I am one of the resident "computer guys" over at Virginia Tech. You wouldn't believe how many people have knocked on my door wanting to know why they've been served judicial referrals for file-sharing.
During one of the monthly training sessions we have, we were located to the center of operations for our service in good ol' Torg. I noticed one of the posters there from the RIAA, saying, and I quote, "When you pirate MP3s, you're downloading COMMUNISM!" Here is the poster.
So, in effect, this is just a post-Cold War effect of the Truman Doctrine to stop Communism from spreading into other European countries.
Incase you haven't noticed, retro-games seem to be what is "in" at the moment.
Shinobi is back, bottomless pits and all. Contra has made its triumphant return on both the PS2 and GBA (along with a slightly modified version of the Konami Code - also note that Gunstar Heroes still destroys Contra hands down). Rygar is coming to town. Ninja Gaiden is in development. Toejam & Earl III just came out.
So what's next? Moon Patrol Xtreme?
Re:I could see this becoming a standard feature...
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Indiglo Clock Case Mod
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· Score: 1
Microwaves need a timer, though. Computers more likely need scheduled events.
Don't know about you, but RtCW runs like a dream on my 1.4 Ghz Tbird/Geforce 2 combo. I can get 60-90 fps in 1024 res with good texture quality, after a few tweaks in the graphics settings.
...all the bad things about KaZaa go in one ear and come out the other with freshmen college students. As the local "computer guy" for my hall, I've had to uninstall and regedit kazaa out of so many freshmen comps that it's not really funny. When a user calls and tells me something is wrong with their connection, I no longer ask if their ethernet cord is plugged in - I ask if they have KaZaa installed.
I've gotten quite a workout on my legs from running up and down the stairs getting to each computer in a 7 story building, though.
But seriously - I've gone so far as to do a free-pizza-if-you-come-here-and-listen-to-me presentation on how KaZaa is bad, and I'll still see KaZaa on every desktop I touch (except mine, of course).
At Virginia Tech (Go Hokies, #7), the way we deal with filesharers is a lot more interesting. If a certain port in the dorm is noticed for downloading/uploading quite a huge load from the same provider(s) for a few days, the person gets put on a T1 or a 256Kb DSL line until they shape up.
They can still access data on the VT network at full speed, but after they hit that last VT gateway into the Internet, that speed is halted. Severely.
Isn't the point of being a CS major of being able to learn new languages quickly and on your own? Knowing the fundamentals behind the language should be more important than the syntax of that language.
Buying Xboxes allows Microsoft to recoup some of its operating losses.
Imagine it costs $210 to make an Xbox these days. So Microsoft loses about $10 per Xbox.
"Great!," you say, "we can just buy 100,000 Xboxes and put MS down $1 million!"
It's a brilliant idea, because 100,000 Xboxes will cost you around $20,000,000 (minus applicable sales taxes). Microsoft paid $21,000,000 to make them, so this way MS loses $1 million and we've screwed Microsoft, right?
Well, imagine if you hadn't bought those 100,000 Xboxes. Then, not only would it have cost Microsoft $21,000,000 to produce them, but there is an added bonus that they don't make back $20,000,000; this sets them at a loss of $21 million, a much higher expense than just a measely $1 mil.
Of course, if you would just not buy one at all, they would recoup no money on the hardware. I don't understand why this concept is so hard to understand.
For $300 you can build your own MP3 server without a cent going to MS.
I think the best unskippable-FBI-warning track goes to Fight Club.
The funny part is that you can't pause it; a lot of my friends have tried to read it to no avail (they're not computer-smart, btw), even though the message is a warning for those who would sit and read those warnings.
Re:American Culture Not That Bad
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The Last Place
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· Score: 2
Where do you hide all of this "diverse" music of yours, America?
We hide them in the local Sam Goody's and from the RIAA on P2P networks.
I love the use of the word "tend" in there! You should compare unemployment & working week figures with other western countries. American workers don't work as much as most of the rest of the world.
You mean western like Spain, where vacations are a lot longer than American vacations?
"BOO! Different colored skins! Different cultures! Different religions!" Believe it or not, some parts of Europe still acts like that.
Only as much as they'll let you. Remember the guy who filmed the cops beating up a black guy? Guess where he ended up?
In prison, on earlier charges. Compare that to even Canada, where filming the police is illegal (or so I've been told).
You say a lot of things but you don't seem to give reasons behind them. Our constitution is very important in our freedoms. Washington DC is not the only place where the Constitution is interpreted. And our civil rights are at a level that half the world's population never get to reach.
American Culture Not That Bad
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The Last Place
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· Score: 4, Insightful
I think American culture is much better than some of the less-tolerant cultures there are in this world.
Come on, what's so bad about our culture? Not all of us are the stereotyped fat slobs who stare at the TV all day. Our music is diverse, our people tend to work, and our culture is mostly tolerant on issues. And I like the fact that we are free to discuss issues concerning the government.
Slashdot Mirror
My post was a joke.
During one of the monthly training sessions we have, we were located to the center of operations for our service in good ol' Torg. I noticed one of the posters there from the RIAA, saying, and I quote, "When you pirate MP3s, you're downloading COMMUNISM!" Here is the poster.
So, in effect, this is just a post-Cold War effect of the Truman Doctrine to stop Communism from spreading into other European countries.
Doubt that would work in the places that really matter, though - Asian deforesters probably don't care.
Shinobi is back, bottomless pits and all. Contra has made its triumphant return on both the PS2 and GBA (along with a slightly modified version of the Konami Code - also note that Gunstar Heroes still destroys Contra hands down). Rygar is coming to town. Ninja Gaiden is in development. Toejam & Earl III just came out.
So what's next? Moon Patrol Xtreme?
Microwaves need a timer, though. Computers more likely need scheduled events.
"Yes, but the computation would be so accurate that it would take the thrill out of finding your mate laven."
Maybe Google will save Searchking's life, and then they'll join forces; not even God can stop them combined!
I'm guessing the car can also be used to spy on women or protect the family...special offer only two days left!
Don't know about you, but RtCW runs like a dream on my 1.4 Ghz Tbird/Geforce 2 combo. I can get 60-90 fps in 1024 res with good texture quality, after a few tweaks in the graphics settings.
I've gotten quite a workout on my legs from running up and down the stairs getting to each computer in a 7 story building, though.
But seriously - I've gone so far as to do a free-pizza-if-you-come-here-and-listen-to-me presentation on how KaZaa is bad, and I'll still see KaZaa on every desktop I touch (except mine, of course).
A T1, shared with all the other filesharers. Normal speeds are much faster, considering how many you're sharing with.
They can still access data on the VT network at full speed, but after they hit that last VT gateway into the Internet, that speed is halted. Severely.
Isn't the point of being a CS major of being able to learn new languages quickly and on your own? Knowing the fundamentals behind the language should be more important than the syntax of that language.
...Lucas - he's a pro with that thing.
...I knew that degree in CS would come in handy some day.
I don't know about your computer, but mine just won't stop running RtCW multiplayer. Quite unproductive, I must say.
"Mono...D'oh!"
Buying Xboxes allows Microsoft to recoup some of its operating losses.
Imagine it costs $210 to make an Xbox these days. So Microsoft loses about $10 per Xbox.
"Great!," you say, "we can just buy 100,000 Xboxes and put MS down $1 million!"
It's a brilliant idea, because 100,000 Xboxes will cost you around $20,000,000 (minus applicable sales taxes). Microsoft paid $21,000,000 to make them, so this way MS loses $1 million and we've screwed Microsoft, right?
Well, imagine if you hadn't bought those 100,000 Xboxes. Then, not only would it have cost Microsoft $21,000,000 to produce them, but there is an added bonus that they don't make back $20,000,000; this sets them at a loss of $21 million, a much higher expense than just a measely $1 mil.
It hauls ass, but is there any guarantee the Detonator drivers would work for the specialized GPU?
...you have to pay $25-50 for the mod chip.
For $300 you can build your own MP3 server without a cent going to MS.
The funny part is that you can't pause it; a lot of my friends have tried to read it to no avail (they're not computer-smart, btw), even though the message is a warning for those who would sit and read those warnings.
We hide them in the local Sam Goody's and from the RIAA on P2P networks.
I love the use of the word "tend" in there! You should compare unemployment & working week figures with other western countries. American workers don't work as much as most of the rest of the world.
You mean western like Spain, where vacations are a lot longer than American vacations?
BOO! Palestian! Northern Ireland! Abortion! Gay marriage! DRUGS! Tolerent...hah, good one.
"BOO! Different colored skins! Different cultures! Different religions!" Believe it or not, some parts of Europe still acts like that.
Only as much as they'll let you. Remember the guy who filmed the cops beating up a black guy? Guess where he ended up?
In prison, on earlier charges. Compare that to even Canada, where filming the police is illegal (or so I've been told).
You say a lot of things but you don't seem to give reasons behind them. Our constitution is very important in our freedoms. Washington DC is not the only place where the Constitution is interpreted. And our civil rights are at a level that half the world's population never get to reach.
Come on, what's so bad about our culture? Not all of us are the stereotyped fat slobs who stare at the TV all day. Our music is diverse, our people tend to work, and our culture is mostly tolerant on issues. And I like the fact that we are free to discuss issues concerning the government.
"Autonomous bots, transform!"