discount prices.
Half.com offers used (yet, like-new) CDs for under $5 at times. If the CD is missing a jewelcase or a booklet, you can sometimes get it for under $5 shipped. If you're just going to MP3 it and chuck the CD on a shelf/spindle/binder, then that's all you really need. And for approximately $2.50 for shipping, you're still getting about half-off the retail price of a new CD.
btw, is it just me or have CD prices gone up significantly in the past 10 years? I thought they were supposed to get less expensive. I remember when I was in HS (late 90s) that I could go to a CDWorld and buy a popular CD for $12.99 (CD club price) and less popular music sold for $9.99 or $7.99 and sometimes even $5.99.
Personally, I avoid buying music from iTunes. The problem being that I travel pretty often with my iPod. I take it to work, I take it to my friend's house, I take it to my mom's if I'm gonna help her with a computer problem, I take it to my dad's work if I'm meeting him for lunch. Occasionally I'll want to plug it in (this happens most often at my own workplace, where I may plug it into one of three or more computers) and either listen to my music myself, or play someone a song. Big problems come into play when I haven't authorized that machine to play and I have to type in a password, then I have to remember to de-authorize the machine. I've also got 3 machines that I may attach the device to, myself; I've got a powerbook and two desktop machines. It's really annoying to have to deal with that and the cost savings over buying conventional CDs really doesn't overpower that fact.
One interesting fact... I subscribed to eMusic back when they had an unlimited plan available about 4 years ago. I grabbed about 20GB of music off there in a single month- pretty much the entire collection of everything I liked at the time. I really wish they would bring that back.
thankya kindly. I do my best.
I'm lucky in that I have a Father who's technically (as in technology) coherent and understands basic design principals and a mother who's quite an artist. My dad's side of the family is peppered with artists, programmers, photographers and writers, so I think I'm pretty well rounded overall. The only pitfall with being like this is my inability to decide what I want to do. I think I may try to work for Adobe as a programmer, or something similar.
wow, thanks.
...and to think I'm a proofreader for my friend's novels. heh.
yeah, I'm terrible with finding my own typos. I just went through the site earlier this week, when I was rewriting the backend, and found about a dozen typos on the resume page.
I think it's rare for one guy to be really good at both graphics and code.
Well, being a graphics guy AND a code guy, I'd say that you're right for the most part. Most people I know who are good in graphics are terrible at code (they just don't have the mind for it), and people who are good at code generally suck when it comes to design.
However, to simply learn how to achieve an effect or to take a piece of art and modify it in such a way that it can make a nice site.
the only real problem is that you wind up with these sites that have beautiful graphics when looked at individually (like, a great dropshadowed frame for something), but it doesnt' quite fit properly with the rest of the site or the spacing is all wrong.
you really need a designer, not just to make sure the site actually looks good, but also because doing the graphics AND the code for any kind of large-scale project is really too much work for one person to do.
and now a shameless plug for my site.
With respect to phones, I think the iPhone is going to be a flop. When it's all said and done, it's a $3000 phone (can't get one without 2 years of Cingular's worthless service) that plays mp3s and has a calendar with pixmaps borrowed from OS X.
well, it's a little more than that.
I was at the keynote and I've watched several apple demos of the iPhone and i'm mostly impressed. Immediately after leaving the keynote I was 90% sure that I wanted one. As I left the place, a guy from MacObserver stopped me and asked me some questions about what I thought, if I'd switch to cingular (I already am a cingular customer, so it doesn't matter, and I've been with ATT/Cingular for 10 years, so a 2-year contract doesn't affect me, really), and if there were any details that I felt steve left out.
My main concern at that moment was 3rd party support. I was curious if they'd have an SDK available, because there didn't seem to be any kind of IM software in there. IM is a big thing for me on phones since there are people that I may just wanna have a quick conversation with and chatting in IM is a lot better than SMS, and also, I don't always have people's cell #s. And, another thing, txting from the US to canada is not included in my 3000 txt per month plan. I have to pay 10 cents, iirc.
so I was hoping that Adium would be able to be ported to the device, and maybe the slingbox software (because that thing is just too cool).
Other concerns that I have are about replacing the battery (I've replaced the battery in 2 of my ipods, but I wish it wasn't so much of a hassle) and scratching the screen (every ipod I've had so far, I kept in my pocket without any sleeve or protector and they became extremely scratched... every one until my video ipod which I keep in the sleeve that came with it and the surface is still pristine). I mean, the thing's gonna get destroyed in my pocket. I keep my phone in the same pocket as my keys!
So, I just got a blackjack like 3 weeks ago. it's held up to my keys well enough in that time, but the thing is a pain to use. I can type sooo much faster on a standard phone keypad using T9 than with the tiny keyboard on the thing, and I can't imagine the iphone being any better than this. hopefully there will be a way of flipping the keyboard to landscape on the iPhone for a larger typing space.
but all in all... the iPhone is more than "a $3000 phone [...] that plays mp3s and has a calendar with pixmaps borrowed from OS X."
it's got a much better designed UI than any other smartphone I've used and it won't require any 3rd party syncing software (read: MissingSync). it's got a usable web browser (IE on the blackjack is TERRIBLE. it's GARBAGE. I installed Opera, but every time I click a link it asks me if I'll allow it... this is due to some security limitation of Java software in WindowsMobile). the UI for making calls and maneuvering around the system is a lot more agile than windows mobile.
windows mobile sucks. the iPhone feels like windows mobile done right.
although, for $600 (for the 8GB one), I can't really see it being totally worth it. especially since Apple has a habit of releasing something else a year later that makes you hate your previous purchase.
I'd assume, by looking at his little illustrations that he's tapping into the supply after it's been filtered.
also, because of the chlorine, algae isn't gonna grow.
yeah, that's like my roommate's sister who refuses to get an ipod only because everyone has one and she has to be different. She wouldn't get a creative zen (that's my #2 choice in players) because it looks too much like the ipod.
she wound up getting some other player that has a shit interface. I forget what one it was. might be an RCA Lyra. but it's annoying and a pain in the ass to navigate to the songs, but she's happy because it's not an ipod.
although she borrowed my ipod one evening and was amazed at how quickly she was able to get around, even if she didn't like the scrollwheel.
GAH! I sure wish this mis-representation of the iPod would die
me, too...
and what's worse is that this employee wasn't just wrong, she was lying. She was either lying about owning an iPod or lying about the supported formats.
Anyone who gives a microsoft product "underdog" status should be castrated.
I like the way your brain works. we should move into less public forums to discuss how we'll put this plan into action.
although, I prefer lobotomy.
however, I know plenty of people who like microsoft only because they are so hated and who believe that they're "#1" because they ship a superior product and because they are good at marketing everyone. I'm frequently accused of being an Apple fanboy and a Linux zealot simply because I avoid windows like the plague. I don't push either product (or set of products) on anyone. in fact, I recommend Dell to people when they ask me about computer stuff because I don't wanna be the one to hold their hand for the first 6 months that they switch.
But in these people's eyes, MS is the underdog in that market and imagine them getting picked on only because they're M$ and not because their product blows. =)
One thing the Zune does have is underdog status. People who are anti-apple/anti-ipod who will do whatever it takes to get people into the zune culture.
So, I was in a GameStop this weekend (my friend was trading in his gamecube) and this woman behind the register was talking to a customer about the zune and she was talking it up like I've never heard anyone talk up any product in my life. I mean, she wasn't just saying how great it was, she was making up lies on the spot to this guy and she even managed to sell one to the guy.
When I heard the conversation start, it began with "so, is that zune actually any good?" and the woman behind the counter says "yeah, I have one and it's awesome. I threw my ipod out after I got it because that thing was such a waste of money. It only plays music that you buy from apple in the iPod store and I have an extensive MP3 collection, so that was all useless, and the Zune is compatable with your xbox360 points, so you can use that money for that. try that with APPLE!"
she went on to say how the ipod is $400, but the zune is only $200 and the zune can share the music which the ipod can't do. She also claims to have contacted microsoft and quized the about it and she was saying how music purchased at any online music store can be played on the zune, plus it has an FM radio, which is a huge plus.
now, I don't know what her deal was and I'm not even sure if she realized if she was lying, but I was ready to throw something at her. seriously.
Also, my dislike for the zune isn't fueled by any hate for microsoft that I have. it's directly related to the quality of the product and its featureset. it's a poorly designed music player (and I'm not talking aesthetically) and doesn't do what it should (namely, the #1 thing it should do that it doesn't is play Plays For Sure(TM) files).
btw, this is my 666th comment. yay!
Another sad thing is how successful the iTunes Music Store is. The fact that that's such a raging success proves Universal's statement isn't true.
because of that, I dont' really think their request is gonna stick.
And if apple does pay up, they better fricken make the iTunes store 100% free.
That's actually the cover to one of the first issues of EGM (I believe it's #3 or #4?). I had that issue sitting on my coffee table for posterity at an old apartment, but my roommates and guests seemed to prefer to use that as a coaster/notepad rather than the 60s/70s era playboys and early Penthouse.
It's also the Wizards & Warriors II cover art (as is illustrated above the Great Fabio).
well, I haven't done any workout that's impacted my muscles in that way in like... yeah... years? having a job kinda takes away time to do activities that require being active. although I walk about 2 miles a day between work and food (I don't have a car and live in new york city) .
but yeah, you're right. =P
well, I've been playing with my wii so much, my arm is sore
in fact, all my muscles are stiff. I'm in such bad shape, my wii makes me stiff.
The only thing pre-college education ever taught me was that people are fucked up and you basically can't trust anyone. Everythign else I learned on my own.
yeah, and you really don't have real friends until you're outside of that environment.
So I think they figure they can beat the competition and start working earlier.
That's kind of how I felt (and kind of still feel), but it doesn't work for everyone. Some fields (mostly technology fields), this applies to... but many kids dropping out of high school are going to work at car shops and fast food. And even with tech, there's not many Hans Reisers out there (dropping out of school, then going to college and getting their bachelors).
Personally, for me, high school was almost a complete waste of time. I never studied and I screwed around for all four years. I was a B, C and D student (with 10th grade being my only good year where I got almost straight As) mostly due to my lack of effort. I'd spend nights staying up late reading about tech and programming and such. Senior year was a bitch because of the whole Columbine thing (I graduated in 99). I always dressed in black, and at the time, I was a big Quake/Doom player and avid listener of KMFDM and Marilyn Manson and I was singled out by the faculty because before Columbine I was known for my dark humor. I'd make jokes about murdering and defiling corpses or raping a sack of someone's removed skin... but once school shootings became a threat, they cracked down on me and any other kid that fit the general description and school became hell. At that point I seriously considered dropping out. especially since I missed countless classes due to questioning and interviews from that and I wound up failing calculus because I couldn't keep up (I didn't like doing extra work for that stuff, I was too busy programming and such).
I managed to get into a university, but I flubbed that from smoking entirely too much pot and never going to class... but that's a different story altogether...
I don't regret failing out of college. up until the last year or so, I was making more money than nearly all of my friends, but now that they have degrees (and I only work part-time so I can have time to work on my own projects), some of them are making twice what I make... but I'm pretty sure I know as much if not more than most of them. I've gotten 6 years of experience and I've had 6 years of much more concentrated learning than any of them. I've cranked through more tech books than most of them probably will ever touch in their lifetimes.
All I've gotta do now is get off my ass and get a full-time gig.
But back to the point... The main problem with schools today, which was completely apparent in my high school, is that they only care about you passing and they'll do everything they can to make sure you do. They've lowered the standards so much just to get every kid to pass both classes and standardized tests. They force incapable kids into classes that are too hard for them (kids in remedial reading/math classes were placed into my senior year C++ class who never used a computer and had to be taught what a monitor is and how to format a floppy and never took the intro to computers or the VB classes; each of which were prerequisites). And they look too much at the numbers and not enough at the kid when it comes to placement and who needs extra help.
I've got dozens of stories of how my high school screwed up and I'm sure they're not all isolated to my school only. I'm sure this happens everywhere. And I'm sure it's worse in places like Florida where evolution is being/has been taught as a theory next to intelligent design.
And I'm sure other contributing factors to kids dropping out is the proliferation of teachers who don't care/can't teach/have a bad attitude and all these new, asinine rules about violence and drugs that are being implemented in today's public and private schools.
FFXI is actually for 360, also.
I'd assume it requires the HD, actually.
I consider a USB keyboard to be a requirement on there, too, since it sucks communicating in that game without it.
I love it when a review doesn't bother to mention the system specs. Will this run on a basic Core System, do you need a hard drive or a high resolution screen?
all games will run on the core system. they're the same exact system except for the fact that the core system lacks the harddrive and wireless controller (and the rev. A packages came with a remote). The harddrive is really a convenience for unlimited save-game space instead of needing those stupid memory cards. Although the full experience of the 360 platform is really injured if you don't have a harddrive. you can't download demos and I'm not sure where anything else (themes, icon packs, etc) would get stored.
but, aside from original Xbox games, I don't think any game requires a harddrive. at least, to my knowledge, none do.
the high-res screen isn't really a *requirement*. it's really more of a convenience, but this game looks incredible even on a standard TV. There's not really much small type on the screen that really makes a HDTV a necessity.
They even gave us free t-shirts.
yeah, I was hoping for something similar to that. I figured Nintendo would be cool like that. Maybe I should have gone to the Nintendo store yesterday morning. there may have been some nice giveaways.
Speaking of which, you just reminded me... Whilst we were waiting outside (starting at 5am; in the cold), at around 8:30am, one of the Circuit City workers came in with 4 boxes of joe and 2 big boxes of donuts. For a moment we all got pretty excited, but the girl went straight inside and never showed her face again. It was quite the big tease.
...but I'm 30 and don't know anyone else with a Wii.
you know me! we should be wii buddies!
I actually live in Brooklyn, but was shopping with a friend in NJ, but I'm sure there was a similar situation in every major metropolitan area (NJ being kinda part of NYC for all intents and purposes... at least the northeastern part)
I too was a bit disappointed with the lack of real internet support. I know 4 people that got wiis and we've traded console IDs and have sent some messages back and forth and I've copied my mii to my wiimote so I can play as myself at my friend's.
I guess it's better to have no experience than a crappy experience. If it had half-assed multiplayer support or half-assed chat... I might not have anything to look forward to at this point.
the one thing about nintendo is that they like giving their fans a solid experience.
yeah, I'm surprised that they didn't come up with a way of having the IR pulse in such a pattern as to make it distinguishable from other light sources.
Remote control sensors in TVs usually handle this fine because the signal they received is conveyed on a carrier, which is easy to pick out from the "DC" signal of the sun.
When I used to live with my mom when I was like 9, the remote never worked in the mornings because the sunlight would go right on that part of the TV for a couple of hours. we eventually realized what caused it and moved the TV. but it baffled us for quite some time.
Yeah, I'm a fan of racers. I'm a big fan of anything that's fast-paced, arcade-style, pick up and play. Ridge Racers was the original reason I didn't sell my PSP, and luckily I kept it long enough to get Lumines which is the only reason that I'm sad that my PSP is bricked (well, that and the mobile NES games through emulation).
/. and several other forums).
I'm gonna pick up excite truck on my way home from work tonight. if they've got any left. And I think rayman, too. I know 3 people that got it and they're all saying how great it is (not to mention countless people on
I'm really curious what kinds of puzzle games they're going to come out with. I think a lumines-like game would be great for the Wii.
there's so many possibilities!
yeah, I was playing with that last night because we were having some SERIOUS trouble with games once I got home, but everything was working flawlessly at my friend's house. We were having cursor stability issues (namely, the finger would jump all over the fricken screen).
it turns out that the wiimote was picking up the lights from this lamp next to the TV. I wouldn't have realized that that's what it was except that it's got 5 bulbs in a very unique pattern that I could see when adjusting the sensitivity. Once we turned the lamp off, everything worked great.
Although, this morning, I was having issues again. But it turned out that it was being caused by the fact that our TV is in front of our wall of windows and it was picking up the light from outside... so I guess that means no play during the day. sucks.
You've got a point.
but if I didn't want a wii so bad, I probably would have gotten one if I was waiting in line just so I could be the cool cousin who gets his cousin the wii that no one else in the family could obtain.