The writer of the article has some serious beef with Everquest, and most of the situations he presented are the absolute worst-case scenario. He starts out trying to make an intelligent debate but ends up just stamping his foot like a little kid and whining about how Sony/Verant is ripping people off.
At the worst, you pay around 13 bucks a month. (That's if you pay every month; there are payment options that allow you to buy multiple months for a lesser overall cost) Considering the price of the game is dirt cheap now (You can pick up the original Everquest for around 7 bucks), your payment is really negligable. So that's 13 bucks a month for all-you-can-eat gametime. That's not too bad, considering Sony is losing money on this. It's similar to the X-box's 'lose money to sell units' plan. Do you have any idea how much it costs to run one of those beefy servers? It's a ton, and I read (this was a year or two ago, mind you. The cost could only have gone up.) that Sony needs around 5,000 players per server to maintain the costs, and not until recently (the past one or two years) have they been able to really meet this.
Despite this, Sony has provided a fantastic game. The interface is bug-free, the worlds are 99.9% bug free, the lag is low, and the content is very high. The expansions are cheap and they provide many, many more hours of exploring to both the casual and hardcore gamers. And plus, the writer of the article tries to insinuate that you NEED the expansions to play. Hell no. You don't ever have to buy one expansion if you don't want to and still have plenty of game on your hands.
I could go through and dispute his other points, but my post is getting long enough. Frankly, if you don't like the game then don't play the fucking thing. Vote with your wallet and play one of the other thousand MMORPG's floating around out there. Otherwise, just play the damned game and stop trying to make such a huge deal out of it. It *is* still a game last time I checked and not some strange online concentration camp. You're free to go whenever you want if you're unhappy. Just chill out and enjoy yourself.:P
This is just an outsider's opinion as I have no real experience in backing up any data in a significant, safe way, but (for large corporations, anyway) wouldn't it make sense to put your servers with sensitive data on them in some sort of 'fireproof room?'
I'm not just talking glass, I'm talking a veritable safe. Sort of like where banks store their money. In the event of a fire, all you would have to do is shut the door to the 'server safe' and voila, you're protected. This is assuming the room is fireproof. A more sophisticated safe may shut off the ventilation system, and maybe the servers themselves.
For the tapes themselves, usual backup rules apply. i.e., multiple physical locations, etc.
Again, this is just a neophyte's opinion.. feel free to flame me if I'm way off-base, but I think these ideas are pretty practical and safe.
People that mod an X-box usually do so for one of two reasons:
1) To put Linux down on it.
2) To play pirated games.
.. in the case of #1, why would you want to play online games anyway? If all you want your x-box for is some underglorified computer, by all means, but don't demand to be able to play online, too.
In the case of #2, if you're pirating x-box games, you're cheating Microsoft out of money. Whether or not you think Microsoft should make a profit out of their products is irrevelant.. the fact remains that you are still playing pirated games, so why should you demand to play online with them, too?
I'm not a huge fan of Microsoft, but I'm with them on this one. If you crack open your microwave and mod it so that you can run Linux on it (Imagine that! MicroLinux;)), would you call up and bitch to the manufacturer that you can't heat up your dinners anymore? I think not.
If you really wanted to protest McDonald's inclusion the Sim's Online, don't buy the game. Obviously if McDonalds is advertising they get a chunk of the profit.
Plus, judging by the usual incompetence of online gamers (and this is Sims, for pete's sake), I don't think anyone will catch on.
Well, I really couldn't distinguish if he was trying to be serious or funny. It seems an awful lot of work typing all that just to get a few karma points, haha.
Anyway, my comment was directed to the post if it was, indeed, serious. Otherwise, I'm a jackass. Sorry.;)
"Like always, Microsoft doesn't even follow it's own guidelines and their applications are always a little different than others."
Agreed, but Microsoft still does it better than any other operating system. I love Linux to death, but nearly every application has a different set of menus and quirks to it. At least Microsoft's are somewhat standardized. Linux is lagging far behind in that category. (Then again, that's why most people prefer the CLI to X, eh?;)
The ruling wasn't done in an effort to thwart disabled people.. it was because the implications of ruling in the plaintiff's favor would change the way selling is done over the web.
And I think the guy is suing them because he saw an opportunity for a quick buck, and he took it. I'm not disappointed that he lost.:P
Is Apple doing this just to be nice? They already have a huge percentage of the educational market. If they really wanted to cause a stir, they'd give a free copy of their software to every major corporation in the united states.;D
Well, wouldn't this situation be similar to swapping a harddrive out of two completely different machines with the same OS? The data would be the same, but it wouldn't be configured correctly for the particular machine. The drivers would be all messed up, etc.;)
Then again, I try to think of everything as a computer, so I'm probably just drunk again.;D
The second article on the page is "Black Hole Sun." I like how it says 'Listen to an MP3 on this topic.' Anyone else see the humor in this?;D
- vmfedor
You're missing the point, I think. If you have a machine with 16MB or less of RAM, you probably wouldn't be running any sort of graphical system anyway.
This guy is just talking about using a 'window manager' that has all of the functionality of X, without the clutter. He never mentioned a reduction in memory usage. His goal in using ratpoison was to be more productive, not use less system resources.;)
If he's going to sue Google for linking to the page, he might as well sue the place containing the routers that pushed traffic onto the site that contained it, too.
Hell, while he's at it, why doesn't he just sue W3? I'm sure they can be traced back to providing the standard markup that allowed the article to be displayed across the WWW in the first place.;)
No matter what installation you go through, win2k still prompts you for an administration password. Even *if* the local admin account is left empty, the admin account for the server still isn't blank. (or let's hope so)
But can an X-Box surf the web, chat on AIM, type up their job resume, act as an alarm clock, store all of your phone numbers, help you do your taxes, organize all of your mother's recipes.. etc..? The list goes on and on, and that's only for the CASUAL user who bought their PC from Dell or Gateway or something to that effect. Not to mention the fact that you can do productive things with the PC, such as software and web development.:)
I would much rather pay $1000 dollars for a machine that can do nearly everything rather than $200 bucks for a machine that only does gaming. I would also go as far as to say that there are more popular games for the PC market than the console market, too.
A PC makes more sense to me, in any event, than a console.;)
I might be the only one in the computing world that might be *against* the bundling of your precious computer cables (at least ide/floppy cables), but I think it allows you to more easily adjust your cables when you need to. (i.e., installing storage and optical drives..) It's easier to trace a cable from the ide motherboard connector to the hardware than it is to unbundle everything because you need just *one more inch* to connect it to your new device.:)
Of course, this only applies to people that change their hardware *constantly*, like I do. (Hey, I like working with my hands, but cars are too dangerous for my tastes.;)
- vmfedor
Slashdot Mirror
It's a good thing that site isn't slashdotted. We wouldn't want that money going to charity. :P
At the worst, you pay around 13 bucks a month. (That's if you pay every month; there are payment options that allow you to buy multiple months for a lesser overall cost) Considering the price of the game is dirt cheap now (You can pick up the original Everquest for around 7 bucks), your payment is really negligable. So that's 13 bucks a month for all-you-can-eat gametime. That's not too bad, considering Sony is losing money on this. It's similar to the X-box's 'lose money to sell units' plan. Do you have any idea how much it costs to run one of those beefy servers? It's a ton, and I read (this was a year or two ago, mind you. The cost could only have gone up.) that Sony needs around 5,000 players per server to maintain the costs, and not until recently (the past one or two years) have they been able to really meet this.
Despite this, Sony has provided a fantastic game. The interface is bug-free, the worlds are 99.9% bug free, the lag is low, and the content is very high. The expansions are cheap and they provide many, many more hours of exploring to both the casual and hardcore gamers. And plus, the writer of the article tries to insinuate that you NEED the expansions to play. Hell no. You don't ever have to buy one expansion if you don't want to and still have plenty of game on your hands.
I could go through and dispute his other points, but my post is getting long enough. Frankly, if you don't like the game then don't play the fucking thing. Vote with your wallet and play one of the other thousand MMORPG's floating around out there. Otherwise, just play the damned game and stop trying to make such a huge deal out of it. It *is* still a game last time I checked and not some strange online concentration camp. You're free to go whenever you want if you're unhappy. Just chill out and enjoy yourself. :P
I'm not just talking glass, I'm talking a veritable safe. Sort of like where banks store their money. In the event of a fire, all you would have to do is shut the door to the 'server safe' and voila, you're protected. This is assuming the room is fireproof. A more sophisticated safe may shut off the ventilation system, and maybe the servers themselves.
For the tapes themselves, usual backup rules apply. i.e., multiple physical locations, etc.
Again, this is just a neophyte's opinion.. feel free to flame me if I'm way off-base, but I think these ideas are pretty practical and safe.
- vmfedor
People that mod an X-box usually do so for one of two reasons:
1) To put Linux down on it.
2) To play pirated games.
In the case of #2, if you're pirating x-box games, you're cheating Microsoft out of money. Whether or not you think Microsoft should make a profit out of their products is irrevelant.. the fact remains that you are still playing pirated games, so why should you demand to play online with them, too?
I'm not a huge fan of Microsoft, but I'm with them on this one. If you crack open your microwave and mod it so that you can run Linux on it (Imagine that! MicroLinux ;)), would you call up and bitch to the manufacturer that you can't heat up your dinners anymore? I think not.
- vmfedor
Plus, judging by the usual incompetence of online gamers (and this is Sims, for pete's sake), I don't think anyone will catch on.
Just my two cents, I suppose. :)
- vmfedor
Anyway, my comment was directed to the post if it was, indeed, serious. Otherwise, I'm a jackass. Sorry. ;)
- vmfedor
Agreed, but Microsoft still does it better than any other operating system. I love Linux to death, but nearly every application has a different set of menus and quirks to it. At least Microsoft's are somewhat standardized. Linux is lagging far behind in that category. (Then again, that's why most people prefer the CLI to X, eh? ;)
- vmfedor
- vmfedor
int main( void ) { return 0; }
- vmfedor
Oh... Wait.
vmfedor
And I think the guy is suing them because he saw an opportunity for a quick buck, and he took it. I'm not disappointed that he lost. :P
vmfedor
- vmfedor
Then again, I try to think of everything as a computer, so I'm probably just drunk again. ;D
- vmfedor
The second article on the page is "Black Hole Sun." I like how it says 'Listen to an MP3 on this topic.' Anyone else see the humor in this? ;D
- vmfedor
This guy is just talking about using a 'window manager' that has all of the functionality of X, without the clutter. He never mentioned a reduction in memory usage. His goal in using ratpoison was to be more productive, not use less system resources. ;)
vmfedor
Hell, while he's at it, why doesn't he just sue W3? I'm sure they can be traced back to providing the standard markup that allowed the article to be displayed across the WWW in the first place. ;)
vmfedor
- vmfedor
I would much rather pay $1000 dollars for a machine that can do nearly everything rather than $200 bucks for a machine that only does gaming. I would also go as far as to say that there are more popular games for the PC market than the console market, too.
A PC makes more sense to me, in any event, than a console. ;)
vmfedor
I might be the only one in the computing world that might be *against* the bundling of your precious computer cables (at least ide/floppy cables), but I think it allows you to more easily adjust your cables when you need to. (i.e., installing storage and optical drives..) It's easier to trace a cable from the ide motherboard connector to the hardware than it is to unbundle everything because you need just *one more inch* to connect it to your new device. :)
Of course, this only applies to people that change their hardware *constantly*, like I do. (Hey, I like working with my hands, but cars are too dangerous for my tastes. ;)
- vmfedor