Skimming TFA, it looks like the guy in question is mainly an XBox user, though there was mention of a Gamecube for "makeup frags".
I'd be curious to see a study done comparing the console of choice of a person versus the priority they give the console over their SO. I think a lot of it would have to do with having games that both people can enjoy without having to go too far into the realm of gaming that one person likes but the other doesn't (i.e., she likes the Sims, he likes Halo, they both like Soul Calibur.)
I would bet that users of the Gamecube would have a smaller percentages of those who put games over girls, as the 'Cube has a lot of games that are "female friendly" (if I may use the term,) and so the guy can get a girl to play games, thus not sacrificing time with her.
The PS2 would probably come next, followed by the XBox in dead last (or would that be first?)
Handhelds would be another matter. They don't chain anyone to their living room or bedroom, and now with things like NiFi and the Wireless Adaptor (GBA), it's easier than ever to have couples playing with (or against) each other.
I'm one of those people who always brings their laptop to class. The only classes that I don't take it to are math classes, or classes where it's not allowed (which is almost unheard of.) I even bring it to classes like Physics.
The main purpose is notes, but as the term goes on, it takes on a whole other secondary purpose: Giving me a reason to be there. Frankly, 75% of the professors I've had so far in college (I'm in my second half the junior year) are dull, read off slides, don't know what the hell they're talking about, or are incomprehensible. However, most don't tell me when tests/quizes/homework will be ahead of time, so I go to class to make sure I know. While in class, I either work ahead in the book, do homework, or browse the internet. I once played Half-Life during Chemistry.
There's no reason for me to do otherwise. Either the professors have such high curves that I don't actually need to learn the material to pass, the book gives me all the info I need so the professor is useless, or the professor is actually good and I am actually taking notes. The presence of my laptop generally has little to do with my overall grade, regardless if I use it to take notes or not, but the level of the professor has a profound effect.
When I see stories like these now, I just ignore what they say. Everyone predicts everything, and, even if they're right, it doesn't affect me, because I'll be getting a Revolution, thankyouverymuch.
Nintendo has, for a couple of generations now, been the runner up in the console wars, as far as pure sales go. But, despite this, they continue to work on their product (turning a handsome profit at the same time,) and continue putting out fun, ingenious games that I enjoy.
Plus, if it does have a smaller fanbase, that means that those who do have a Revolution are more likely the kind of players I would prefer to associate with- those who want great gameplay mechanics with nice graphics, not extreme realism with bouncing breasts (it should be noted that these are not always mutually exclusive.)
So go ahead, you mindless media whores, parade your predictions and "analysis". I'll be saving my pennies to buy a Revolution the day it comes out, no matter what you say.
I will agree that most of Nintendo's games are rated E, but I wouldn't say they're primarily for children. Don't let the cute creatues disuade you from the fun gameplay that can be had.
And even then, Nintendo is starting to grow up. SSB:M was rated T, as will be Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (IIRC).
But you're ignoring a core fact: Nintendo isn't the only one making games for their system. Yes, the Gamecube does lack some 3rd party support, but it's still there. There are plenty of great adult games: Eternal Darkness, Goldeneye, Resident Evil, the list goes on.
Sony and Microsoft don't even make their own games; they just live off the consoles and liscensing.
I was leaning harder on Sony than the XBox. The "Lean Mean Sony..." comment was meant to be a sarcastic plus, in that it reminds me (and others) of the George Foreman grill, which is also where the burger comment came from.
Where to start. Im guessing your pro sony eh? Why cant we all just get along. Now, let me correct your either fan-boyism or ignorance, not sure which it is...
I am rolling on the floor here. Seriously. Big, shit-eating grin and everything.
I'm a full-blown Nintendo fanboy. While I don't really hate Sony or Microsoft, it would take a lot for me to get a system from either company. My initial post was trying to compare the three consoles with basic good/bad snippets, but with as little fanboyism as possible. I made sure to have some negative points for the Revolution (there are some, though most of the ones brought forth I don't care about, like HDTV compatibility), but I still listed it in a better light (at least, I thought) than the other two.
You apparently stopped reading after my Revolution listing, or you would have seen in the next paragraph that I plan to get a Revolution and to buy as little Sony merchandise as possible, if any.
Sony fanboy... Again, thanks for the great laugh (and longwidned reply).:)
Yeah, that can be a problem. It would be nice if they have some sort of "trade in" system, where you send in a cart and get a voucher good for the game download.
For people who have owned games in the past, but don't own them now, most will probably be more than happy to rebuy their favorite games, especially if they only cost a few dollars.
Even so, it's still better than just offering Gamecube compatibility.
One way this could work is if they had a card system, like iTunes, where you can purchase "credit" for game downloads from various game/electronic/etc. stores. Then, all you'd need to do is find a place that will give you credit for older games and that stocks the cards, or a place that gives you cash, and then you use the cash to buy the cards.
Thinking about it now, that would work out pretty well for everyone.
Yeah, I forgot the hard drive. I also forgot to mention that the Revolution will be the cheapest (though if Microsoft works it, they might be able to get the XBox 360 down to the price of a Revolution by the time it comes out.)
Adding things to the controller isn't new, but Nintendo aims for an entirely different type of attachment. Yes, there are things like light guns, steering wheels, dance pads, and microphones, but what Nintendo is doing is different; Adding a handle and hand guard can turn it into the hilt of a sword, or any number of various gun pieces could be attached to it.
The main thing is that all of the afformentioned perhipherals (dance pad, light gun, etc.) are used to replace the controller, but with the remote controller, you don't replace it, just attach something to it.
Sony - Playstation 3 (confirmed name) +Blu-ray drive +Lean Mean Sony Company Gaming Machine look +Backwards compatible with PS2/PS1 games +Games: Final Fantasy series, GTA series (first serve, anyway) -Lock out technology to make sure that when a review says a game has no replay value, that means no one else can replay it, either -Probably makes lousy burgers -Expensive -Same old controllers
Microsoft - XBox 360 (confirmed name) +First to launch +XBox Live features +Games: Halo,... Halo. +It's white? -Plain old DVD drive (no advanced drive- what is their's, HD-DVD?) -Only partial backwards compatibility -Same old controllers
Nintendo - Revolution (tentative name) +Smallest of the three systems +Innovative, new controller interface +Backwards compatibility for the past 20 years +Ability for controller attachments greatly increases game immersion and developer freedom +Games: Zelda, Mario, Smash Brothers, Metroid -Regular DVD drive -Lack of HDTV support (IIRC, it has high resolution, but not HDTV) -Arms or wrists could wear out faster than after a "session" with certain Pamela Anderson videos (this remains to be seen) -Ability for controller attachments could overwhelm people who get 15 different types (there are already two "official" regular attachments- the Ninchuck and the shell)
Personally, I was leaning towards a Revolution when they first revealed the console, and I'm hard set on it now that I know about the controller. Sony's attempts at similar "prevention" in other technology realms ("P.C. phone home") helps make my mind up. Sony can keep their anti-customer DRM and Spider-man font. They won't get another cent from me.
which cannot be explained through any other theory other than evolution eveloution is as much a scientific fact as any other scientific theory.
Just because you have one possible explanation does not mean you should focus on that one until it becomes proven fact. Also, as pointed out in another reply to my initial post, I was using a generic definition of theory, rather than a scientific, which changes matters considerably.
Give me a break. You are a dyslexic creationist.
I did not contradict myself. I said that ID/Creationism has little scientific support, but that I believe in evolution from creationism. There's a vast difference between the two.
Deep down inside you are a simple populist. I am disgusted. You are no better than the ID people, IMO. Care to divulge the process involved in god's "nudging's"? Or is it one of those "magic" things god can do but no one gets to see it, prove it, etc. etc. etc. Ughhh.
The thing about belief is that it doesn't require fact. I don't know what process, if any, was used under my belief. You can call it magic, if you like, but that's what I believe. I'm not going to try to force it on you or anyone else, so I'm not sure why you seem to be in a huff about it.
Parent is right, and this is from personal experience.
Noone that I know would describe me as a rebel, but my high school principal apparently saw me as such at one point. I was in a "Film in Literature" class, where we watched a lot of movies applied various lessons like you would literature. The teacher for the class was big into underlying, useless philosophy, which made up for a big portion of the tests.
I am a critical thinker, but I just had no idea where she was pulling some of this crap. While the other students regurgitated her every word, I tried to come up with my own answers for her philosophy bull crap. At one point, I got so frusturated because of the useless BS of it all that I wrote a small note at the end of the paper. All I really said was that I thought that focusing on this kind of stuff so much in a class, especially when all interpretations have to match one answer, is useless.
Two days later I got called to the principal's office and was threatened with expulsion if I did it again. I didn't (my GPA was already messed up due to bad choices in my Freshman year), but that just made me hate it all the more.
(One of the questions, in reference to the movie "Shawshank Redepmtion" was "Why is the truck that Red rides at the end of the movie red?" My answer: "Because Red is the one riding it, or it was the first truck of that kind they could get their hands on." Not everything has an underlying ideal.)
To reinforce this, it was explained to me that the original translation of the Bible was not necessarily " days", but "periods of my Father" (referring to God) and the like. So, when you consider that Genisis originally stated that it was seven periods of time (length undetermined) instead of seven days, then it doesn't seem that odd that the Vatican would support evolution.
As the son of a pastor, I am very dissappointed in this decision.
I'm no scientist, and I don't have any deep knowledge of evolution and the proof and theory behind it (at least that hasn't stuck with me from 10th grade biology,) but to my knowledge, evolution has deep scientific background, despite not being a proven fact.
In an alternative vein, Intelligent Design/Creationism does have a few specs here and there that support it, but not nearly enough that would indicate the theory without some religious notion already in place.
I am a big contendor of the seperation of church and state. I believe that anyone, religious or otherwise, should be. Why? While Christianity may be the leading religion in America right now, people should think about how it could be if Islam or other religions were the mainstream, and how their beliefs could affect Christians in that kind of world. Just as I don't want to follow their beliefs, I should not try to make them follow mine. This goes with atheism, too.
If there is another scientifically backed theory that states an alternative progression of life, then it should be taught alongside evolution. Intelligent Design is not that theory, and this "Board of Education" is using personal presumptions and beliefs to affect the education of thousands of children, many of whom will probably go on to perpetuate this.
And redefining science? That's just ludicrous. Next, they should redefine math to remove all calculus and algebra; this will make it easier for these children to pass standardized tests after going through a lackluster education.
And people wonder why America is looked down upon these days. Boo to you, Kansas. Boo to you.
(For the record, I believe in a mix of creationism and evolution; God created stuff, and evolution happened, with God nudging it here and there.)
I went around work installing the program when it first came out, despite setting restrictive rights and other such software on the computers (before I came on, many of the users had admin access when they didn't need it, mainly because some of the software they had purchased was worth shit, and the guy before me didn't want to bother setting things up correctly.)
While Microsoft AntiSpyware wasn't a catch-all (neither were the other two programs I used in conjunction with it,) it worked out well. Whereas Ad-aware would give you a long listing of individual files with sometimes-useful information if you double clicked on an item, MAS would list the various programs (clumping the files together) and give a threat level, the main things they do (both good and bad) and a few other small tidbits. It's enough information that a regular user would be able to figure out what to do without being overwhelmed.
I have it on my own Windows machines (though I almost never have to run it myself.)
However, as has been pointed out, this shouldn't be shipping with Vista. With Linux coming to the forelight, and Macs becoming cheaper, Microsoft should know that they can't do the "There are only 1000 holes instead of 5000, it will be fine" thing they've loved to do in the past. Vista should be secure enough to not need this kind of thing, or it just shows that Microsoft would prefer to pretty up the OS some more and give us the same crap in a different box for another $300 than to actually strive ahead.
It's been a while since I've taken science or horticulture, but don't trees absorb CO2 and change it into ocygen? You know, that stuff we breathe.
If we are able to seperate the excess CO2 out like that, what about taking it into a forest and releasing it there? Or would the overabundance kill the trees?
Maybe capture it all and store it up, then launch it to Mars with some planting robots. Have the robots plant seeds (for plants that can withstand varying climates) in the ground, have some water to water the seeds, and slowly release the CO2 around the plants. The beginning of terraforming, maybe?
Initially, I thought this was because lawmakers wanted to stop criminals by forcing secure networks. This would be akin to fining me if my car was stolen and I had left it unlocked. The criminals are going to be criminals, and punishing the common man for the criminals isn't going to stop them. In most cases, companies will set up the bare necessities to meet the law (should it be enacted), which probably won't be enough to stop someone who really wants to get in.
However, after RTFA, it seems there's an ulterior motive: without it, "somebody parked in the street or sitting in a neighboring building could hack into the network and steal your most confidential data," County Executive Andy Spano said in a statement.
While I appreciate the government looking to protect my identity (though this is more likely about corporations), this is the wrong way to go about it, considering the average level of technical knowledge in this country. (I don't know how that compares with the average level of technical knowledge in Westchester County.)
Programs should be set up to inform the public; perhaps require (and help pay for) documents to be included in wireless access points that warn about the dangers of unprotected networks, as well as detailed instructions of how to enable various protection schemes.
I've figured out Microsoft's hidden motto: "Try not to give the customer what they want."
If they just spread rumors and hyped media bullshit, I wouldn't be terribly surprised, but knowingly limiting the number of consoles available? Maybe they're banking that what happened with the PS2 will happen with them, but they seem to miss a lot of why the PS2 is as it is now.
To ensure an immediate "sellout" of the Xbox 360 on launch day
That could be one way to look at it. Another is that even Microsoft doesn't think they'd be able to sell out in higher quantities.
Slashdot Mirror
Hmm. Tape takes care of DRM...
String solved overheating problems...
Does Staples or Office Depot sell stock? I have a feeling they could help me become very rich, soon...
Skimming TFA, it looks like the guy in question is mainly an XBox user, though there was mention of a Gamecube for "makeup frags".
I'd be curious to see a study done comparing the console of choice of a person versus the priority they give the console over their SO. I think a lot of it would have to do with having games that both people can enjoy without having to go too far into the realm of gaming that one person likes but the other doesn't (i.e., she likes the Sims, he likes Halo, they both like Soul Calibur.)
I would bet that users of the Gamecube would have a smaller percentages of those who put games over girls, as the 'Cube has a lot of games that are "female friendly" (if I may use the term,) and so the guy can get a girl to play games, thus not sacrificing time with her.
The PS2 would probably come next, followed by the XBox in dead last (or would that be first?)
Handhelds would be another matter. They don't chain anyone to their living room or bedroom, and now with things like NiFi and the Wireless Adaptor (GBA), it's easier than ever to have couples playing with (or against) each other.
Man, that's not only cool, it's OSEM.
I'm one of those people who always brings their laptop to class. The only classes that I don't take it to are math classes, or classes where it's not allowed (which is almost unheard of.) I even bring it to classes like Physics.
The main purpose is notes, but as the term goes on, it takes on a whole other secondary purpose: Giving me a reason to be there. Frankly, 75% of the professors I've had so far in college (I'm in my second half the junior year) are dull, read off slides, don't know what the hell they're talking about, or are incomprehensible. However, most don't tell me when tests/quizes/homework will be ahead of time, so I go to class to make sure I know. While in class, I either work ahead in the book, do homework, or browse the internet. I once played Half-Life during Chemistry.
There's no reason for me to do otherwise. Either the professors have such high curves that I don't actually need to learn the material to pass, the book gives me all the info I need so the professor is useless, or the professor is actually good and I am actually taking notes. The presence of my laptop generally has little to do with my overall grade, regardless if I use it to take notes or not, but the level of the professor has a profound effect.
When I see stories like these now, I just ignore what they say. Everyone predicts everything, and, even if they're right, it doesn't affect me, because I'll be getting a Revolution, thankyouverymuch.
Nintendo has, for a couple of generations now, been the runner up in the console wars, as far as pure sales go. But, despite this, they continue to work on their product (turning a handsome profit at the same time,) and continue putting out fun, ingenious games that I enjoy.
Plus, if it does have a smaller fanbase, that means that those who do have a Revolution are more likely the kind of players I would prefer to associate with- those who want great gameplay mechanics with nice graphics, not extreme realism with bouncing breasts (it should be noted that these are not always mutually exclusive.)
So go ahead, you mindless media whores, parade your predictions and "analysis". I'll be saving my pennies to buy a Revolution the day it comes out, no matter what you say.
I will agree that most of Nintendo's games are rated E, but I wouldn't say they're primarily for children. Don't let the cute creatues disuade you from the fun gameplay that can be had.
And even then, Nintendo is starting to grow up. SSB:M was rated T, as will be Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (IIRC).
But you're ignoring a core fact: Nintendo isn't the only one making games for their system. Yes, the Gamecube does lack some 3rd party support, but it's still there. There are plenty of great adult games: Eternal Darkness, Goldeneye, Resident Evil, the list goes on.
Sony and Microsoft don't even make their own games; they just live off the consoles and liscensing.
I was leaning harder on Sony than the XBox. The "Lean Mean Sony..." comment was meant to be a sarcastic plus, in that it reminds me (and others) of the George Foreman grill, which is also where the burger comment came from.
I also forgot to mention the batarang controller.
So forgetful...
Where to start. Im guessing your pro sony eh? Why cant we all just get along. Now, let me correct your either fan-boyism or ignorance, not sure which it is...
:)
I am rolling on the floor here. Seriously. Big, shit-eating grin and everything.
I'm a full-blown Nintendo fanboy. While I don't really hate Sony or Microsoft, it would take a lot for me to get a system from either company. My initial post was trying to compare the three consoles with basic good/bad snippets, but with as little fanboyism as possible. I made sure to have some negative points for the Revolution (there are some, though most of the ones brought forth I don't care about, like HDTV compatibility), but I still listed it in a better light (at least, I thought) than the other two.
You apparently stopped reading after my Revolution listing, or you would have seen in the next paragraph that I plan to get a Revolution and to buy as little Sony merchandise as possible, if any.
Sony fanboy... Again, thanks for the great laugh (and longwidned reply).
Yeah, that can be a problem. It would be nice if they have some sort of "trade in" system, where you send in a cart and get a voucher good for the game download.
For people who have owned games in the past, but don't own them now, most will probably be more than happy to rebuy their favorite games, especially if they only cost a few dollars.
Even so, it's still better than just offering Gamecube compatibility.
One way this could work is if they had a card system, like iTunes, where you can purchase "credit" for game downloads from various game/electronic/etc. stores. Then, all you'd need to do is find a place that will give you credit for older games and that stocks the cards, or a place that gives you cash, and then you use the cash to buy the cards.
Thinking about it now, that would work out pretty well for everyone.
Yeah, I forgot the hard drive. I also forgot to mention that the Revolution will be the cheapest (though if Microsoft works it, they might be able to get the XBox 360 down to the price of a Revolution by the time it comes out.)
Adding things to the controller isn't new, but Nintendo aims for an entirely different type of attachment. Yes, there are things like light guns, steering wheels, dance pads, and microphones, but what Nintendo is doing is different; Adding a handle and hand guard can turn it into the hilt of a sword, or any number of various gun pieces could be attached to it.
The main thing is that all of the afformentioned perhipherals (dance pad, light gun, etc.) are used to replace the controller, but with the remote controller, you don't replace it, just attach something to it.
Sony - Playstation 3 (confirmed name)
... Halo.
+Blu-ray drive
+Lean Mean Sony Company Gaming Machine look
+Backwards compatible with PS2/PS1 games
+Games: Final Fantasy series, GTA series (first serve, anyway)
-Lock out technology to make sure that when a review says a game has no replay value, that means no one else can replay it, either
-Probably makes lousy burgers
-Expensive
-Same old controllers
Microsoft - XBox 360 (confirmed name)
+First to launch
+XBox Live features
+Games: Halo,
+It's white?
-Plain old DVD drive (no advanced drive- what is their's, HD-DVD?)
-Only partial backwards compatibility
-Same old controllers
Nintendo - Revolution (tentative name)
+Smallest of the three systems
+Innovative, new controller interface
+Backwards compatibility for the past 20 years
+Ability for controller attachments greatly increases game immersion and developer freedom
+Games: Zelda, Mario, Smash Brothers, Metroid
-Regular DVD drive
-Lack of HDTV support (IIRC, it has high resolution, but not HDTV)
-Arms or wrists could wear out faster than after a "session" with certain Pamela Anderson videos (this remains to be seen)
-Ability for controller attachments could overwhelm people who get 15 different types (there are already two "official" regular attachments- the Ninchuck and the shell)
Personally, I was leaning towards a Revolution when they first revealed the console, and I'm hard set on it now that I know about the controller. Sony's attempts at similar "prevention" in other technology realms ("P.C. phone home") helps make my mind up. Sony can keep their anti-customer DRM and Spider-man font. They won't get another cent from me.
which cannot be explained through any other theory other than evolution eveloution is as much a scientific fact as any other scientific theory.
Just because you have one possible explanation does not mean you should focus on that one until it becomes proven fact. Also, as pointed out in another reply to my initial post, I was using a generic definition of theory, rather than a scientific, which changes matters considerably.
Give me a break. You are a dyslexic creationist.
I did not contradict myself. I said that ID/Creationism has little scientific support, but that I believe in evolution from creationism. There's a vast difference between the two.
Deep down inside you are a simple populist. I am disgusted. You are no better than the ID people, IMO. Care to divulge the process involved in god's "nudging's"? Or is it one of those "magic" things god can do but no one gets to see it, prove it, etc. etc. etc. Ughhh.
The thing about belief is that it doesn't require fact. I don't know what process, if any, was used under my belief. You can call it magic, if you like, but that's what I believe. I'm not going to try to force it on you or anyone else, so I'm not sure why you seem to be in a huff about it.
Very good points; I was using the first definition of "theory", but the second would make more sense when discussing science.
:)
However, how has evolution been "repeatedly tested"? I would think that would be hard to do, considering.
I don't like to accept knowledge because it's "widely accepted", because, well, the Earth isn't flat.
Specifically, we are Lutheran, LCMS. (Mention ELCA to him, and he'll spout for hours.)
And, thus, I have been schooled.
Thank you. I'd mod you up, but, well, I already posted.
Parent is right, and this is from personal experience.
Noone that I know would describe me as a rebel, but my high school principal apparently saw me as such at one point. I was in a "Film in Literature" class, where we watched a lot of movies applied various lessons like you would literature. The teacher for the class was big into underlying, useless philosophy, which made up for a big portion of the tests.
I am a critical thinker, but I just had no idea where she was pulling some of this crap. While the other students regurgitated her every word, I tried to come up with my own answers for her philosophy bull crap. At one point, I got so frusturated because of the useless BS of it all that I wrote a small note at the end of the paper. All I really said was that I thought that focusing on this kind of stuff so much in a class, especially when all interpretations have to match one answer, is useless.
Two days later I got called to the principal's office and was threatened with expulsion if I did it again. I didn't (my GPA was already messed up due to bad choices in my Freshman year), but that just made me hate it all the more.
(One of the questions, in reference to the movie "Shawshank Redepmtion" was "Why is the truck that Red rides at the end of the movie red?" My answer: "Because Red is the one riding it, or it was the first truck of that kind they could get their hands on." Not everything has an underlying ideal.)
To reinforce this, it was explained to me that the original translation of the Bible was not necessarily " days", but "periods of my Father" (referring to God) and the like. So, when you consider that Genisis originally stated that it was seven periods of time (length undetermined) instead of seven days, then it doesn't seem that odd that the Vatican would support evolution.
As the son of a pastor, I am very dissappointed in this decision.
I'm no scientist, and I don't have any deep knowledge of evolution and the proof and theory behind it (at least that hasn't stuck with me from 10th grade biology,) but to my knowledge, evolution has deep scientific background, despite not being a proven fact.
In an alternative vein, Intelligent Design/Creationism does have a few specs here and there that support it, but not nearly enough that would indicate the theory without some religious notion already in place.
I am a big contendor of the seperation of church and state. I believe that anyone, religious or otherwise, should be. Why? While Christianity may be the leading religion in America right now, people should think about how it could be if Islam or other religions were the mainstream, and how their beliefs could affect Christians in that kind of world. Just as I don't want to follow their beliefs, I should not try to make them follow mine. This goes with atheism, too.
If there is another scientifically backed theory that states an alternative progression of life, then it should be taught alongside evolution. Intelligent Design is not that theory, and this "Board of Education" is using personal presumptions and beliefs to affect the education of thousands of children, many of whom will probably go on to perpetuate this.
And redefining science? That's just ludicrous. Next, they should redefine math to remove all calculus and algebra; this will make it easier for these children to pass standardized tests after going through a lackluster education.
And people wonder why America is looked down upon these days. Boo to you, Kansas. Boo to you.
(For the record, I believe in a mix of creationism and evolution; God created stuff, and evolution happened, with God nudging it here and there.)
I went around work installing the program when it first came out, despite setting restrictive rights and other such software on the computers (before I came on, many of the users had admin access when they didn't need it, mainly because some of the software they had purchased was worth shit, and the guy before me didn't want to bother setting things up correctly.)
While Microsoft AntiSpyware wasn't a catch-all (neither were the other two programs I used in conjunction with it,) it worked out well. Whereas Ad-aware would give you a long listing of individual files with sometimes-useful information if you double clicked on an item, MAS would list the various programs (clumping the files together) and give a threat level, the main things they do (both good and bad) and a few other small tidbits. It's enough information that a regular user would be able to figure out what to do without being overwhelmed.
I have it on my own Windows machines (though I almost never have to run it myself.)
However, as has been pointed out, this shouldn't be shipping with Vista. With Linux coming to the forelight, and Macs becoming cheaper, Microsoft should know that they can't do the "There are only 1000 holes instead of 5000, it will be fine" thing they've loved to do in the past. Vista should be secure enough to not need this kind of thing, or it just shows that Microsoft would prefer to pretty up the OS some more and give us the same crap in a different box for another $300 than to actually strive ahead.
Then again, that's nothing new.
They can have their paper. We'll see who gets what land when I get up there first and greet them upon their arrival with a shotgun.
Should a shotgun fail in an area with almost no atmosphere, sharp, pointy sticks will be held in reserve.
It's been a while since I've taken science or horticulture, but don't trees absorb CO2 and change it into ocygen? You know, that stuff we breathe.
If we are able to seperate the excess CO2 out like that, what about taking it into a forest and releasing it there? Or would the overabundance kill the trees?
Maybe capture it all and store it up, then launch it to Mars with some planting robots. Have the robots plant seeds (for plants that can withstand varying climates) in the ground, have some water to water the seeds, and slowly release the CO2 around the plants. The beginning of terraforming, maybe?
IANAScientist.
Initially, I thought this was because lawmakers wanted to stop criminals by forcing secure networks. This would be akin to fining me if my car was stolen and I had left it unlocked. The criminals are going to be criminals, and punishing the common man for the criminals isn't going to stop them. In most cases, companies will set up the bare necessities to meet the law (should it be enacted), which probably won't be enough to stop someone who really wants to get in.
However, after RTFA, it seems there's an ulterior motive: without it, "somebody parked in the street or sitting in a neighboring building could hack into the network and steal your most confidential data," County Executive Andy Spano said in a statement.
While I appreciate the government looking to protect my identity (though this is more likely about corporations), this is the wrong way to go about it, considering the average level of technical knowledge in this country. (I don't know how that compares with the average level of technical knowledge in Westchester County.)
Programs should be set up to inform the public; perhaps require (and help pay for) documents to be included in wireless access points that warn about the dangers of unprotected networks, as well as detailed instructions of how to enable various protection schemes.
I've figured out Microsoft's hidden motto: "Try not to give the customer what they want."
If they just spread rumors and hyped media bullshit, I wouldn't be terribly surprised, but knowingly limiting the number of consoles available? Maybe they're banking that what happened with the PS2 will happen with them, but they seem to miss a lot of why the PS2 is as it is now.
To ensure an immediate "sellout" of the Xbox 360 on launch day
That could be one way to look at it. Another is that even Microsoft doesn't think they'd be able to sell out in higher quantities.
You know what they say about countries with big telescopes...
Or was it "Countries with big telescopes are making up for something"?
This is probably the first of many such tests, but I agree: it should be tested all over.
But think of this: where else will you find people willing (and able) to pay $500 a month to test drive a car?