they also spy on you aswell. When your tivo makes its daily call, its sends your remote control click log back to tivo. So they actually know you rewind on every racy scene. They say its anonymous, but on the same call it sends your credentials back so it can get the guide the data.
Do you have a source for this remote control click log? Also just because it's doing these two things at once, doesn't mean they don't store the data anonymously..
Unless you paid them for a monthly subscription you got no guide data, and that made it unuseable. The monthly subscription is exhorbitant, and the flaw in their business model is that they wanted to sell you the box.
Isn't that the point? I don't mind paying their monthly subscription (although my TiVo and my parents TiVos all have lifetime subscriptions.) The TiVo is -extremely- useful, and worth the $10/$12/mo... I think TiVo is the best thing to happen to TV since HBO. I've seen so many more of my favorite shows that I was never around to watch and so many shows that I never would have thought to watch, or shows that I'd love to watch but didn't realize they were even on.
If they had kept the boxes and let you have one as a rental that business model might be valid and the idea that you received some "service" for your monthly fee might have some validity.
It's not like you're buying a $400 gaming console.. The base TiVo is only $99 everywhere I've looked.. Now that's not 'cheap' by a lot of people's standards, but for what you're getting? I think it's reasonable..
But they sold them, and through the crippled nature of their product and the monthly fee they are trying to maintain ownership and control over you and your box, which unfortunately for them they SOLD you.
I really don't see this as really -crippling-.. So far it looks like TiVo is flagging things to limit the time you can save them, and cut the ability to transfer them to a PC.. well.. first off, how long do you need to save stuff on there? (granted this varies greatly from person to person, I had a couple things on my TiVo for months at one point, but I didn't NEED them.) And you can't transfer them to a PC?...well... I don't see anything stopping you from transferring the content to VHS or DVD? I don't think they'll ever be able to stop that...
You can't maintain control over things you sold. If you want to maintain control, don't sell it.
They're not maintaining control over what they sold (the TiVo), they're maintaining control over their SERVICE (the Guide, software, software updates, etc.) In fact, I don't recall the last time I've seen a company so supportive of their users hacking their product and doing whatever they want with it... Even when it means some loss of revenue (buy a cheap TiVo, buy a cheap large HDD, get more recording time than a high end TiVo.) I think TiVo as a company has been VERY cool about the use of their product, and VERY supportive. Don't see xbox hacking forums on microsoft.com right?
I think it's about over for the current Tivo business model.
That's your opinion, but I, and many, many, MANY other TiVo owners aren't going anywhere anytime soon...
They should just start being honest, give the boxes out as a rental and then they can control them.
Already covered this, and if they did that, no more TiVo modding community or anything like that.. some people do a -lot- more with their TiVos than plug 'em in and use 'em out of the box.
Once sold they lose the ability to control them and I can see the handwriting on the wall, internet accessable guide servers will soon abound and Tivo has no more revenue from people who own those boxes- their current customers.
They never tried to keep control of the hardware. As for internet accessable guide servers, I'm sure there will be a way to point to them, and I don't think we'll hear about TiVo bitching about the people who do modify their boxes to do this.. However, TiVo will still have 'revenue from people who own those boxes' via monthly subscription fee, granted some people may stop subscribing, but they've already paid, and I'm sure the money TiVo makes off of their monthly fees more than makes up for the traffic that 1 customer uses to access the guide and content downloads.. I don't think they're nearly as doomed as you would like to make them out to be.
I dunno man... Ant Man? Just not seeing the returns on that one.
It's ridiculous.. With all of the great comics Marvel has out there, what is this trash they're looking at? I mean, a few of these I can see as good.. Capt America could make up for the old movie, Avengers? Yeah, I'm sure they oculd make that work, Hawkeye maybe too since he WAS an Avenger.. Dr. Strange could probably work, and since Punisher did alright, i'm sure Nick Fury could be sold as well, even Cloak and Daggar (Would that be anything like the OLLLLLD Cloak and Dagger movie?).. But Black Panther? Ant-Man!? I was hoping they would make mention of Ghost Rider and maybe a Silver Surfer movie or something... Especially with having Dr. Strange and Avengers, plus the recent Fantastic Four.. these are all comics that were wrapped up in the Infinity Gauntlet book(s) which could probably be made into a pretty good movie as well.. Multi-Issue crossover series comics come to the big screen.. if anybody could pull that off Marvel probably could given their recent track record for comic movies.
What gets me is how these companies are releasing systems for the price of the graphics cards in them. Wonder if the individual component makers are getting a cut from the licensing as well in order to sell cheaper?
Probably has something to do with the fact that they're ordering millions of them at a time, major bulk discounts with no markup... I doubt these chips are costing Sony 600 bucks a piece.
This never made sense to me-- Apple is doing the same thing, yet it's ok? I mean, iTunes, Garage Band, iPhoto, iMovie, etc..
I think it's less a problem with them bundling the apps, and more a problem of building them in as an intigral part of the system. Let's forget about GB, iPhoto, iMovie... and just concentrate on Safari and iTunes since Windows includes IE and WMP..
Now with a mac, say you don't want safari, say it's an insecure pile of trash, what can you do about it? Drag it to the trash, and it's gone, it's no longer on the system, it's "Uninstalled"..same goes for iTunes, then you put your replacement program in its place and you're good to go. You just don't have that luxury with Windows, IE and WMP are built into the system and can NOT be removed, and THAT, I think, is what people have a problem with.
The biggest problem with this site is that the people who read it do not have the control of what's submitted. If they did, instead of the editors, you'd see much more interesting and constructive content.
Ooooooooh, like moderation + subscriber only previews.... they could have subscribers seeing even MORE stories early and giving them the ability to moderate stories up and get them out into the world. Hell, I would subscribe the day that happened!..of course not all subscribers would want to see 'more stories' so maybe another tier (not necessarily more expensive tier) for people interested... that could be good!
Other readers, who aren't rocket scientists, might be confused by more than the spelling, however.:)
I dunno, there's one around here who even had it in his sig, haven't heard him chime in on any of the recent rocket-science related stories though, would be interesting to get his views on some of 'em too!
Lag? There's absolutely no difference in performance between a Wavebird and a wired Gamecube controller. Have you actually tried using a modern wireless controller?
I have, and my WORLD, ENDED, when my Wireless Logitech XBox controller (the big one, not the Logitech S-style wireless) died. Seriously, that is the most comfortable f'ing controller i've ever had the pleasure to use, now it's left joystick is always (although gently) stuck 'down' so I either have to keep correcting it or compensating for it with games, or... use the wired controller until I get a new one:(
There was never any lag that I could tell in this controller, it felt absolutely perfect in my hands, it's a good weight, nice and sturdy, and using the standard wired controllers after getting used to it for a couple years is hellish. These controllers are as close to perfect as one can get (XBox -and- PS2 Logitech Wireless)... Damn, I'm gunna go try and fix that damned thing again!
Ugh! Are they crazy? It looks like Xbox 360 is going to price its way right out of many living rooms. There's no way I'm paying $600-$700 for this. Where is the market they seem to be aiming for?
Absolutely, and I think the majority of people here will agree with you. 600? 700? for a GAME CONSOLE? that's just absolutely ridiculous, hopefully we won't run into this with the ps3. I didn't really want an XB360 anyway, now this gives me a much better reason to not buy it. I think the PS3 is going to be higher quality anyway.. Sony, in my experience, usually has pretty good quality, MS?... well, not quite. Now even 500+ for a sub-par quality system? I'd rather buy the higher quality one for half the price. Maybe I'll get an XB360 in a few years when they're cheap, but I'm sure I'll hope to end up with a ps3 early on.
It does seem that if you're waiting in line for 6 hours, you probably want it more than anyone else. Why wouldn't it be fair for the people that want laptop the most to get it?
Because where do you draw the line? What about the guy who wants it more than the 6 hour guy who shows up 7 hours ahead of time, say this is for tickets going for sale at your local music retailer who happens to sell tickets.. The tickets go on sale when the store opens.. Now by the time the store opens the people at the front of the line have been there for 7 hours and hanging out outside your shop.. next time someone's going to realize that in order to get acceptable tickets they need to get there before the 7 hour guy, so you get there 8 hours early, maybe 9, how long is too long to have people hanging out around your store? When they turn into the Star Wars guys who start lining up around your store a few months ahead of time?
I think the random number system is perfectly fair, sure the people who get there incredibly early 'want it more' (why I threw in that "if you're the first 10 here, you get in immediately" thing, which probably needs a ton of refinement) but it's certainly a good way to keep the crowd under control and keep you from running into injuries or anything like that, plus it insures that everybody has a shot... Who's to say the guy in the back of the line doesn't want or need it as bad as the guy who was there xx hours ahead of opening, but was held back due to a situation of importance? We can't just say Tough Shit on -everybody-.. Especially in this $50 computer situation, they knew they'd have way more people than they could accomodate, they should have cut the line off at 1k, or passed out random numbers to keep the crowd under control.. Just my opinion though, I'm sure it could use some work, but I think it's a helluva start.
PS: these numbers at these ticket sales were given out in the form of a wristband that was attached to your wrist by an employee so as to insure that you weren't stealing #s, trading, selling...
People in charge of stuff like this never seem to forsee what's going to happen when the gates are opened. How much more effort would it be to have someone give out numbers to each person standing in line, then tell them to go away until their number is called? No one gets served without a number. Problem solved.
And as a radio station did here for their concert tickets, they would pass out numbered tickets and then call them out randomly. That way you don't get people showing up at a TicketMaster 6 hours before the event goes on sale and make it so anybody who isn't planning to (or able to) stand in line for several hours doesn't get in.. numbered tickets called out like a lottory, that way everybody at the event is considered absolutely equal, people aren't loitering for several hours, and nobody is forced to put themselves out by standing in line for several hours or risk not getting what they came for.. F'd up idea if you're the first one in line, but overall, I'd say the "most fair" idea... hell, maybe let the first 10 people in line get let in in order for those truly dedicated and have the other 3000 try their luck..?
I agree about the thumb buttons. I have an old Logitech M-BA47 from around 2000. It has a nice thumb button right where I rest my thumb (i.e low).
My M-BL63B dual optical is like that too, at first I didn't care for having a thumb button at all, then I realized it made a good general purpose function for whatever I found myself using, double clicking for the most part.. Until 10.3 came out, then the thumb button was assigned to expose's f9 function and has become the standard for switching windows (much better than alt tab) quickly and easily.. I just wish I had more now;)
$6 million is a hell of a lot of money irrespective of who gives it and their own monetary situation. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
No shit, you well never do right by the MS haters on this site. MS could give 25b away and people would still be screaming "Yeah yeah charity my ass, they still have 25b left!". Or maybe I'm wrong, maybe I should be offended that, since MS is worth so much, and they probably misplace more than 10 grand without blinking an eye, that they're not paying off my truck.
Bet you one thing though, bet you that if a grand or so of this $6m went directly to the people on here complaining they wouldn't be complaining anymore, and they wouldn't be arguing that "This won't make a dent in the fight against spam." or "This money isn't going to help educate anybody!" anymore..
Arizona and New Mexico(?) seem to get by just fine without having DST at all. As far as I know, the reason for it was for schools so that kids are going to school in the light or something? But really, does it matter that much? It's just a time adjustment plus or minus one hour... Seriously, why do we bother? Does it really make that much a difference in our lives to change the clock forward or back one hour? I'm all for abolishing DST period, it's silly and unnecessary, let's get rid of it.
With all the sensationalized stories about bullying in schools, children committing suicide due to being harassed, etc. do you really think its wise to make a game like this?
I think it's a great idea to make a game like this. Of course according to the reviews I checked out (below) it may bring forth even more lawsuits against rockstar. The premis is you're a kid who's picked on by bullies and teachers, you're not the bully, maybe they can lash out on their console instead of going apeshit and killing classmates. However since more schoolkids will be able to RELATE to this game, yes, it could be trouble.
As a troublesome schoolboy, you'll laugh and cringe as you stand up to bullies, get picked on by teachers, play pranks on malicious kids, win or lose the girl, and ultimately learn to navigate the obstacles of the fictitious reform school, Bullworth Academy.
PS: As one person said (and pointed to in their journal, games like this can be terribly fun and terribly thereputic. When I have a bad/stressful day, The Punisher is the best damned release there is;)
So, since I haven't seen the offensive sexual content in GTA yet, can somebody clue me in here. Was there bondage? Gay sex? Bestiality? Something scatological? What could have been in that hidden scene that was worse than murder?
Dry humping. It's evil and bad.
Don't get me wrong. I honestly don't believe that video game behavior directly causes similar behavior in real life. Otherwise, I would have leveled several small towns with my hand-held rocket launcher.
You've got better self control than I, ever since I tried State of Emergency I've had this unrelenting urge to run through shopping malls beating people with baseball bats!
Bitch and whine all you like but GTA is a damn fine game and that's why it sells. If you don't like it make a better game with none of the violence and outshine GTA every time they release a new one.
Y'know, now that you mention it, here's something I forgot to bring up in all of the other GTA posts. I just got SA about.. a month ago, now that's not a very quick response time. I never got into GTA3 at all, didn't even bother, but Vice City quickly became one of my vices (Heh, couldn't resist)..In any case, I'm a big fan of the ol' gangster movies (not to be confused with gangsta' movies) and one of those being Scarface, when VC came out I was absolutely hooked, I couldn't get enough of that game. It was so damned perfect, there's nothing I didn't like about it.. the story was great, the game advancement was great, just nothing I would improve on.
Then SA came out and I saw the previews and thought "Great... they've gone and turned a great scarface type game into boyz in the f'ing hood.. way to go dickheads" I had the lowest possible expectations for SA you could imagine until a friend let me borrow it, and it took some work for him to get me to accept it, I was that disinterested. Anyhow, after about 6 straight hours of play after getting home I couldn't believe how much better than VC this game actually was.
GTA:SA is popular not because of all of the 'free advertising via scandals', it's popular because it's a godamned -brilliant- game, totally immersive and gives you so much freedom it's unbelievable, cars, bikes, helicopters, jets, shit if i felt like getting across the map (which takes time in a car, less in a bike) and I was near an airport i could take one of my planes, fly there, and jump out and friggin' skydive if I wanted to, who was thinking the GTA series would advance so much when they played GTA3 or VC? I've got to give it to Rockstar, I went into this game bound and determined to hate it no matter what the game threw at me, but I'm even more into this game than my beloved Vice City. Hell i've already BEAT it and I still can't stop playing..
ONE THING though, If I were a parent, this game wouldn't have made it past the INTRO before I told my kid they couldn't play it (but I'd sure as hell be playing it) Great game for adults, bad for kids, fun beyond most other games on the market these days, and so what if it sets a bad example, those of us old enough to play it already know it's just a game.
That being said, I loved the FP on this story, and I agree with it 100%, those anti-bullying activists need to go do something aside from trying to police video games, and I for one, will be at least trying out Bully once it makes it into the stores, and I'm sure it will....Shit that went on forever, sorry about the rant, but I'm way too tired to be bothered with cleaning it up, so that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
Because the Apple fan-boys have been arguing that one button is best for many years, so they have to continue to pretend that one button is somehow better. --- I have, specifically in the context of training inexperienced users. And I've seen it on Slashdot, to boot.
Well, isn't that true? Some people just aren't ready for a 2 button mouse. Those of us who are, already have one (like a previous poster said) that we would have swapped out with whatever apple gave us anyway. Think back on the mice they've provided throughout the years, would you honestly have KEPT those mice provided they were 2 button? or even 3? or even with a scroll wheel? They weren't the nicest things to work with..
Hell, in my office most of us already have nice contoured optical logitechs. We've replaced a few systems with new Dell systems and whatnot, although they were provided by dell, 2 things were not used, the speakers, and the mice, and Dell provides some pretty nice 2 button mice with scrollwheels, but most of us already have something even better and more comfortable (or that we're more comfortable with.)
Of course it is less efficient! Who ever said it wasn't? But it looked better, and made some people feel less intimidated. And on my laptop, I really don't feel the loss except when using XCode.
I like that you put 'made some people feel less intimidated', and I can help back that up. I get calls from a couple people from time to time who've been using computers for several years, but when I mention right clicking or dragging or right clicking AND dragging or anything like that, they get confused.. "so I click and hold it down and then move it? oh wow"...now can you imagine the confusion when contextual menus and right dragging come into play? S'why I like the single mouse button, it's either "click" or "click and drag" no need to worry about contextual menus or "i right click and drag? or left click and drag!?"
As far as not missing the mouse button on your laptop, I don't miss mine either, because Apple has gone through the trouble of making their OS extremely usable with the lack of said button. I like the fact that this new mouse button needs to have the second button 'enabled', that way for the clueless, they won't be confused (as much) when we try and tell them how to copy a file.
Certainly. But the point of Ask Slashdot is that now others can read the answers too and learn something new, even if they were not searching for an answer to that particular problem at the time.
Exactly, great response. I was thinking of taking my systems which are currently hosted at a colo several miles away and putting them in my office here, which is hosted off of cable (was thinking of moving to DSL possibly) and now I know that if I do move my systems, I may begin to encounter problems sending to free mail systems, and I'll know how to handle the situation if it does happen.
Ask Slashdot often brings up interesting questions that are not always terribly important, but interesting nonetheless, and helpful sometimes to several people who may be dealing with the same issue at the same time, or may be in the future.
Slashdot Mirror
they also spy on you aswell. When your tivo makes its daily call, its sends your remote control click log back to tivo. So they actually know you rewind on every racy scene. They say its anonymous, but on the same call it sends your credentials back so it can get the guide the data.
Do you have a source for this remote control click log? Also just because it's doing these two things at once, doesn't mean they don't store the data anonymously..
Unless you paid them for a monthly subscription you got no guide data, and that made it unuseable. The monthly subscription is exhorbitant, and the flaw in their business model is that they wanted to sell you the box.
...well... I don't see anything stopping you from transferring the content to VHS or DVD? I don't think they'll ever be able to stop that...
Isn't that the point? I don't mind paying their monthly subscription (although my TiVo and my parents TiVos all have lifetime subscriptions.) The TiVo is -extremely- useful, and worth the $10/$12/mo... I think TiVo is the best thing to happen to TV since HBO. I've seen so many more of my favorite shows that I was never around to watch and so many shows that I never would have thought to watch, or shows that I'd love to watch but didn't realize they were even on.
If they had kept the boxes and let you have one as a rental that business model might be valid and the idea that you received some "service" for your monthly fee might have some validity.
It's not like you're buying a $400 gaming console.. The base TiVo is only $99 everywhere I've looked.. Now that's not 'cheap' by a lot of people's standards, but for what you're getting? I think it's reasonable..
But they sold them, and through the crippled nature of their product and the monthly fee they are trying to maintain ownership and control over you and your box, which unfortunately for them they SOLD you.
I really don't see this as really -crippling-.. So far it looks like TiVo is flagging things to limit the time you can save them, and cut the ability to transfer them to a PC.. well.. first off, how long do you need to save stuff on there? (granted this varies greatly from person to person, I had a couple things on my TiVo for months at one point, but I didn't NEED them.) And you can't transfer them to a PC?
You can't maintain control over things you sold. If you want to maintain control, don't sell it.
They're not maintaining control over what they sold (the TiVo), they're maintaining control over their SERVICE (the Guide, software, software updates, etc.) In fact, I don't recall the last time I've seen a company so supportive of their users hacking their product and doing whatever they want with it... Even when it means some loss of revenue (buy a cheap TiVo, buy a cheap large HDD, get more recording time than a high end TiVo.) I think TiVo as a company has been VERY cool about the use of their product, and VERY supportive. Don't see xbox hacking forums on microsoft.com right?
I think it's about over for the current Tivo business model.
That's your opinion, but I, and many, many, MANY other TiVo owners aren't going anywhere anytime soon...
They should just start being honest, give the boxes out as a rental and then they can control them.
Already covered this, and if they did that, no more TiVo modding community or anything like that.. some people do a -lot- more with their TiVos than plug 'em in and use 'em out of the box.
Once sold they lose the ability to control them and I can see the handwriting on the wall, internet accessable guide servers will soon abound and Tivo has no more revenue from people who own those boxes- their current customers.
They never tried to keep control of the hardware. As for internet accessable guide servers, I'm sure there will be a way to point to them, and I don't think we'll hear about TiVo bitching about the people who do modify their boxes to do this.. However, TiVo will still have 'revenue from people who own those boxes' via monthly subscription fee, granted some people may stop subscribing, but they've already paid, and I'm sure the money TiVo makes off of their monthly fees more than makes up for the traffic that 1 customer uses to access the guide and content downloads.. I don't think they're nearly as doomed as you would like to make them out to be.
I dunno man... Ant Man? Just not seeing the returns on that one.
It's ridiculous.. With all of the great comics Marvel has out there, what is this trash they're looking at? I mean, a few of these I can see as good.. Capt America could make up for the old movie, Avengers? Yeah, I'm sure they oculd make that work, Hawkeye maybe too since he WAS an Avenger.. Dr. Strange could probably work, and since Punisher did alright, i'm sure Nick Fury could be sold as well, even Cloak and Daggar (Would that be anything like the OLLLLLD Cloak and Dagger movie?).. But Black Panther? Ant-Man!? I was hoping they would make mention of Ghost Rider and maybe a Silver Surfer movie or something... Especially with having Dr. Strange and Avengers, plus the recent Fantastic Four.. these are all comics that were wrapped up in the Infinity Gauntlet book(s) which could probably be made into a pretty good movie as well.. Multi-Issue crossover series comics come to the big screen.. if anybody could pull that off Marvel probably could given their recent track record for comic movies.
Sure, but what if it is labelled "spring water"?
Well I'm in trouble then... I sometimes peel the labels off of my bottled water, surely they'll come after me citing the DMCA now!!
it's bullet
Unless he was talking about biting Steve McQueen!
What gets me is how these companies are releasing systems for the price of the graphics cards in them. Wonder if the individual component makers are getting a cut from the licensing as well in order to sell cheaper?
Probably has something to do with the fact that they're ordering millions of them at a time, major bulk discounts with no markup... I doubt these chips are costing Sony 600 bucks a piece.
This never made sense to me-- Apple is doing the same thing, yet it's ok? I mean, iTunes, Garage Band, iPhoto, iMovie, etc..
..same goes for iTunes, then you put your replacement program in its place and you're good to go. You just don't have that luxury with Windows, IE and WMP are built into the system and can NOT be removed, and THAT, I think, is what people have a problem with.
I think it's less a problem with them bundling the apps, and more a problem of building them in as an intigral part of the system. Let's forget about GB, iPhoto, iMovie... and just concentrate on Safari and iTunes since Windows includes IE and WMP..
Now with a mac, say you don't want safari, say it's an insecure pile of trash, what can you do about it? Drag it to the trash, and it's gone, it's no longer on the system, it's "Uninstalled"
It's coaxing, btw. Coxing just sounds... wrong.
Yeah, that's what brought the kid into the picture in the first place!
The biggest problem with this site is that the people who read it do not have the control of what's submitted. If they did, instead of the editors, you'd see much more interesting and constructive content.
..of course not all subscribers would want to see 'more stories' so maybe another tier (not necessarily more expensive tier) for people interested... that could be good!
Ooooooooh, like moderation + subscriber only previews.... they could have subscribers seeing even MORE stories early and giving them the ability to moderate stories up and get them out into the world. Hell, I would subscribe the day that happened!
Other readers, who aren't rocket scientists, might be confused by more than the spelling, however. :)
I dunno, there's one around here who even had it in his sig, haven't heard him chime in on any of the recent rocket-science related stories though, would be interesting to get his views on some of 'em too!
Lag? There's absolutely no difference in performance between a Wavebird and a wired Gamecube controller. Have you actually tried using a modern wireless controller?
... use the wired controller until I get a new one :(
I have, and my WORLD, ENDED, when my Wireless Logitech XBox controller (the big one, not the Logitech S-style wireless) died. Seriously, that is the most comfortable f'ing controller i've ever had the pleasure to use, now it's left joystick is always (although gently) stuck 'down' so I either have to keep correcting it or compensating for it with games, or
There was never any lag that I could tell in this controller, it felt absolutely perfect in my hands, it's a good weight, nice and sturdy, and using the standard wired controllers after getting used to it for a couple years is hellish. These controllers are as close to perfect as one can get (XBox -and- PS2 Logitech Wireless)... Damn, I'm gunna go try and fix that damned thing again!
Ugh! Are they crazy? It looks like Xbox 360 is going to price its way right out of many living rooms. There's no way I'm paying $600-$700 for this. Where is the market they seem to be aiming for?
Absolutely, and I think the majority of people here will agree with you. 600? 700? for a GAME CONSOLE? that's just absolutely ridiculous, hopefully we won't run into this with the ps3. I didn't really want an XB360 anyway, now this gives me a much better reason to not buy it. I think the PS3 is going to be higher quality anyway.. Sony, in my experience, usually has pretty good quality, MS?... well, not quite. Now even 500+ for a sub-par quality system? I'd rather buy the higher quality one for half the price. Maybe I'll get an XB360 in a few years when they're cheap, but I'm sure I'll hope to end up with a ps3 early on.
Visiting places like http://www.google.com/ig it's quite clear that it isn't a gmail account you got, but rather a Google account.
But if you have a gmail account, you already have a 'google account'... Aren't they one in the same now?
3. Free as in "pay for it or go to jail"
We've always had that, they just call it "Taxes" for short.
It does seem that if you're waiting in line for 6 hours, you probably want it more than anyone else. Why wouldn't it be fair for the people that want laptop the most to get it?
Because where do you draw the line? What about the guy who wants it more than the 6 hour guy who shows up 7 hours ahead of time, say this is for tickets going for sale at your local music retailer who happens to sell tickets.. The tickets go on sale when the store opens.. Now by the time the store opens the people at the front of the line have been there for 7 hours and hanging out outside your shop.. next time someone's going to realize that in order to get acceptable tickets they need to get there before the 7 hour guy, so you get there 8 hours early, maybe 9, how long is too long to have people hanging out around your store? When they turn into the Star Wars guys who start lining up around your store a few months ahead of time?
I think the random number system is perfectly fair, sure the people who get there incredibly early 'want it more' (why I threw in that "if you're the first 10 here, you get in immediately" thing, which probably needs a ton of refinement) but it's certainly a good way to keep the crowd under control and keep you from running into injuries or anything like that, plus it insures that everybody has a shot... Who's to say the guy in the back of the line doesn't want or need it as bad as the guy who was there xx hours ahead of opening, but was held back due to a situation of importance? We can't just say Tough Shit on -everybody-.. Especially in this $50 computer situation, they knew they'd have way more people than they could accomodate, they should have cut the line off at 1k, or passed out random numbers to keep the crowd under control.. Just my opinion though, I'm sure it could use some work, but I think it's a helluva start.
PS: these numbers at these ticket sales were given out in the form of a wristband that was attached to your wrist by an employee so as to insure that you weren't stealing #s, trading, selling...
People in charge of stuff like this never seem to forsee what's going to happen when the gates are opened. How much more effort would it be to have someone give out numbers to each person standing in line, then tell them to go away until their number is called? No one gets served without a number. Problem solved.
And as a radio station did here for their concert tickets, they would pass out numbered tickets and then call them out randomly. That way you don't get people showing up at a TicketMaster 6 hours before the event goes on sale and make it so anybody who isn't planning to (or able to) stand in line for several hours doesn't get in.. numbered tickets called out like a lottory, that way everybody at the event is considered absolutely equal, people aren't loitering for several hours, and nobody is forced to put themselves out by standing in line for several hours or risk not getting what they came for.. F'd up idea if you're the first one in line, but overall, I'd say the "most fair" idea... hell, maybe let the first 10 people in line get let in in order for those truly dedicated and have the other 3000 try their luck..?
I agree about the thumb buttons. I have an old Logitech M-BA47 from around 2000. It has a nice thumb button right where I rest my thumb (i.e low).
;)
My M-BL63B dual optical is like that too, at first I didn't care for having a thumb button at all, then I realized it made a good general purpose function for whatever I found myself using, double clicking for the most part.. Until 10.3 came out, then the thumb button was assigned to expose's f9 function and has become the standard for switching windows (much better than alt tab) quickly and easily.. I just wish I had more now
$6 million is a hell of a lot of money irrespective of who gives it and their own monetary situation. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
No shit, you well never do right by the MS haters on this site. MS could give 25b away and people would still be screaming "Yeah yeah charity my ass, they still have 25b left!". Or maybe I'm wrong, maybe I should be offended that, since MS is worth so much, and they probably misplace more than 10 grand without blinking an eye, that they're not paying off my truck.
Bet you one thing though, bet you that if a grand or so of this $6m went directly to the people on here complaining they wouldn't be complaining anymore, and they wouldn't be arguing that "This won't make a dent in the fight against spam." or "This money isn't going to help educate anybody!" anymore..
I don't see why we even bother..
Arizona and New Mexico(?) seem to get by just fine without having DST at all. As far as I know, the reason for it was for schools so that kids are going to school in the light or something? But really, does it matter that much? It's just a time adjustment plus or minus one hour... Seriously, why do we bother? Does it really make that much a difference in our lives to change the clock forward or back one hour? I'm all for abolishing DST period, it's silly and unnecessary, let's get rid of it.
With all the sensationalized stories about bullying in schools, children committing suicide due to being harassed, etc. do you really think its wise to make a game like this?
;)
I think it's a great idea to make a game like this. Of course according to the reviews I checked out (below) it may bring forth even more lawsuits against rockstar. The premis is you're a kid who's picked on by bullies and teachers, you're not the bully, maybe they can lash out on their console instead of going apeshit and killing classmates. However since more schoolkids will be able to RELATE to this game, yes, it could be trouble.
As a troublesome schoolboy, you'll laugh and cringe as you stand up to bullies, get picked on by teachers, play pranks on malicious kids, win or lose the girl, and ultimately learn to navigate the obstacles of the fictitious reform school, Bullworth Academy.
PS: As one person said (and pointed to in their journal, games like this can be terribly fun and terribly thereputic. When I have a bad/stressful day, The Punisher is the best damned release there is
So, since I haven't seen the offensive sexual content in GTA yet, can somebody clue me in here. Was there bondage? Gay sex? Bestiality? Something scatological? What could have been in that hidden scene that was worse than murder?
Dry humping. It's evil and bad.
Don't get me wrong. I honestly don't believe that video game behavior directly causes similar behavior in real life. Otherwise, I would have leveled several small towns with my hand-held rocket launcher.
You've got better self control than I, ever since I tried State of Emergency I've had this unrelenting urge to run through shopping malls beating people with baseball bats!
Bitch and whine all you like but GTA is a damn fine game and that's why it sells. If you don't like it make a better game with none of the violence and outshine GTA every time they release a new one.
..In any case, I'm a big fan of the ol' gangster movies (not to be confused with gangsta' movies) and one of those being Scarface, when VC came out I was absolutely hooked, I couldn't get enough of that game. It was so damned perfect, there's nothing I didn't like about it.. the story was great, the game advancement was great, just nothing I would improve on.
...Shit that went on forever, sorry about the rant, but I'm way too tired to be bothered with cleaning it up, so that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
Y'know, now that you mention it, here's something I forgot to bring up in all of the other GTA posts. I just got SA about.. a month ago, now that's not a very quick response time. I never got into GTA3 at all, didn't even bother, but Vice City quickly became one of my vices (Heh, couldn't resist)
Then SA came out and I saw the previews and thought "Great... they've gone and turned a great scarface type game into boyz in the f'ing hood.. way to go dickheads" I had the lowest possible expectations for SA you could imagine until a friend let me borrow it, and it took some work for him to get me to accept it, I was that disinterested. Anyhow, after about 6 straight hours of play after getting home I couldn't believe how much better than VC this game actually was.
GTA:SA is popular not because of all of the 'free advertising via scandals', it's popular because it's a godamned -brilliant- game, totally immersive and gives you so much freedom it's unbelievable, cars, bikes, helicopters, jets, shit if i felt like getting across the map (which takes time in a car, less in a bike) and I was near an airport i could take one of my planes, fly there, and jump out and friggin' skydive if I wanted to, who was thinking the GTA series would advance so much when they played GTA3 or VC? I've got to give it to Rockstar, I went into this game bound and determined to hate it no matter what the game threw at me, but I'm even more into this game than my beloved Vice City. Hell i've already BEAT it and I still can't stop playing..
ONE THING though, If I were a parent, this game wouldn't have made it past the INTRO before I told my kid they couldn't play it (but I'd sure as hell be playing it) Great game for adults, bad for kids, fun beyond most other games on the market these days, and so what if it sets a bad example, those of us old enough to play it already know it's just a game.
That being said, I loved the FP on this story, and I agree with it 100%, those anti-bullying activists need to go do something aside from trying to police video games, and I for one, will be at least trying out Bully once it makes it into the stores, and I'm sure it will.
Because the Apple fan-boys have been arguing that one button is best for many years, so they have to continue to pretend that one button is somehow better.
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I have, specifically in the context of training inexperienced users. And I've seen it on Slashdot, to boot.
Well, isn't that true? Some people just aren't ready for a 2 button mouse. Those of us who are, already have one (like a previous poster said) that we would have swapped out with whatever apple gave us anyway. Think back on the mice they've provided throughout the years, would you honestly have KEPT those mice provided they were 2 button? or even 3? or even with a scroll wheel? They weren't the nicest things to work with..
Hell, in my office most of us already have nice contoured optical logitechs. We've replaced a few systems with new Dell systems and whatnot, although they were provided by dell, 2 things were not used, the speakers, and the mice, and Dell provides some pretty nice 2 button mice with scrollwheels, but most of us already have something even better and more comfortable (or that we're more comfortable with.)
Of course it is less efficient! Who ever said it wasn't? But it looked better, and made some people feel less intimidated. And on my laptop, I really don't feel the loss except when using XCode.
...now can you imagine the confusion when contextual menus and right dragging come into play? S'why I like the single mouse button, it's either "click" or "click and drag" no need to worry about contextual menus or "i right click and drag? or left click and drag!?"
I like that you put 'made some people feel less intimidated', and I can help back that up. I get calls from a couple people from time to time who've been using computers for several years, but when I mention right clicking or dragging or right clicking AND dragging or anything like that, they get confused.. "so I click and hold it down and then move it? oh wow"
As far as not missing the mouse button on your laptop, I don't miss mine either, because Apple has gone through the trouble of making their OS extremely usable with the lack of said button. I like the fact that this new mouse button needs to have the second button 'enabled', that way for the clueless, they won't be confused (as much) when we try and tell them how to copy a file.
Certainly. But the point of Ask Slashdot is that now others can read the answers too and learn something new, even if they were not searching for an answer to that particular problem at the time.
Exactly, great response. I was thinking of taking my systems which are currently hosted at a colo several miles away and putting them in my office here, which is hosted off of cable (was thinking of moving to DSL possibly) and now I know that if I do move my systems, I may begin to encounter problems sending to free mail systems, and I'll know how to handle the situation if it does happen.
Ask Slashdot often brings up interesting questions that are not always terribly important, but interesting nonetheless, and helpful sometimes to several people who may be dealing with the same issue at the same time, or may be in the future.