Sorry. Amazon is "Windows only" and uses the strict and incompatible Windows "Pay for Sure" DRM technology. No thanks. I'll head to the iTunes store or Torrent sites instead.
Honestly, I am. They just pulled the goddamn plug without a replacement. As worthless the boards were concerning my time, I still posted regularly if only for the fact it made me feel better to bitch about something or just make a statement 10 people would read. I'm not sure what "value" the boards had, but they still managed to help me kill an hour or two while being bored out of my mind at work.
Agreed 110% Outside of geek circles and Linux fanboys, no one really knows or cares about Linux. Ask my parents and they'll look at you cross-eyed. Most IT suits won't buy into it either because of their blind MS loyalties.
And yes, OSX is now king and the need for Linux is virtually non-existent at this point.
The problem with eBay (and it being a public company) is that it is under constant pressure to drive more and more revenue its way. eBay was successful at ONE thing: online auctions. Now that shareholders demand more, it has to keep looking for more and more businesses. PayPal was a great buy. But the rest? Eh. If they had done all this 8 years ago, that would have made sense. But eBay is synonymous with auctions and nothing else. Same reason why Amazon isn't associated with auctions. The brand has been defined in stone.
They've also done a piss poor job of keeping their sellers happy. They raise fees twice a year, regardless of what people say and always say it's being done for the "health of the marketplace." Their spokesman Hani Durzy says the same shit over and over. yet, eBay is FLOODED with goods and sellers The marketplace is so diluted on eBay now that it's very difficult for sellers to make money anymore.
I don't know what the solution is, but eBay certainly doesn't have it. eBay Express is a dog. They threw in the towel in China (which was a HUGE initiative for them the past two years that has failed miserably), their stock is flatlined and every initiative outside of auctions has essentially failed.
Let's step away from all this bullsh*t about DRM and whatnot. Let's instead take a look at the sh*t that is put out today. I've had a very, very hard time finding anything I liked this year. Pop music is pure garbage. Rock is essentially dead at this point because it's been so watered down and homogenized. I'm a heavy metal fanatic and I've been really let down this year by bands like Slayer, Iron Maiden and Black Label Society. Tool wasn't included on iTunes, so you had to buy the CD (which is very good). I've purchased a bunch of old 80's stuff I reconnected with. I downloaded the Halford re-masters yesterday because iTunes is the only way to get them. Otherwise, I much much much prefer CDs with HQ sound (not 128kb sound files), liner notes, etc.
So, consider the music industry in general is full of no-talent, emo, whore-looking pop "stars" and you see why both CDs and iTunes sales are dropping.
While some people think I'm sick for saying things like this, I think this planet NEEDS a pandemic like the bird flu. We - the US and Asia - are quickly brining an end to natural resources. In the US, we take every resource for granted and consume goods like there is no tomorrow. China appears to be on the same track, while having 6x as many people, wreaking absolute havoc on their environment and, like other Eastern Asian nations, are laying waste to the oceans and rain forests.
Simply put - and many people disagree - we need a major population drop if we want to survive much longer. A bird flu outbreak would be the best thing that's happened to this planet since the last big asteroid. Inhumna, you say? Perhaps, but I'm saying this from a practical point of view. We as a species are INCAPABLE of co-existing with our natural environment in a non-destructive way. And as populations grow, so does conflict. The battles between Muslims and everyone else notwithstanding, we're going to have a serious water crisis around the globe in 50 years and that will lead to even more conflict and death.
I guess since Vista is so slow and buggy, companies will need more of us to keep the damn thing running. If I was in Europe, I guess I'd send MS a thank you note for keeping me employed even longer.
I also forgot to mention that, while the press finally woke up from its post-9/11 ass-kissing of the current administration, it still is feeding into the propganda machine, like this author said. I usually watch CNN every morning, and all I hear (and both parties are guilty) is talking point after talking point. And that's how stupid people fall for this crap. Can anyone here point to an instance where a news anchor told one of these political talking heads to answer a question *directly* instead of repeating the party line ad nauseum? I sure can't. These news dolts sit there and do nothing.
I can assure you there has not been one episode her in the US where a rampage like that has been stopped by a regular citizen carrying a gun. So, you can forget about that fantasy.
Wow. What's frightening is that your mother and millions like her so ignorant that the GOP has a field day with them. I'm dumbfounded that any intelligent human being in this country can still believe the propoganda, but I guess after years of beating this bullshit into our heads, people have fallen for it, hook, line and sinker. It will be interesting to see what she has to say ten years from now. GWB is going to save this country? Wow.....
And I hope the voters teach these low-life scumbags a lesson in November. It disgusts me every time I hear some liar like Dick Cheney saying if we pull out of Iraq, we're going to find terrorists in our supermarkets.
Very good advice. Although, I'd argue $1,000 is way too low for an "emergency" fund. But maybe as a college student that's ok.
Shit, kid. All you have to do to save more than a savings account is drop the money in a CD. They are over %5 now, so that's much better than 1%. But, if you have debt, pay that shit off first - otherwise you're losing money.
Couldn't have said it better. Politicians and automakers have done everything possible to make sure people think driving in this country is a right instead of a privledge. If only we were as tough as germany, maybe driving wouldn't be so bad here.
They also NEED to do something about the volume of trucks. Here in CT, traffic is an absolute nightmare night and day because of the exploding volume of trucks....and the Fung Wah Bus!!! (-reference to the flood of $15/way buses to Boston and the casinos from Chinatown).
Really. I'd be perfectly happy with the original done in perhaps the Unreal or Quake engine. Then I don't have to look at board-headed cops with blocked pixel heads anymore when I'm pumping them full of slugs. The game was fun enough as it was. Stop the silliness already.
Wow. Hundreds of posts over many years on here and now I'm a troll? Thanks, mods. I was being dead serious by waht I said. I'm very passionate about this issue, as I feel our rights are being trampled on from many directions in this country. Sorry if you don't like Howard, but millions of people do.
I'm so fucking fed up with the radicalism that's taken over our government and the censorship brigade, that I'm 100% in sat radio's corner. I have had Sirius since January and could never go back. My only beef is that reception here in the northeast (where there are plenty of leaves in the spring/summer) can suck ass at times and leaves me screaming at my radio. But Howard Stern uncensored? I'm there for life, folks. F the FCC. I couldn't care less about regular radio, HD or not. It's becoming more censored and you're still subjected to corporate-governed, lame playlists. No thanks.
Look, we all know this isn't about leaking classified information. This is ALL about preventing the press from doing its job: keeping tabs on the president's administration. This administration has arguably stretched the law further than any in our history. They're illegally recording calls, going after journalists who expose their bullshit, lead us into a war that has now left more than 2,000 of our brave sons and daughters DEAD - simply because of a neocon vendetta, and countless other sickening atrocities.
This administration doesn't want the general public know that it has turned into a modern day Big Brother and is more incompetent than the nutcase who leads North Korea. At this point, I hope the press only ratchets it up a few notches and goes after Bush and his scumbag cronies even more so until they are out of office.
Bullshit. McAfee and Symantec have been engaging in a mis-information campaign against Mac security for the past year trying to get people to buy their junky wares. Is the Mac 100% impenetrable? No, but given that OS X has now been around for 5 years or so and no script kiddie has been able to create ANYTHING remotely close to dangerous (yeah, there are a few small, barely threatening programs), then why all of a sudden are certain people with a VESTED interest in selling AV software trying to scare Mac users into spending money unnecessarily? Let's just stop saying "Oh, when OSX is more popular then it will be a popular target." That argument is CRAP. What bigger ego booster could you get if you created a successfully propogating worm or spyware app for Mac OS X, a supposedly supreme Fort Knox of operatin system?
I'm a long-time Mac admin and user. I don't have AV software on my home machine and as of now have no plans to either. I think Symantec, McAfee, Gartner and a few others are teh ones who have a hidden agenda.
Our top story tonight, uber geek Linus Torvalds unleashed a scathing indictment of some other geeks, claiming they are skating on thin ice by using Virtual Memory calls to improve performance. The words sparked outrage in the dark rooms of colleeg geek programmers from Berkley to Berlin. The angry geek mobs said they're going to launch a flame war from their computers "to teach Linus a lesson."
In the words of George Takei "Hoooooooly geeeez!" This is news??
Slashdot Mirror
Sorry. Amazon is "Windows only" and uses the strict and incompatible Windows "Pay for Sure" DRM technology. No thanks. I'll head to the iTunes store or Torrent sites instead.
Honestly, I am. They just pulled the goddamn plug without a replacement. As worthless the boards were concerning my time, I still posted regularly if only for the fact it made me feel better to bitch about something or just make a statement 10 people would read. I'm not sure what "value" the boards had, but they still managed to help me kill an hour or two while being bored out of my mind at work.
Agreed 110% Outside of geek circles and Linux fanboys, no one really knows or cares about Linux. Ask my parents and they'll look at you cross-eyed. Most IT suits won't buy into it either because of their blind MS loyalties.
And yes, OSX is now king and the need for Linux is virtually non-existent at this point.
You make some good points. I guess my point is that eBay has essentially failed at every attempt to change its business model.
The problem with eBay (and it being a public company) is that it is under constant pressure to drive more and more revenue its way. eBay was successful at ONE thing: online auctions. Now that shareholders demand more, it has to keep looking for more and more businesses. PayPal was a great buy. But the rest? Eh. If they had done all this 8 years ago, that would have made sense. But eBay is synonymous with auctions and nothing else. Same reason why Amazon isn't associated with auctions. The brand has been defined in stone.
They've also done a piss poor job of keeping their sellers happy. They raise fees twice a year, regardless of what people say and always say it's being done for the "health of the marketplace." Their spokesman Hani Durzy says the same shit over and over. yet, eBay is FLOODED with goods and sellers The marketplace is so diluted on eBay now that it's very difficult for sellers to make money anymore.
I don't know what the solution is, but eBay certainly doesn't have it. eBay Express is a dog. They threw in the towel in China (which was a HUGE initiative for them the past two years that has failed miserably), their stock is flatlined and every initiative outside of auctions has essentially failed.
Let's step away from all this bullsh*t about DRM and whatnot. Let's instead take a look at the sh*t that is put out today. I've had a very, very hard time finding anything I liked this year. Pop music is pure garbage. Rock is essentially dead at this point because it's been so watered down and homogenized. I'm a heavy metal fanatic and I've been really let down this year by bands like Slayer, Iron Maiden and Black Label Society. Tool wasn't included on iTunes, so you had to buy the CD (which is very good). I've purchased a bunch of old 80's stuff I reconnected with. I downloaded the Halford re-masters yesterday because iTunes is the only way to get them. Otherwise, I much much much prefer CDs with HQ sound (not 128kb sound files), liner notes, etc.
So, consider the music industry in general is full of no-talent, emo, whore-looking pop "stars" and you see why both CDs and iTunes sales are dropping.
Seriously. hell.com isn't NEARLY as valuable as a business.com or sex.com. What's the real appeal? My guess is it'll fetch maybe $75k
You're actually *disputing* that people in the US are incredibly wasteful? You can't be serious.
While some people think I'm sick for saying things like this, I think this planet NEEDS a pandemic like the bird flu. We - the US and Asia - are quickly brining an end to natural resources. In the US, we take every resource for granted and consume goods like there is no tomorrow. China appears to be on the same track, while having 6x as many people, wreaking absolute havoc on their environment and, like other Eastern Asian nations, are laying waste to the oceans and rain forests.
Simply put - and many people disagree - we need a major population drop if we want to survive much longer. A bird flu outbreak would be the best thing that's happened to this planet since the last big asteroid. Inhumna, you say? Perhaps, but I'm saying this from a practical point of view. We as a species are INCAPABLE of co-existing with our natural environment in a non-destructive way. And as populations grow, so does conflict. The battles between Muslims and everyone else notwithstanding, we're going to have a serious water crisis around the globe in 50 years and that will lead to even more conflict and death.
I guess since Vista is so slow and buggy, companies will need more of us to keep the damn thing running. If I was in Europe, I guess I'd send MS a thank you note for keeping me employed even longer.
I also forgot to mention that, while the press finally woke up from its post-9/11 ass-kissing of the current administration, it still is feeding into the propganda machine, like this author said. I usually watch CNN every morning, and all I hear (and both parties are guilty) is talking point after talking point. And that's how stupid people fall for this crap. Can anyone here point to an instance where a news anchor told one of these political talking heads to answer a question *directly* instead of repeating the party line ad nauseum? I sure can't. These news dolts sit there and do nothing.
I can assure you there has not been one episode her in the US where a rampage like that has been stopped by a regular citizen carrying a gun. So, you can forget about that fantasy.
Wow. What's frightening is that your mother and millions like her so ignorant that the GOP has a field day with them. I'm dumbfounded that any intelligent human being in this country can still believe the propoganda, but I guess after years of beating this bullshit into our heads, people have fallen for it, hook, line and sinker. It will be interesting to see what she has to say ten years from now. GWB is going to save this country? Wow.....
I hereby revoke your mother's right to vote.
And I hope the voters teach these low-life scumbags a lesson in November. It disgusts me every time I hear some liar like Dick Cheney saying if we pull out of Iraq, we're going to find terrorists in our supermarkets.
Seriously. Who the hell looks at a large corporate stock in a one month timeframe?? You, sirs, are not stock analysts.
Very good advice. Although, I'd argue $1,000 is way too low for an "emergency" fund. But maybe as a college student that's ok.
Shit, kid. All you have to do to save more than a savings account is drop the money in a CD. They are over %5 now, so that's much better than 1%. But, if you have debt, pay that shit off first - otherwise you're losing money.
Couldn't have said it better. Politicians and automakers have done everything possible to make sure people think driving in this country is a right instead of a privledge. If only we were as tough as germany, maybe driving wouldn't be so bad here.
They also NEED to do something about the volume of trucks. Here in CT, traffic is an absolute nightmare night and day because of the exploding volume of trucks....and the Fung Wah Bus!!! (-reference to the flood of $15/way buses to Boston and the casinos from Chinatown).
All this "achievment".... and traffic is as bad as ever and getting worse every single day. What a grand dream our highway system has turned into.
This sort of thing never happens in China. No corporate piracy, no theft of trade secrets, no counterfeiting industry... No...
These units will probably turn up in the hands of "Nuntenda" a new Chinese gaming company formed to sell handheld gaming systems.
Really. I'd be perfectly happy with the original done in perhaps the Unreal or Quake engine. Then I don't have to look at board-headed cops with blocked pixel heads anymore when I'm pumping them full of slugs. The game was fun enough as it was. Stop the silliness already.
Wow. Hundreds of posts over many years on here and now I'm a troll? Thanks, mods. I was being dead serious by waht I said. I'm very passionate about this issue, as I feel our rights are being trampled on from many directions in this country. Sorry if you don't like Howard, but millions of people do.
I'm so fucking fed up with the radicalism that's taken over our government and the censorship brigade, that I'm 100% in sat radio's corner. I have had Sirius since January and could never go back. My only beef is that reception here in the northeast (where there are plenty of leaves in the spring/summer) can suck ass at times and leaves me screaming at my radio. But Howard Stern uncensored? I'm there for life, folks. F the FCC. I couldn't care less about regular radio, HD or not. It's becoming more censored and you're still subjected to corporate-governed, lame playlists. No thanks.
Look, we all know this isn't about leaking classified information. This is ALL about preventing the press from doing its job: keeping tabs on the president's administration. This administration has arguably stretched the law further than any in our history. They're illegally recording calls, going after journalists who expose their bullshit, lead us into a war that has now left more than 2,000 of our brave sons and daughters DEAD - simply because of a neocon vendetta, and countless other sickening atrocities.
This administration doesn't want the general public know that it has turned into a modern day Big Brother and is more incompetent than the nutcase who leads North Korea. At this point, I hope the press only ratchets it up a few notches and goes after Bush and his scumbag cronies even more so until they are out of office.
Bullshit. McAfee and Symantec have been engaging in a mis-information campaign against Mac security for the past year trying to get people to buy their junky wares. Is the Mac 100% impenetrable? No, but given that OS X has now been around for 5 years or so and no script kiddie has been able to create ANYTHING remotely close to dangerous (yeah, there are a few small, barely threatening programs), then why all of a sudden are certain people with a VESTED interest in selling AV software trying to scare Mac users into spending money unnecessarily? Let's just stop saying "Oh, when OSX is more popular then it will be a popular target." That argument is CRAP. What bigger ego booster could you get if you created a successfully propogating worm or spyware app for Mac OS X, a supposedly supreme Fort Knox of operatin system?
f m?ID=1765
I'm a long-time Mac admin and user. I don't have AV software on my home machine and as of now have no plans to either. I think Symantec, McAfee, Gartner and a few others are teh ones who have a hidden agenda.
All to pr0n you need: http://excaliburfilms.com/partner/mainaffiliate.c
Our top story tonight, uber geek Linus Torvalds unleashed a scathing indictment of some other geeks, claiming they are skating on thin ice by using Virtual Memory calls to improve performance. The words sparked outrage in the dark rooms of colleeg geek programmers from Berkley to Berlin. The angry geek mobs said they're going to launch a flame war from their computers "to teach Linus a lesson."
In the words of George Takei "Hoooooooly geeeez!" This is news??