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User: Gareman

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Comments · 78

  1. Because? on Best Buy Unapologetic About Charging For PS3 Firmware Updates · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Are you appalled by the charging or the ignorance? The entire IT service industry works on this principle.

  2. The new game is the old game on Frustration and Unhappiness In the Games Industry · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You have the same problem in the venerable table top game industry: people (fans really) willing to work irrationally hard for the chance to be close to their hobby without commensurate compensation. When the industry begins to fade, and it's clear what they do is actually work, there is inevitable disillusionment. What's the solution? Also like the tabletop gaming industry, economics is telling us there are too many companies. Yes, fans want an enormous selection, but the business model is unsustainable. However, also like the tabletop gaming industry, there will always be some shmoe willing to work for a buck an hour for the chance to be a game developer. Smart people, those who can do anything else, those that don't see games as a calling, would be wise to flee.

  3. Re:Geez, mainstream settings in the news on Dungeons and Shadows · · Score: 1

    The deluxe edition also contains the Tri-Stat rules.

  4. Re:Quote from TFA on The Death of the Floppy Disk · · Score: 1

    Also don't forget the built-in ASR (Automatic System Recovery) option in Windows 2003 Server. Pop in the bootable floppy, insert the backup tape, and thirty minutes later you've got a fully restored server.

  5. RAID5 on Which RAID for a Personal Fileserver? · · Score: 1
    I'm running Redhat ES3 on my home mail/DNS server using a 3Ware RAID card, Exabyte 3-disk hard drive enclosure, running hardware RAID5. It's easy to set up and manage and provides the best performance vs. fault tolerance. The down side is that the enclosure has a rather loud fan, something you won't be able to avoid with an enclosure.

    The noise alternative is probably software raid-1, since you probably don't need extra cooling for only two hard drives. I have this as the configuration of my second server, running Windows 2003.

  6. Re:I also hear... on Videogame Character Threatens National Security? · · Score: 1

    As everyone knows, our real enemy is the Brotherhood of Nod (BoN).

  7. Re:Knowledge is *hard* on Why PHBs Fear Linux · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I started by studying for the Linux+ certification. It's supposed to be equivalent to what an admin would know after 6 months. I started knowing nothing, passed my exam, and now I've run Linux at home as my mail, web, and file server for over a year. I'm probably little more than an "instruction-manual-following monkey" but that's what happens when you don't know anyone who uses Linux and your Microsoft certified friends advise you against it.

    And yes, when things break, there's some flagellation, especially if it breaks X, but I've usually been able to recover through basic troubleshooting I've learned in the Windows world.

    As an MCSE with some Linux experience, do I recommend Linux to my bosses? Sure, but with many caveats, including buying commercial versions with commercial support and understanding what role Linux can play in an organization -- usually not as a Microsoft replacement.

    My advice is to stop making Linux the "elite" operating system. If an "instruction-manual-following monkey" can get the system up and doing what it's supposed to, mission accomplished.

  8. Re:Good idea !!! on Always Look on the Bright Side of Life · · Score: 1
    Correct, it is in the Conjuration school but only available as a Divine spell, as opposed to Arcane. I.e., it is reserved for divine spellcasters like clerics and druids.



    Now if you want to debate schools, is the "Jesus Walk on Water" spell Conjuration or Transmutation? Yes, a difficult question indeed.

  9. Re:Good idea !!! on Always Look on the Bright Side of Life · · Score: 1

    The Sage has determined that the "Jesus' Blood to Wine" spell is to be errated. It's now a 3rd level divine spell with the material component of a loaf of bread and it's been decided that it does not work inside a creature's body. According to the D20 license, the spell is to be referred to in licensed products as "Blood to Wine," losing the signature spell moniker.

  10. Re:you steal when you download copyrighted materia on Hollywood's Foundations Rest on Piracy · · Score: 3, Insightful
    You're confusing your own moral definition with a legal definition. It's not theft because nobody is being deprived of the stuff in question. Your recording music doesn't deprive me of that record.

    Another question for you. Is it theft if I record and pass around episodes of Firefly, if they're not available any other way? Does that same action become or remain theft when the Firefly DVD is released?

    How about this: If you make copies and pass around the Firefly DVD, because it was being sold for $1,000,000, and you and your friends had no possiblity of ever buying it, is it still theft?

  11. Re:Damn. on US Govt Makes Times New Roman 14 Official Font · · Score: 1

    We now call it "Deeper Darkness." Deeper Darkness Evocation [Darkness] Level: Clr 3 Duration: One day/level (D) This spell functions like darkness, except that the object radiates shadowy illumination in a 60-foot radius and the darkness lasts longer. Daylight brought into an area of deeper darkness (or vice versa) is temporarily negated, so that the otherwise prevailing light conditions exist in the overlapping areas of effect. Deeper darkness counters and dispels any light spell of equal or lower level, including daylight and light.

  12. Re:This is not news on East vs. West: Culture and Distributed Development · · Score: 0

    Asian religion is not the issue here, the Chinese are communists and reject "traditional" religious values, unless the values serve their order. Many liberal Western Buddhists are shocked to discover that their newly adopted religious tradition comes out against abortion (Japanese, Tibetan and Indian Buddhism).

  13. Re:No way. on Bangalore Beats Silicon Valley · · Score: 1

    It's relative, but Silicon Valley salaries were generally about 20% higher than San Francisco, which was about 20% higher than the SF Bay Area in general. I remember having to make those choices....

  14. Re:Yeah But We WON on The Best and Worst Technologies of 2003? · · Score: 1

    WMD's were the excuse and not the primary reason? When Dean is elected, it will be because people are pissed off that WMD's were the excuse and not the primary reason. Every time I hear stuff like this I send him a check.

  15. Re:Good articles on Dispelling the IPv4 Address Shortage Myth · · Score: 1

    You don't even need professional grade equipment. My lame-o $99 Dlink firewall/WAP/switch can do port mapping. I've got one "real" IP address with the ports mapped to two internal addresses for mail/ssl (one server) and web/ftp (another server).

  16. Re:Pakistan on Satellites Used to Stop Car Thieves in Pakistan · · Score: 1
    The car appears to be invented in France: http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aacarsst eama.htm

    But yeah, my car has a 5-speed manual, as did the car I had before it. I chose it for performance reasons.

  17. Pakistan on Satellites Used to Stop Car Thieves in Pakistan · · Score: 3, Funny
    Never rent a car in pakistan.

    You've been reminded.

  18. Re:I wait until... on Patching Paranoia - How Fast Do You Patch? · · Score: 1

    Actually, you're wrong. There was some SSL based corruption that prevented webmail and other services from running. As I thought I had a perfectly good backup, I tried trouble-shooting for a bit, tried an upgrade to RH9 from RH8 (which failed) and decided on a restore. As I mentioned, the tape software couldn't catalog tapes from a bare metal install, so it was a loss.

  19. Re:Good thing I brought my trolling rig. on Patching Paranoia - How Fast Do You Patch? · · Score: 1
    Thanks. Mondo looks hopeful:

    http://www.microwerks.net/~hugo/download/contribut e.html#rht9

    I'm blaming the failure on not fully understanding the limited capabilities of the Linux backup software I was using (Arkeia Light).

  20. Re:I wait until... / Sounds Like on Patching Paranoia - How Fast Do You Patch? · · Score: 1

    It's a home web server. My wife would fire me.

  21. Re:I wait until... on Patching Paranoia - How Fast Do You Patch? · · Score: 2, Informative
    I happily installed all the latest patches for my Redhat 8 box until one day, several months ago, on reboot (a kernel update), the box was totally hosed. It wasn't the kernel, but was likely caused by one of the dozens of small patches that were installed over the months. That was a troubleshooting nightmare that ended in a failed restoration from tape (the freeware version of my Linux tape software didn't know how to "catalog" tapes).

    Not to play favorites, my Windows 2003 server recently crashed and burned after a patching incident, requiring a full re-install. Luckily it only took a couple of hours with the ASR disk and DLT tape. Try doing that with Linux. BTW, the 2003 box was a replacement for that RH8 server....

  22. Re:Quick fix at the firewall on Patching Paranoia - How Fast Do You Patch? · · Score: 1

    Ditto on this. I'm working on a centralized personal firewall project as we speak. Zone Labs Integrity. Protect the notebooks with centralized policies or they'll inject malware onto your network.

  23. Re:Why exchange? on Exchange 2003 vs. Sendmail Mail Routing? · · Score: 1

    Remember that you must manually distribute your Global Catalogs to other DC's. By default, your GC is a single-point of failure unless you do this. This may account for the GC as SPF theory, as it certainly bit me in the early days of W2K.

  24. You book you want to read... on Pirate Hunter · · Score: 1
    You book you want to read is "Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life among the Pirates." This book discusses the reality of pirates.

    The reality is that pirates were most often very bad people who murdered and tortured anyone who did not give up without a fight. Some people had no choice of becoming a pirate, facing death. They were executed nontheless when caught. Other people were sanctioned by their government to be pirates; they were called privatees. Most pirates were ex navy men looking for adventure, easy money, and an egalitarian form of leadership. Pirate ships often had direct democracy, while naval ships had brutal dictatorships (the captain). Also, as pirate ships were often crewed by ten times the number of naval vessels, due to economic constraints, life was sifnificantly easier.

  25. Re:Which goes to show you... on Cringely on Identity Theft · · Score: 1

    While investigating my recent identity theft, I tracked my problem back to the local post office. THe mail carrier was requesting credit cards in my name, claiming them to be lost, and then intercepting the mail. They dismissed him.