Well, PS3s prior to the Slim, i.e. only the first couple of SKUs. Since the PS3 mostly took off after the launch of the Slim, it could be said the PS3 was also NOT sold with that as a feature. Also, the ability was NOT in the PS3 at the start but was added as a firmware update even though there was a stated intent from the very beginning due to the success of the PS2 Linux support.
So it was advertised (as you've said - it was stated intent) with the original PS3 console, then removed later... and you're saying that removing an advertised feature is somehow exactly the same as Nintendo removing unsupported, possibly infringing software??
Oh, and you're being very misleading about the SKUs. 35.7 million PS3's have been sold; only around a quarter of which are PS3 slim.
A fairer comparison would be comparing Sony's locking down of firmware for the PSP which stopped downgrading firmware, this allowed games to run from the memory stick, in a similar hack used on the Wii. The exploits were removed often, with every update. Nintendo have only 'sabotaged' the Homebrew Channel three times so far, and it's still possible to use the Wii without upgrading.
There was certainly a bigger outcry about Sony removing OtherOS, and even about the PSP downgrade lock than these minor inconveniences on the Nintendo Wii.
yea, you lose the shopping channel.... until you run the "add the shopping channel hack" lol Seriously, the WII is the most hackable console in history. You can have the ENTIRE WII library on a single, relatively small external hard drive and run all the games off it.
Not quite, average Wii game is around 2GB (after scrubbing), and Wikipedia says there's at least 1145 games; I make that about, possibly more than 2TB. That's not a small external HDD. That's a fairly big external hard drive. Still, you're right; having the games on HDD, the homebrew channel, and the options on the Wii is much more open than most other consoles of the same generation. (Yes, you're right; but I love pedanticism)
It's like if Sony would actively try to prevent the PS3 from being used to play bluerays ??
That's a silly comparison, it's more akin to if sony were to remove the other OS feature from the PS3 (no, wait, they did that already)
That's an even less-informed comparison. Sony PS3 was sold as OtherOS as a feature. Homebrew Channel is certainly not!
This is more like Sony upgrading the firmware on the PSP and making it so you needed a 'magic battery' to downgrade again (for whatever reason you might have)... Oh wait, no, they actually DID do that.
nintendo is trying to do the same with every update and they aren't giving anything valuable in return, at least sony usually adds new functionality with each ps3 update, I can't speak for microsoft since I don't have a 360, but I think they are adding new features like sony
Just a little bit of difference; the Sony PS3 was sold with OtherOS as a feature. Nintendo Wii was NOT sold with the homebrew channel.
AFAIK shutting down the location services means shutting down or disabling the GPS hardware so you are either suggesting that the GPS hardware can't be disabled or that Apple is remotely activating the GPS system in iPhones whose owners have shut it off in order to track the owner.
The iPhone has both GPS and AGPS. You'd only completely disable location tracking by turning off the cell reception too. That would make it pointless as a phone! As I mentioned, this is the same method police use to pin-point mobile phone locations. Accuracy varies.
If you leave location services on and disable access by app you may not be able to stop Apple from tracking you which I pointed out. You are quoting me completely out of context.
I didn't quote you out of context, I quoted the whole of the first paragraph of your comment. Perhaps you should've structured your comment differently if it's unclear.
Don't believe me? Its right there on the page: "Opting out applies only to Apple advertising services and does not affect... the collection and dissemination of location data."
Which one? It does not say that on the support page I linked to so you must be talking about the opt-out page???. I never got far enough to successfully opt out, the page shows an error message claiming I don't have iOS 4 installed which is funny because I installed it yesterday (hence the big fat: HAHA!).
Good to see Apple's upgrading systems are successful then. Is a shame you didn't manage to see this. I haven't personally seen it myself, (I'd never buy Apple products) - but others have mentioned it here. If it doesn't have it explicitly on that page - specifically that "opting out of iAds stops us checking your location" - then the Terms you've agreed to are still valid. Opting out doesn't even imply that you're opting out of sending location services to Apple, so I'm not sure where you've got this idea that opting out of iAds will magically stop Apple from being (legally) able to know your iPhones' position. You've agreed to it, good luck stopping them from selling it on.
I'm not baiting you here but why do you care about an anonymous account of your location?
I'd love to know how you think any phone can be anonymous.
I guess if you managed to get it on PAYG, without giving any contact details away to your mobile phone company, without giving any details to iTunes, and without storing any numbers or addresses on your phone at all... Then I guess you might be anonymous. Oh, unless you sign into a website which shares info with Apple, of course.
It's not always about being anonymous. Sometimes it's just not trusting a company with every single detail about what you do, in real-time.
Bugger all you can do about those Terms and Conditions now though! You've bought it - I'd love to see someone (and hopefully they will) try and return it due to an unfair/unagreed change in contract.
You can either go here: https://oo.apple.com/ on your iPhone, iPod or iPad and op out.
Thats for opting out of iAds. You've already agreed to the Terms to allow them to see/store/share your location. Disabling iAds, or even disabling the location option in your iPhone doesn't nullify that part of the contract, and probably doesn't stop them getting your location either. If the police can easily do it, I bet the manufacturers can - and you've agreed to let them.
Don't believe me? Its right there on the page: "Opting out applies only to Apple advertising services and does not affect... the collection and dissemination of location data."
Ok, I completely disagree with what you're planning morally, but if you're really into doing this; here's my views.
Internet: Use Squid on a Linux machine. Set it up with a transparent proxy and use that as the gateway. Set the linux box as a router, and have your Internet Gateway on a private network. You can easily use Squid to block at specific times, for blocking websites (including webproxies), and disabling internet per machine. It also logs everything done. If you need help with the config, Webmin is excellent.
If you're using Windows, just use the RPC calls to find out if the machine is on, you can easily get access to what's being used with various applications, or even just VNC, depending how involved you want to get. I don't know of any applications off-hand that log application usage, but shutdown/restart can be done with proper RPC; and that needent mean having a Windows Server; it can purely be done with remote user/pass set up.
There are many many apps to do remote security stuff, especially for XP; even down to spotting keypressing and scanning for text and taking screenshots automatically.
Most Linux distros make Squid easy to set up, and setting up as a router should be easy too. Transparent proxying might need some investgation; but saves doing configuration on every machine later. Locking down Windows is fairly well documented. Obviously with Windows Server, stuff like Antivirus is more expensive but easier; but most of this is possible without resorting to having a Windows machine at all, and just having a small Linux box with enough power for Squid and log files.
Obviously secure the machines down to stop proxies being used, and to stop VPNs; and it should be easy.
FWIF, I pulled up a known blacklisted site at work with this method (felt it was safer than random/. links). Still blocked. In addition the proxy returned the known DNS name the 'IP' corresponded to.
-nB
Honestly, it's not a dodgy link! Don't blame you though, really.
Websense by any chance? That seem to be aware of it. This is an old trick really, it's well mentioned on the internets. Am surprised about the host header though.
too bad this won't pass any Host: information in the HTTP header, hence anything based on a virtual host will be unreachable through pure IP address. You will have to perform a bit more hacking to do that, and it won't defeat deep packet inspection filters.
Actually, it does pass the original URL through on the Host header. (I realise it won't work on existing sites without it in as an alias, but it is interesting!)
I was surprised too, but tried it out myself yesterday, expecting the browser to rewrite it to IP and send that as the host, at least, it doesn't in Firefox. I suspect it may vary per browser; possibly.
For that matter when a copy or move fails in Explorer, why can't I simply resume it once I've fixed whatever the problem
Try TotalCopy which adds a copy/move in the right click menu; or Teracopy commercial (free version available, supports Win7) complete replacement for the sucky Windows copy system.
USB/Network freezes and file copying isn't a fault of CPU cores like you say, Windows is just a sucky OS. Multicore stuff gets complicated, but this isn't going to be a panacea for Microsoft, it's another marketing opportunity.
I've now got two Linodes, one in the UK and one in Atlanta
.. UK?
I was pretty sure they didn't have servers outside the USA.. which is why my second virtual server is with Bytemark in the UK.
Like everyone else has said, yeah they've been in the UK for a few months; and appear to have their datacenter alongside some BBC servers, since the ping can be incredibly quick and the bandwidth over and above 100mbps.
Also, speaking of other hosts, I'd recommend avoiding OVH and Datagate. Had bad experiences with both.
Agreed. Though running services can be bad for beginners, its a lot more adaptable than getting someone else to do it. The amount you can do with any VPS is far and beyond what any shared hosting will do, but keeping it secure is important.
I've now got two Linodes, one in the UK and one in Atlanta, and they're both excellent. Great value for money and speed. Only had one 2 hour period of downtime and they were keeping everyone very well informed. Their support staff are excellent and I can't recommend them enough. Upgrading a linode and their pricing for it is just too easy. Bandwidth and latency, even for running small gaming servers is awesome!
Cheating is a social problem, not a technical problem. Technical solutions for social problems usually do not work. However, we have fixed this problem already with various other online activities, where people even regularly spend real money to buy something from complete strangers. Reputation systems like eBay and Amazon use seem to work quite well, but then of course you can no longer blame the cheaters for poor sales.
Doesn't this "rate your player and we'll favour playing against those"/"hate this guy and you'll never play him again" -- already exist on XBox Live?
Our policy does not focus on weight, and the seatbelt extension is not the determining factor. We use the ability to lower the armrests as the gauge, as the armrests are truly the definitive boundary between each seat.
From: TFA Link
"why wait til my bag is up, and I'm seated WITH ARM RESTS DOWN. In front of a packed plane with a bunch of folks who'd already I.d.ed me as 'Silent Bob,"
Irrelevant of all the other slashdot members complaining that "being fat is disgusting", the fact remains that Southwest Airlines went against their OWN policies, and they didn't go about this in the right way at all. If he was already seated comfortably, wasn't blocking the aisle and no other customers complained, then what the hell is their problem?!
If you're genuinely comparing someone who offered free movies and music via his website and was smacked down for it to NELSON FUCKING MANDELA and you're not high, you need to sort your fucking priorities out.
You do know Nelson Mandela blew up trains? He was a terrorist.
Personally, I'll stay with the copyright infringers.
Man if you think broadband in the UK is bad take a trip to Australia!!
Difference being is that they're 3 times as many people in the UK, but Australia is about 30 times bigger. I can see why Google might go for the UK over Oz!
At least not in the strictest technical sense. It doesn't understand html, etc...."just" it's own, highly compressed format; sent to it from Opera servers.
Not that it'll make a difference to Apple.
At least it should support File Uploading, unlike the cut-down browser from Apple.
I honestly can't see any logic behind disabling this really simple feature - other than it forces developers to write stupid applications which could be better written in a web-browser.
Slot loading drives that accept 4cm discs have been around for a VERY long time. It is only the very cheap drive mechanisms that skimp on this stuff.
Strange. Most of the slot-loading drives I've seen (including my Sony car audio system) specifically says DO NOT use 4cm discs, and do NOT use clip on extenders.
Also, how could you miss the fact that the wii supports gamecube games? If you load it up with no disc in it the "disc channel" shows an image of a big disc printed with "Wii" and a small disk printed with "Gamecube". When you put in a disk one of them vanishes and the game loading screen appears.
Needlessly insulting other posters isn't nice. Clearly he didn't realise, and clearly other people didn't since I got a modpoint for it!
No sure what you mean here... it doesn't support n64 controllers
Sorry, *obviously* I meant GC controllers, not N64 controllers!
That's what I was concerned about. Most CD tray drives have a special smaller indent for the smaller CD's, but auto loading slots don't normally take them. I'm glad you told me, there were a ton of Game Cube games my wife wanted that I didn't get because... No game cube..
I've had mine apart and it's pretty smart how the extra arms coax the GC discs in. I found this picture but when you see it with a GC disc in, its quite a smart system.
The Wii is an excellent console for the support it has for N64 controllers, etc. Glad I waited, you can pick up GameCube games *fairly* cheap now, but they're clearly still popular.
If you're not using all the features, it doesn't mean that syntax highlighting and completion is enough, or that most IDEs are overkill. It just means that you're not building professional quality applications or are at least working extremely inefficiently. For starters, you at least want a decent debugger.
Notepad++ supports XDebug. Next.
Ah so you accept you were wrong and simple syntax highlighting and completion aren't enough then? Good. Next.
No, syntax highlighting and completion are enough for most purposes. For anything professional, you said you need a "decent debugger" and therefore need an IDE. You were wrong because Notepad++ does support these options with plugins. Neeeeeeext please!
Slashdot Mirror
Well, PS3s prior to the Slim, i.e. only the first couple of SKUs. Since the PS3 mostly took off after the launch of the Slim, it could be said the PS3 was also NOT sold with that as a feature. Also, the ability was NOT in the PS3 at the start but was added as a firmware update even though there was a stated intent from the very beginning due to the success of the PS2 Linux support.
So it was advertised (as you've said - it was stated intent) with the original PS3 console, then removed later... and you're saying that removing an advertised feature is somehow exactly the same as Nintendo removing unsupported, possibly infringing software??
Oh, and you're being very misleading about the SKUs. 35.7 million PS3's have been sold; only around a quarter of which are PS3 slim.
A fairer comparison would be comparing Sony's locking down of firmware for the PSP which stopped downgrading firmware, this allowed games to run from the memory stick, in a similar hack used on the Wii. The exploits were removed often, with every update. Nintendo have only 'sabotaged' the Homebrew Channel three times so far, and it's still possible to use the Wii without upgrading.
There was certainly a bigger outcry about Sony removing OtherOS, and even about the PSP downgrade lock than these minor inconveniences on the Nintendo Wii.
yea, you lose the shopping channel.... until you run the "add the shopping channel hack" lol Seriously, the WII is the most hackable console in history. You can have the ENTIRE WII library on a single, relatively small external hard drive and run all the games off it.
Not quite, average Wii game is around 2GB (after scrubbing), and Wikipedia says there's at least 1145 games; I make that about, possibly more than 2TB. That's not a small external HDD. That's a fairly big external hard drive. Still, you're right; having the games on HDD, the homebrew channel, and the options on the Wii is much more open than most other consoles of the same generation. (Yes, you're right; but I love pedanticism)
It's like if Sony would actively try to prevent the PS3 from being used to play bluerays ??
That's a silly comparison, it's more akin to if sony were to remove the other OS feature from the PS3 (no, wait, they did that already)
That's an even less-informed comparison. Sony PS3 was sold as OtherOS as a feature. Homebrew Channel is certainly not!
This is more like Sony upgrading the firmware on the PSP and making it so you needed a 'magic battery' to downgrade again (for whatever reason you might have)... Oh wait, no, they actually DID do that.
nintendo is trying to do the same with every update and they aren't giving anything valuable in return, at least sony usually adds new functionality with each ps3 update, I can't speak for microsoft since I don't have a 360, but I think they are adding new features like sony
Just a little bit of difference; the Sony PS3 was sold with OtherOS as a feature. Nintendo Wii was NOT sold with the homebrew channel.
AFAIK shutting down the location services means shutting down or disabling the GPS hardware so you are either suggesting that the GPS hardware can't be disabled or that Apple is remotely activating the GPS system in iPhones whose owners have shut it off in order to track the owner.
The iPhone has both GPS and AGPS. You'd only completely disable location tracking by turning off the cell reception too. That would make it pointless as a phone! As I mentioned, this is the same method police use to pin-point mobile phone locations. Accuracy varies.
If you leave location services on and disable access by app you may not be able to stop Apple from tracking you which I pointed out. You are quoting me completely out of context.
I didn't quote you out of context, I quoted the whole of the first paragraph of your comment. Perhaps you should've structured your comment differently if it's unclear.
Don't believe me? Its right there on the page: "Opting out applies only to Apple advertising services and does not affect ... the collection and dissemination of location data."
Which one? It does not say that on the support page I linked to so you must be talking about the opt-out page???. I never got far enough to successfully opt out, the page shows an error message claiming I don't have iOS 4 installed which is funny because I installed it yesterday (hence the big fat: HAHA!).
Good to see Apple's upgrading systems are successful then. Is a shame you didn't manage to see this. I haven't personally seen it myself, (I'd never buy Apple products) - but others have mentioned it here. If it doesn't have it explicitly on that page - specifically that "opting out of iAds stops us checking your location" - then the Terms you've agreed to are still valid. Opting out doesn't even imply that you're opting out of sending location services to Apple, so I'm not sure where you've got this idea that opting out of iAds will magically stop Apple from being (legally) able to know your iPhones' position. You've agreed to it, good luck stopping them from selling it on.
I'm not baiting you here but why do you care about an anonymous account of your location?
I'd love to know how you think any phone can be anonymous.
I guess if you managed to get it on PAYG, without giving any contact details away to your mobile phone company, without giving any details to iTunes, and without storing any numbers or addresses on your phone at all... Then I guess you might be anonymous. Oh, unless you sign into a website which shares info with Apple, of course.
It's not always about being anonymous. Sometimes it's just not trusting a company with every single detail about what you do, in real-time.
Bugger all you can do about those Terms and Conditions now though! You've bought it - I'd love to see someone (and hopefully they will) try and return it due to an unfair/unagreed change in contract.
You can either go here: https://oo.apple.com/ on your iPhone, iPod or iPad and op out.
Thats for opting out of iAds. You've already agreed to the Terms to allow them to see/store/share your location. Disabling iAds, or even disabling the location option in your iPhone doesn't nullify that part of the contract, and probably doesn't stop them getting your location either. If the police can easily do it, I bet the manufacturers can - and you've agreed to let them.
... the collection and dissemination of location data."
Don't believe me? Its right there on the page: "Opting out applies only to Apple advertising services and does not affect
True, but you only have to get as far as the front door for that.
To be fair, that was a fairly stupid way of doing it. Best say no more, lest get a knock at the door.
You could kill a lot more people by setting off a bomb in a crowded shopping mall, and there's no security whatsoever there.
You could kill a lot more people by setting off a bomb in the airport.
Stop and search in the UK does not require a warrant.
Am I incorrect in thinking that it does require "Reasonable Suspicion" - random searches are not permitted (apart from under terrorism legislation)?
Ok, I completely disagree with what you're planning morally, but if you're really into doing this; here's my views.
Internet: Use Squid on a Linux machine. Set it up with a transparent proxy and use that as the gateway. Set the linux box as a router, and have your Internet Gateway on a private network. You can easily use Squid to block at specific times, for blocking websites (including webproxies), and disabling internet per machine. It also logs everything done. If you need help with the config, Webmin is excellent.
If you're using Windows, just use the RPC calls to find out if the machine is on, you can easily get access to what's being used with various applications, or even just VNC, depending how involved you want to get. I don't know of any applications off-hand that log application usage, but shutdown/restart can be done with proper RPC; and that needent mean having a Windows Server; it can purely be done with remote user/pass set up.
There are many many apps to do remote security stuff, especially for XP; even down to spotting keypressing and scanning for text and taking screenshots automatically.
Most Linux distros make Squid easy to set up, and setting up as a router should be easy too. Transparent proxying might need some investgation; but saves doing configuration on every machine later. Locking down Windows is fairly well documented. Obviously with Windows Server, stuff like Antivirus is more expensive but easier; but most of this is possible without resorting to having a Windows machine at all, and just having a small Linux box with enough power for Squid and log files.
Obviously secure the machines down to stop proxies being used, and to stop VPNs; and it should be easy.
Dug
FWIF, I pulled up a known blacklisted site at work with this method (felt it was safer than random /. links). Still blocked. In addition the proxy returned the known DNS name the 'IP' corresponded to.
-nB
Honestly, it's not a dodgy link! Don't blame you though, really.
Websense by any chance? That seem to be aware of it. This is an old trick really, it's well mentioned on the internets. Am surprised about the host header though.
Unless your company doesn't like webdesigners/pc repair companies, or had a problem with plain text pages containing a short hex code; I doubt it!
This one might though: http://www.naughtyapes.co.uk/. But probably not.
Still, you get the point right? That the host header is passed on despite it being an IP in Hex notation?
too bad this won't pass any Host: information in the HTTP header, hence anything based on a virtual host will be unreachable through pure IP address. You will have to perform a bit more hacking to do that, and it won't defeat deep packet inspection filters.
Actually, it does pass the original URL through on the Host header. (I realise it won't work on existing sites without it in as an alias, but it is interesting!)
I was surprised too, but tried it out myself yesterday, expecting the browser to rewrite it to IP and send that as the host, at least, it doesn't in Firefox. I suspect it may vary per browser; possibly.
Go have a look at http://0x40167cc8/ and compare with http://64.22.124.200/.
For that matter when a copy or move fails in Explorer, why can't I simply resume it once I've fixed whatever the problem
Try TotalCopy which adds a copy/move in the right click menu; or Teracopy commercial (free version available, supports Win7) complete replacement for the sucky Windows copy system.
USB/Network freezes and file copying isn't a fault of CPU cores like you say, Windows is just a sucky OS. Multicore stuff gets complicated, but this isn't going to be a panacea for Microsoft, it's another marketing opportunity.
I've now got two Linodes, one in the UK and one in Atlanta
.. UK?
I was pretty sure they didn't have servers outside the USA.. which is why my second virtual server is with Bytemark in the UK.
Like everyone else has said, yeah they've been in the UK for a few months; and appear to have their datacenter alongside some BBC servers, since the ping can be incredibly quick and the bandwidth over and above 100mbps.
Also, speaking of other hosts, I'd recommend avoiding OVH and Datagate. Had bad experiences with both.
100X better than simply web hosting... Linode
Agreed. Though running services can be bad for beginners, its a lot more adaptable than getting someone else to do it. The amount you can do with any VPS is far and beyond what any shared hosting will do, but keeping it secure is important.
I've now got two Linodes, one in the UK and one in Atlanta, and they're both excellent. Great value for money and speed. Only had one 2 hour period of downtime and they were keeping everyone very well informed. Their support staff are excellent and I can't recommend them enough. Upgrading a linode and their pricing for it is just too easy. Bandwidth and latency, even for running small gaming servers is awesome!
Cheating is a social problem, not a technical problem. Technical solutions for social problems usually do not work. However, we have fixed this problem already with various other online activities, where people even regularly spend real money to buy something from complete strangers. Reputation systems like eBay and Amazon use seem to work quite well, but then of course you can no longer blame the cheaters for poor sales.
Doesn't this "rate your player and we'll favour playing against those"/"hate this guy and you'll never play him again" -- already exist on XBox Live?
Our policy does not focus on weight, and the seatbelt extension is not the determining factor. We use the ability to lower the armrests as the gauge, as the armrests are truly the definitive boundary between each seat.
From: TFA Link
"why wait til my bag is up, and I'm seated WITH ARM RESTS DOWN. In front of a packed plane with a bunch of folks who'd already I.d.ed me as 'Silent Bob,"
Irrelevant of all the other slashdot members complaining that "being fat is disgusting", the fact remains that Southwest Airlines went against their OWN policies, and they didn't go about this in the right way at all. If he was already seated comfortably, wasn't blocking the aisle and no other customers complained, then what the hell is their problem?!
If you're genuinely comparing someone who offered free movies and music via his website and was smacked down for it to NELSON FUCKING MANDELA and you're not high, you need to sort your fucking priorities out.
You do know Nelson Mandela blew up trains? He was a terrorist.
Personally, I'll stay with the copyright infringers.
Man if you think broadband in the UK is bad take a trip to Australia!!
Difference being is that they're 3 times as many people in the UK, but Australia is about 30 times bigger. I can see why Google might go for the UK over Oz!
At least not in the strictest technical sense. It doesn't understand html, etc. ..."just" it's own, highly compressed format; sent to it from Opera servers.
Not that it'll make a difference to Apple.
At least it should support File Uploading, unlike the cut-down browser from Apple.
I honestly can't see any logic behind disabling this really simple feature - other than it forces developers to write stupid applications which could be better written in a web-browser.
Slot loading drives that accept 4cm discs have been around for a VERY long time. It is only the very cheap drive mechanisms that skimp on this stuff.
Strange. Most of the slot-loading drives I've seen (including my Sony car audio system) specifically says DO NOT use 4cm discs, and do NOT use clip on extenders.
Also, how could you miss the fact that the wii supports gamecube games? If you load it up with no disc in it the "disc channel" shows an image of a big disc printed with "Wii" and a small disk printed with "Gamecube". When you put in a disk one of them vanishes and the game loading screen appears.
Needlessly insulting other posters isn't nice. Clearly he didn't realise, and clearly other people didn't since I got a modpoint for it!
No sure what you mean here... it doesn't support n64 controllers
Sorry, *obviously* I meant GC controllers, not N64 controllers!
definiately
Get out.
The Wii has a special slot-loading drive
That's what I was concerned about. Most CD tray drives have a special smaller indent for the smaller CD's, but auto loading slots don't normally take them. I'm glad you told me, there were a ton of Game Cube games my wife wanted that I didn't get because... No game cube..
I've had mine apart and it's pretty smart how the extra arms coax the GC discs in. I found this picture but when you see it with a GC disc in, its quite a smart system.
The Wii is an excellent console for the support it has for N64 controllers, etc. Glad I waited, you can pick up GameCube games *fairly* cheap now, but they're clearly still popular.
If you're not using all the features, it doesn't mean that syntax highlighting and completion is enough, or that most IDEs are overkill. It just means that you're not building professional quality applications or are at least working extremely inefficiently. For starters, you at least want a decent debugger.
Notepad++ supports XDebug. Next.
Ah so you accept you were wrong and simple syntax highlighting and completion aren't enough then? Good. Next.
No, syntax highlighting and completion are enough for most purposes. For anything professional, you said you need a "decent debugger" and therefore need an IDE. You were wrong because Notepad++ does support these options with plugins. Neeeeeeext please!