I found that using Brighthouse Networks Roadrunner service, I was promised "Up to 7Mbps" for $44.95/mo. and that's what I've used for a long time. Recently they started to offer Roadrunner Lite, which was advertised as 512Kbps down and 256(or 128?)Kbps up. I ran some speed tests and found that typically I was only getting 512Kbps down already even though I was promised "Up to 7Mbps". Guess what. I switched to Roadrunner Lite at $14.95/mo. Now, of course I'm getting 50Kpbs down. Yes FIFTY Kbps. What gives?!?!
Is anyone else bothered by all this negative press for a company, who for most part has consistently provided a good service? I hope all this bad IPO talk doesn't reflect poorly on the VOIP service itself, which is still pretty darn good and reliable (not to mention a great value). I guess they say there is no such thing as bad publicity.
According to this page. The warranty is only 90 days on the 360, which means that if you bought it on or around the launch day, in November, your warranty expired 3 months ago.
"And when gaming comes back, it will hopefully be different and innovative and based on something other than eye candy and the shock value of blood and guts and hookers. Hopefully it will allow for creativity from the players, and room for small, independent game makers to create content. Hopefully it will be something every working person can afford. " So it's the Nintendo Wii.
I've already bought all the "old" movies that I like on DVD. You can't tell me that "Ghostbusters", "Big Trouble in Little China", or "This is Spinal Tap" are going to look any better in HD. The fact is, that in order for the HD-DVD's to sell, they have to release GOOD NEW movies in the format. So unless X-Men 7 or Spider-Man 5 are all that great, I don't see how they expect them to sell. They have to increase the quality of the movies before anybody is going to care. Basically I've noticed that I buy less and less new movies on DVD. Last year was a real dud, with the only new movie I liked was Wedding Crashers. and God knows we don't want to see guys like Owen Wilson in HD. 480p is just fine thank you.
Actually the sad truth about Wal-Mart is that they only have a problem with nudity and violence in games is because video games are kids toys and nobody can tell them otherwise. Clearly Wal-mart doesn't have a problem selling nudity (Basic Instinct) or rape (The Accused) or murder by lesbian prostitutes (Monster) or gratuitous violence (Kill Bill) or racism (American History X) if it's in A MOVIE. But when Duke Nukem has a poorly pixelated boob viewable it gets pulled from the shelves. I'd love to know why video games (and CDs too) are held to a different moral standard than DVD movies at Wal-mart, but we'll never really know.
My guess is that they are considerering movies as art, while video games are just toys for kids. Of course it's probably just because the MPAA is lining the pockets of Walmart execs, but oh well.
From the article
Movies would cost $20-$30.
They would be resticted to specific hardware (your Windows equipped computer).
You can't watch them on your HD home theatre system.
Sounds like the PSP UMD format.
Why can't we just buy the DVD from Wal-Mart for $15, and then walk to our PC and put it in, and then watch it? Then when we're done, we take the DVD, walk to the home theatre DVD player and drop it in and watch it again. Boy, all that walking has got me tired.
We have to keep in mind that internet access at at work is still a privilage and not a right. These folks may be at war, but they are still "at work", so the admin (DOD) can give and take away any kind of access they want. It has nothing to do with censorship of any kind. They are lucky to have internet access at all.
What does this tell us about the quality of airplane comm systems? It tells us they suck. If I can't play my GBA without crashing the plane, something is wrong with the plane, not the GBA or cellphone. Why can't we make communications equipment that can handle this type of interference? Does it exist for the military? Probably.
When you says availability of educational software, you mean "none". You should use the OS that can run your software. I'm sure most of the software that you currently own runs on Windows. Why change then? Why upgrade to XP at all? Maybe you need a fresh reinstall on those '95 and '98 boxes. They should run okay.
I'd love to switch to Linux at home too, but everytime time I get to thinking about what software I use everyday, I realize it's just all for Windows. The OS serves one pupose: to run your software.
Where is the gaming in some of these simulation "games"? They truly are interactive entertainment, but maybe not games in the traditional sense. Sometimes there is no winner/loser or competition at all. That's not a game. For instance...there is no game in Animal Crossing (and I assume the Sims but have never played it). They are just interactive entertainment.
Think about it. When this guy applies for his next job he can say "I was fired for playing Solitaire, and not for lack of productivity." With 6 years on the job he obviously was getting his work done, or he never would have lasted that long. Any manager worth anything would recognize that the Solitaire firing is ridiculous. This guy should have no problem finding another job. It's one thing to be fired because you're incompetent, it's another to fired for playing games. I play games all day at work, but I also get my work done. I complete all tasks assigned to me, and thensome. I think most of us work that way. This isn't Burger King, where if you have free time, you had better be sweeping the floor or taking out the garbage. Things are different when you are dealing with educated adults.
If you RTFA he basically says single player gaming is like masturbation, which I suppose could mean that it's practiced and loved by EVERYONE... but that's not what he meant. He meant to say that multi-player gaming is the "wave of the future" and that single player games are dead. Let's think for a moment some of the biggest selling games of all time - which were all single player (not co-op, or p1 vs. p2) - Pac man, Super Mario Bros, Zelda, just to name a few. Even the GTA series are not co-op. I think he overrating the whole online player vs player gaming theory. Multiplayer online gaming can create competition out of the simplest concept, and sometimes make it fun. That doesn't mean that it's good game programming. The real challenge in game programming is making a fun challenge that doesn't involve two humans competing against each other. Have they all just given up on AI? Have they all just given up on inventing new challenging puzzles? It's sounds like the easy way out.
All a game has to do it give two players a gun and let them try to shoot each other, and unfortunately that's what we see all too often.
Try Vonage if it's available to you. My local telco, Bellsouth charges around $75/month for a landline with equivalent features. Since I already pay for broadband, the Vonage is only $27/month. I cancelled my digital cable TV/DVR and HD, because I never have time to watch TV. I also cancelled my two cell phones.
It sounds like a chicken and egg argument. The CEO of AT&T doesn't think that Google should benefit from using AT&T's pipes. But if there was no Google, Yahoo, Amazon, etc, then nobody would want to use the pipes(or use it less). What the carriers don't realize is that consumers are paying these ISP's upwards of $50/month to get to Google and Amazon. AT&T should be thanking Google for giving consumers a reason to pay $50/month. Back when the internet sucked and you couldn't find anything, pre-google days, it was only worth $19.95 month and dial up was good enough. Now that we have P2P, Google, high quality streaming media, it's worth $40/month. You take away P2P and watch how many people drop back to dial-up. I see a future where people don't have "free range" web access or email at home at all. You want the news? Subscribe to it. You want porn? Subscribe to it. Don't be surprised when email and web browsing becomes something you use at the office in a closed inTRAnet system.
Could it be that MS put too much emphasis on being first to market, or getting it released in time for the holiday season? It would appear that they didn't have all the bugs worked out(overheating power adapters), and now that they overestimated the manufacturing capability so they don't have enough units to put on shelves. If they had waited a bit longer and released it for holidays 2006 instead, maybe they could have included the HD-DVD drive as well. They could have lowered the price to undercut Sony and have plenty of units on the shelves and in warehouses.
I too was in second grade and watched it on television from my school in NJ. I didn't know what a succesful launch was supposed to look like so it didn't make sense immediately upon seeing it. Howevever, I remember how excited my teachers were to watch, and then how I saw several teachers crying immediately after the explosion. On a related note, my family later moved to Florida's Space Coast and attended Christa McAulliffe Elementary School. This part of Florida has several schools built since, that have been named after those 7.
Slashdot Mirror
I found that using Brighthouse Networks Roadrunner service, I was promised "Up to 7Mbps" for $44.95/mo. and that's what I've used for a long time. Recently they started to offer Roadrunner Lite, which was advertised as 512Kbps down and 256(or 128?)Kbps up. I ran some speed tests and found that typically I was only getting 512Kbps down already even though I was promised "Up to 7Mbps". Guess what. I switched to Roadrunner Lite at $14.95/mo. Now, of course I'm getting 50Kpbs down. Yes FIFTY Kbps. What gives?!?!
Is anyone else bothered by all this negative press for a company, who for most part has consistently provided a good service? I hope all this bad IPO talk doesn't reflect poorly on the VOIP service itself, which is still pretty darn good and reliable (not to mention a great value). I guess they say there is no such thing as bad publicity.
In other news, the sky is blue, and water is wet.
According to this page. The warranty is only 90 days on the 360, which means that if you bought it on or around the launch day, in November, your warranty expired 3 months ago.
To be unbiased, the PS2 also had a 90 day warranty as well. The gamecube has a twelve month warranty.
"And when gaming comes back, it will hopefully be different and innovative and based on something other than eye candy and the shock value of blood and guts and hookers. Hopefully it will allow for creativity from the players, and room for small, independent game makers to create content. Hopefully it will be something every working person can afford. "
So it's the Nintendo Wii.
I've already bought all the "old" movies that I like on DVD. You can't tell me that "Ghostbusters", "Big Trouble in Little China", or "This is Spinal Tap" are going to look any better in HD. The fact is, that in order for the HD-DVD's to sell, they have to release GOOD NEW movies in the format. So unless X-Men 7 or Spider-Man 5 are all that great, I don't see how they expect them to sell. They have to increase the quality of the movies before anybody is going to care. Basically I've noticed that I buy less and less new movies on DVD. Last year was a real dud, with the only new movie I liked was Wedding Crashers. and God knows we don't want to see guys like Owen Wilson in HD. 480p is just fine thank you.
This goes back to what Jamie Zawinski said back in 1998. "Linux is only free if your time has no value." Sadly, years later it still holds true.
I agree completely.
They say there is no such thing as bad publicity. The /. editors much be on Infinium's payroll.
Yes but can it keep me from turning the TV off and reading a book instead?
...like the cover to Smell the Glove. Remember, there's a fine line between clever and stupid.
Actually the sad truth about Wal-Mart is that they only have a problem with nudity and violence in games is because video games are kids toys and nobody can tell them otherwise. Clearly Wal-mart doesn't have a problem selling nudity (Basic Instinct) or rape (The Accused) or murder by lesbian prostitutes (Monster) or gratuitous violence (Kill Bill) or racism (American History X) if it's in A MOVIE. But when Duke Nukem has a poorly pixelated boob viewable it gets pulled from the shelves.
I'd love to know why video games (and CDs too) are held to a different moral standard than DVD movies at Wal-mart, but we'll never really know.
My guess is that they are considerering movies as art, while video games are just toys for kids. Of course it's probably just because the MPAA is lining the pockets of Walmart execs, but oh well.
From the article
Movies would cost $20-$30.
They would be resticted to specific hardware (your Windows equipped computer).
You can't watch them on your HD home theatre system.
Sounds like the PSP UMD format.
Why can't we just buy the DVD from Wal-Mart for $15, and then walk to our PC and put it in, and then watch it? Then when we're done, we take the DVD, walk to the home theatre DVD player and drop it in and watch it again. Boy, all that walking has got me tired.
The google results
...
;) Anyone dumb enought to use their real name on myspace doesn't deserve to get the job.
www.myspace.com/comeoncolleen
hi, i'm colleen kluttz and i just smoked the. best. weed. everrrrrrr... erin brown. 2/17/2006
1:32 PM i knew you when.... Leslie. 2/14/2006 2:27 PM
www.myspace.com/comeoncolleen - 123k - Cached - Similar pages
Now what's so bad about that?
Either flying cars or water powered cars will be the next big thing, but until then, nothing.
We have to keep in mind that internet access at at work is still a privilage and not a right. These folks may be at war, but they are still "at work", so the admin (DOD) can give and take away any kind of access they want. It has nothing to do with censorship of any kind. They are lucky to have internet access at all.
What does this tell us about the quality of airplane comm systems? It tells us they suck. If I can't play my GBA without crashing the plane, something is wrong with the plane, not the GBA or cellphone. Why can't we make communications equipment that can handle this type of interference? Does it exist for the military? Probably.
When you says availability of educational software, you mean "none". You should use the OS that can run your software. I'm sure most of the software that you currently own runs on Windows. Why change then? Why upgrade to XP at all? Maybe you need a fresh reinstall on those '95 and '98 boxes. They should run okay.
I'd love to switch to Linux at home too, but everytime time I get to thinking about what software I use everyday, I realize it's just all for Windows. The OS serves one pupose: to run your software.
If 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by oceans and 30% of that is sharks, that must mean that 21% of the Earth is covered by SHARKS!
Where is the gaming in some of these simulation "games"? They truly are interactive entertainment, but maybe not games in the traditional sense. Sometimes there is no winner/loser or competition at all. That's not a game. For instance...there is no game in Animal Crossing (and I assume the Sims but have never played it). They are just interactive entertainment.
Think about it. When this guy applies for his next job he can say "I was fired for playing Solitaire, and not for lack of productivity." With 6 years on the job he obviously was getting his work done, or he never would have lasted that long. Any manager worth anything would recognize that the Solitaire firing is ridiculous. This guy should have no problem finding another job. It's one thing to be fired because you're incompetent, it's another to fired for playing games. I play games all day at work, but I also get my work done. I complete all tasks assigned to me, and thensome. I think most of us work that way. This isn't Burger King, where if you have free time, you had better be sweeping the floor or taking out the garbage. Things are different when you are dealing with educated adults.
If you RTFA he basically says single player gaming is like masturbation, which I suppose could mean that it's practiced and loved by EVERYONE ... but that's not what he meant. He meant to say that multi-player gaming is the "wave of the future" and that single player games are dead. Let's think for a moment some of the biggest selling games of all time - which were all single player (not co-op, or p1 vs. p2) - Pac man, Super Mario Bros, Zelda, just to name a few. Even the GTA series are not co-op. I think he overrating the whole online player vs player gaming theory. Multiplayer online gaming can create competition out of the simplest concept, and sometimes make it fun. That doesn't mean that it's good game programming.
The real challenge in game programming is making a fun challenge that doesn't involve two humans competing against each other. Have they all just given up on AI? Have they all just given up on inventing new challenging puzzles? It's sounds like the easy way out.
All a game has to do it give two players a gun and let them try to shoot each other, and unfortunately that's what we see all too often.
Try Vonage if it's available to you. My local telco, Bellsouth charges around $75/month for a landline with equivalent features. Since I already pay for broadband, the Vonage is only $27/month. I cancelled my digital cable TV/DVR and HD, because I never have time to watch TV. I also cancelled my two cell phones.
It sounds like a chicken and egg argument. The CEO of AT&T doesn't think that Google should benefit from using AT&T's pipes. But if there was no Google, Yahoo, Amazon, etc, then nobody would want to use the pipes(or use it less). What the carriers don't realize is that consumers are paying these ISP's upwards of $50/month to get to Google and Amazon. AT&T should be thanking Google for giving consumers a reason to pay $50/month. Back when the internet sucked and you couldn't find anything, pre-google days, it was only worth $19.95 month and dial up was good enough. Now that we have P2P, Google, high quality streaming media, it's worth $40/month. You take away P2P and watch how many people drop back to dial-up.
I see a future where people don't have "free range" web access or email at home at all. You want the news? Subscribe to it. You want porn? Subscribe to it. Don't be surprised when email and web browsing becomes something you use at the office in a closed inTRAnet system.
Could it be that MS put too much emphasis on being first to market, or getting it released in time for the holiday season? It would appear that they didn't have all the bugs worked out(overheating power adapters), and now that they overestimated the manufacturing capability so they don't have enough units to put on shelves. If they had waited a bit longer and released it for holidays 2006 instead, maybe they could have included the HD-DVD drive as well. They could have lowered the price to undercut Sony and have plenty of units on the shelves and in warehouses.
I too was in second grade and watched it on television from my school in NJ. I didn't know what a succesful launch was supposed to look like so it didn't make sense immediately upon seeing it. Howevever, I remember how excited my teachers were to watch, and then how I saw several teachers crying immediately after the explosion. On a related note, my family later moved to Florida's Space Coast and attended Christa McAulliffe Elementary School. This part of Florida has several schools built since, that have been named after those 7.