One security enhancement in Vista that may be complicated to use is BitLocker, which encrypts the contents of a hard drive so that a stolen laptop can't become a source of pilfered intellectual property. BitLocker's policy of looking for changes in a PC's Basic Input/Output System--the code run by a computer every time it's booted up--may occasionally activate the shutdown mechanism when it isn't needed; for instance, after a systems administrator has upgraded the hard drive. BitLocker "is a very good idea," says the University of Florida's Schmidt. "But it can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing."
Let's see, you upgrade the hard drive and since the BIOS detects the hard drive has been changed you can no longer access the info on the hard drive. Man that BitLocker is amazing, who would of thought putting a completely different drive in the PC wouldn't let you access the same data!;)
Disclaimer: I come from a history of Ultima Online, Chesapeake shard, pre-everything.
How are the political boundaries going to be maintained? Player run towns in UO were not territories, even when they brought in the Faction wars for territory it still didn't mean a particular faction was actually currently holding any land with bodies. (Abyss factions were much better) I've been through the days when someone would get their key looted and you'd come home to an empty house. (and even earlier when it meant they now owned your house) I've had wars with PKs and griefers on my doorstep, and cursed them every time. I've solo'd Faction sigils with GM hiding and not much else, half the time they were totally undefended. I miss fighting against an intelligent enemy, damn Trammel to hell.
So how do you gain and keep territory? Who gives the marching orders for the entire world? Who determines where the border is from day to day and minute to minute, and how does the player find out it needs to be patrolled or their side will lose territory? How can I be part of a world changing side in this fight? And if it's on my doorstep, will I want to give up playing because it's unbalanced?
this has been a rant from the former Mayor of Oberon Pass, DogMeat [MoO]
So far I've gotten 6 PS2 titles and 10 DSLite titles, most of the PS2 games are used family/party style games while the DSLite's are new games aimed squarely at the two kids. Lets not forget the 3 controllers (one of which replaces a broken one) and the adapter to use all four at once. I can't wait to whip up on the family in some PS2 Twisted Metal Black! Now if I could only find Backyard Hockey 2005 for the PS2 I'd be happy, the kids don't want to play NHL 2007
I had a version of GnuCash running on windows like 4 years ago, but last year I went to go find a Win port and was unsuccessful, now making me doubt I ever had one in the first place. I'd definitely love to have a windows port if anyone knows of one!
What about a networked game locally of Nethack? My daughter's computer is an old piece of junk, and I've been looking for games we can network together. Of course I'd want a GUI frontend like Falcon's Eye, but for the server I can put it on either Linux or Windows.
What was up with the spooky white face that every so often would appear in the center of the screen and get larger while screaming at you? That thing scared the hell out of me, especially since it seemed to have no connection to anything going on in the damn game.
Thanks for pointing Deep Freeze out, I couldn't remember the name of it but it's definitely the way to go! If I could get my corp to buy it I'd be much happier, Active Directory policies don't help when they give everyone admin rights to their own computer.
In all these articles I've never seen anything about an actual "Game" within Second Life. Even the SL site vaguely mentions users creating games for other users. What the hell is there to do besides build and trade stuff? Are there any RPG areas? Can I work with my daughter on developing a graphical MUD like mini game within SL? I want the functionality of the old BBS Door game Cyberspace, for a buggy piece of crap it was open ended and fun.
I've got a MSI mobo (K7N2G-ILSR) that for some odd reason requires the DDO from Western Digital to be loaded to see my full 250GB. Since Vista replaces the boot sector with a new one it trashed the DDO and only showed the drive as around 32GB.:( I sure didn't expect it, especially since XP plays nicely with DDO. I think I'll wait for a new computer before trying it again.
They have these at GameWorks here in Michigan, my kids got hooked on them for a few hours. It basically boiled down to Rock Paper Scissors, with the cards allowing some kind of modifier to the "move" you did.
Even worse under Microsoft Virtual Server/Virtual PC, it emulates a Soundblaster 16 ISA card. Since Vista has no ISA support all I get while testing is the nasty system beep.
I've got a MSI mobo (K7N2G-ILSR) that for some odd reason requires the DDO from Western Digital to be loaded to see my full 250GB. Since Vista replaces the boot sector with a new one it trashed the DDO and only showed the drive as around 32GB.:( I think I'll wait for a new computer before trying it again.
I hate to say it, but I'm a Comcast subscriber. When I moved recently I checked into WOW, and while it is available in the city I live in, the apartment complex itself still has a contract with Comcast for another 5+ years. I had signed up for a new agreement with Comcast and got 6 months of cable internet for 19.95 for six months, when I moved they said this would still apply. Wrong, during the 3 days of calling to get my cable modem actually working I had to get the "flag" put back on my account every time.
During the move I had upgraded to an HDR box from Basic and also to their "Speed Tier" of 8M/768K for no extra charge, when a week after the install I found my speed had dropped to 6M/256K I called to bitch and they had once again lost my "discount flag" and were charging me full price for the Internet. Then I get my first bill and guess what, $70+ bucks just for the Internet portion. Their accounts department gave me a hassle over the $19.95 for Speed Tier but gave in and credited my account, while assuring me this time the flag would stay. Also had to go turn in my new out of the box modem for a DOCSIS 2.x compatible one in order to get their "Speed Boost", just because the contractor gave me whatever he had on his truck.
Second bill, same problem, called in and told them to fix it now, which they did. Third bill, same damn thing, at least this time they fixed it after only one 10 minute call instead of the usual hour holding and 20 mins getting the whole situation thru the account execs head. They once again assured me it's all fixed, but I'm sure I'll be calling this month.
The movie was decent, but the best thing about the DVD was the documentary about the area. Some things I recall: Film of family members (mostly women) following the police as they led a suspect up the hill, then down again, in order to stop the police from beating the hell out of the guy. Shots of the "gun vault" of confiscated weapons, seems to go on forever. Plus a ton of great info on how the gangs got started, some of them as idealist organizations in prison, and how those ideals now play out in the real world. (like the woman who says she tells her local gang she needs medicine for a kid, and soon after she has it) Interviews with a woman who travels/works somewhere around 22 hours a day. On the police side of things, lets not forget them showing off their assault weapons, the only ones used by a domestic police force anywhere (their words not mine) and their constant urban warfare. So watch the movie, but definitely don't forget to watch the docu! Jonah HEX
OK, I admit it, I stopped playing AD&D back when we still used the 2.0 editions with Unearthed Arcana. Our little group had no time to learn 3, and our DM moved to the middle of nowhere. So who or what are the Warforged? Do the pretty pictures in the article showing some iron golem like being and some mysterious red-eyed creature represent this race? Would an old AD&D fan like myself with only a few hours a week to spare actually like DDO?
GroupBar: I love this product, especially once I started playing around with some of the options. Why the current Windows taskbar doesn't incorporate all these functions is beyond me. Note: there is no shortcut created anywhere by the installer, go into \program files\microsoft research\groupbar and run from there.
The basic concept is that through simple drag-and-drop operations on window tiles within the bar, users can create lightweight, transient grouping relationships that allow them to perform certain higher-level window layout functions on multiple windows at once. In addition, windows and groups in the GroupBar can be persisted in a "Snapshot" which attempts to remember the position and contents of each window in a way that allows the Snapshot to be recreated at a later time, even if the windows have been rearranged or closed.
Scalable Fabric: I found this is the more interesting approach, however it's a buggy implementation and only good for playing around with.
Scalable fabric is a window management system that offers an alternative approach to windows minimization. First, it shrinks windows when minimized, rather than iconifying them. Shrunk windows keep updating; this allows users to monitor minimized windows for visible changes or notifications. Second, scalable fabric allows users to place shrunk windows in 2D space, very much like non-minimized windows.
I just love this little guy, an ant/bee like society and a deadly weapon!
It is thought that when the bubble implodes a very small region momentarily reaches temperatures of several thousand kelvins, comparable to the temperature of the outer layer of the Sun.
As a side note, Harlan met his wife in Ultima Online, married her in the game, and then eventually married her in real life.
As a former Chesapeake player (DogMeat[MoO] of Oberon Pass) I can just see the scenario...
Do you take this woodelf to be your... PKs!!1! Recall1111 Corp Por Corp Por Corp Por Oooo ooooo oo oo ooooooooo ooooo ooooo Translation: I'm going to do something about this!
I've run into many problems with end-users who cannot read even large or extra-large fonts at 1024x768, while they do fine at 800x600 with normal fonts. Yes they are older folks, and sure they are stuck using a 14" monitor, but like most small to medium size businesses they simply cannot find the funds to get something larger. Price for even replacing a 14" with say a 21" is a major concern, and most of the older monitors out there are not going to handle anything over 1280x1024. I've seen companies replace computers 2 or 3 times while keeping the same old monitors, only replacing them when they die.
I second this, I've been using flame to fix plastics for many years. A few words of caution: Be sure and use a "clean" burning flame, most pocket lighters, etc have impurities that can leave residue behind. Definitely do not use a candle. The best method I've found is to lay the object flat and pass the flame over it (as mentioned in parent), as opposed to holding the object above the flame. Since the majority of the heat (and any burning impurities) are rising upwards this gives a more even melt with less chance of excessive melting.
Slashdot Mirror
Check out Microsoft Forum Network http://www.msfn.org/ for more do-it-yourself guides and forums dedicated to pre-building customized CDs/DVDs.
Jonah HEX
So what's the point of using a reg.exe from the NT 4.0 resource kit? Rename a self extracting zip to reg.exe?
In short, don't play with strange links posted by anonymous cowards...
Jonah HEX
I'll bite, how the hell do they use bees? I barely have time to read /. at work, no time to watch the Daily Show at home.
Jonah HEX
Jonah Hex
Disclaimer: I come from a history of Ultima Online, Chesapeake shard, pre-everything.
How are the political boundaries going to be maintained? Player run towns in UO were not territories, even when they brought in the Faction wars for territory it still didn't mean a particular faction was actually currently holding any land with bodies. (Abyss factions were much better) I've been through the days when someone would get their key looted and you'd come home to an empty house. (and even earlier when it meant they now owned your house) I've had wars with PKs and griefers on my doorstep, and cursed them every time. I've solo'd Faction sigils with GM hiding and not much else, half the time they were totally undefended. I miss fighting against an intelligent enemy, damn Trammel to hell.
So how do you gain and keep territory? Who gives the marching orders for the entire world? Who determines where the border is from day to day and minute to minute, and how does the player find out it needs to be patrolled or their side will lose territory? How can I be part of a world changing side in this fight? And if it's on my doorstep, will I want to give up playing because it's unbalanced?
this has been a rant from the former Mayor of Oberon Pass, DogMeat [MoO]
So far I've gotten 6 PS2 titles and 10 DSLite titles, most of the PS2 games are used family/party style games while the DSLite's are new games aimed squarely at the two kids. Lets not forget the 3 controllers (one of which replaces a broken one) and the adapter to use all four at once. I can't wait to whip up on the family in some PS2 Twisted Metal Black! Now if I could only find Backyard Hockey 2005 for the PS2 I'd be happy, the kids don't want to play NHL 2007
Jonah HEX
I had a version of GnuCash running on windows like 4 years ago, but last year I went to go find a Win port and was unsuccessful, now making me doubt I ever had one in the first place. I'd definitely love to have a windows port if anyone knows of one!
Jonah HEX
What about a networked game locally of Nethack? My daughter's computer is an old piece of junk, and I've been looking for games we can network together. Of course I'd want a GUI frontend like Falcon's Eye, but for the server I can put it on either Linux or Windows.
Jonah HEX
What was up with the spooky white face that every so often would appear in the center of the screen and get larger while screaming at you? That thing scared the hell out of me, especially since it seemed to have no connection to anything going on in the damn game.
Jonah HEX
Thanks for pointing Deep Freeze out, I couldn't remember the name of it but it's definitely the way to go! If I could get my corp to buy it I'd be much happier, Active Directory policies don't help when they give everyone admin rights to their own computer.
Jonah Hex
Looks like an actual workable theme on there, why mess it up by changing the colors to all the same shades of yellow and blue?
In all these articles I've never seen anything about an actual "Game" within Second Life. Even the SL site vaguely mentions users creating games for other users. What the hell is there to do besides build and trade stuff? Are there any RPG areas? Can I work with my daughter on developing a graphical MUD like mini game within SL? I want the functionality of the old BBS Door game Cyberspace, for a buggy piece of crap it was open ended and fun.
Jonah HEX
I've got a MSI mobo (K7N2G-ILSR) that for some odd reason requires the DDO from Western Digital to be loaded to see my full 250GB. Since Vista replaces the boot sector with a new one it trashed the DDO and only showed the drive as around 32GB. :( I sure didn't expect it, especially since XP plays nicely with DDO. I think I'll wait for a new computer before trying it again.
Jonah HEX
They have these at GameWorks here in Michigan, my kids got hooked on them for a few hours. It basically boiled down to Rock Paper Scissors, with the cards allowing some kind of modifier to the "move" you did.
Jonah HEX
Even worse under Microsoft Virtual Server/Virtual PC, it emulates a Soundblaster 16 ISA card. Since Vista has no ISA support all I get while testing is the nasty system beep.
Jonah HEX
I've got a MSI mobo (K7N2G-ILSR) that for some odd reason requires the DDO from Western Digital to be loaded to see my full 250GB. Since Vista replaces the boot sector with a new one it trashed the DDO and only showed the drive as around 32GB. :( I think I'll wait for a new computer before trying it again.
Jonah HEX
I hate to say it, but I'm a Comcast subscriber. When I moved recently I checked into WOW, and while it is available in the city I live in, the apartment complex itself still has a contract with Comcast for another 5+ years. I had signed up for a new agreement with Comcast and got 6 months of cable internet for 19.95 for six months, when I moved they said this would still apply. Wrong, during the 3 days of calling to get my cable modem actually working I had to get the "flag" put back on my account every time.
During the move I had upgraded to an HDR box from Basic and also to their "Speed Tier" of 8M/768K for no extra charge, when a week after the install I found my speed had dropped to 6M/256K I called to bitch and they had once again lost my "discount flag" and were charging me full price for the Internet. Then I get my first bill and guess what, $70+ bucks just for the Internet portion. Their accounts department gave me a hassle over the $19.95 for Speed Tier but gave in and credited my account, while assuring me this time the flag would stay. Also had to go turn in my new out of the box modem for a DOCSIS 2.x compatible one in order to get their "Speed Boost", just because the contractor gave me whatever he had on his truck.
Second bill, same problem, called in and told them to fix it now, which they did. Third bill, same damn thing, at least this time they fixed it after only one 10 minute call instead of the usual hour holding and 20 mins getting the whole situation thru the account execs head. They once again assured me it's all fixed, but I'm sure I'll be calling this month.
Jonah HEX
Actually they are probably paying him to lend his name to the network. Why the hell this isn't considered for Adult Swim is beyond me.
Jonah HEX
The movie was decent, but the best thing about the DVD was the documentary about the area. Some things I recall: Film of family members (mostly women) following the police as they led a suspect up the hill, then down again, in order to stop the police from beating the hell out of the guy. Shots of the "gun vault" of confiscated weapons, seems to go on forever. Plus a ton of great info on how the gangs got started, some of them as idealist organizations in prison, and how those ideals now play out in the real world. (like the woman who says she tells her local gang she needs medicine for a kid, and soon after she has it) Interviews with a woman who travels/works somewhere around 22 hours a day. On the police side of things, lets not forget them showing off their assault weapons, the only ones used by a domestic police force anywhere (their words not mine) and their constant urban warfare. So watch the movie, but definitely don't forget to watch the docu!
Jonah HEX
OK, I admit it, I stopped playing AD&D back when we still used the 2.0 editions with Unearthed Arcana. Our little group had no time to learn 3, and our DM moved to the middle of nowhere. So who or what are the Warforged? Do the pretty pictures in the article showing some iron golem like being and some mysterious red-eyed creature represent this race? Would an old AD&D fan like myself with only a few hours a week to spare actually like DDO?
Jonah HEX
GroupBar: I love this product, especially once I started playing around with some of the options. Why the current Windows taskbar doesn't incorporate all these functions is beyond me. Note: there is no shortcut created anywhere by the installer, go into \program files\microsoft research\groupbar and run from there. Scalable Fabric: I found this is the more interesting approach, however it's a buggy implementation and only good for playing around with. Jonah HEX
Wiki's got more cool info
Jonah HEX
Do you take this woodelf to be your...
PKs!!1! Recall1111
Corp Por Corp Por Corp Por
Oooo ooooo oo oo ooooooooo ooooo ooooo Translation: I'm going to do something about this!
Jonah HEX
I've run into many problems with end-users who cannot read even large or extra-large fonts at 1024x768, while they do fine at 800x600 with normal fonts. Yes they are older folks, and sure they are stuck using a 14" monitor, but like most small to medium size businesses they simply cannot find the funds to get something larger. Price for even replacing a 14" with say a 21" is a major concern, and most of the older monitors out there are not going to handle anything over 1280x1024. I've seen companies replace computers 2 or 3 times while keeping the same old monitors, only replacing them when they die.
Jonah HEX
I second this, I've been using flame to fix plastics for many years. A few words of caution:
Be sure and use a "clean" burning flame, most pocket lighters, etc have impurities that can leave residue behind. Definitely do not use a candle.
The best method I've found is to lay the object flat and pass the flame over it (as mentioned in parent), as opposed to holding the object above the flame. Since the majority of the heat (and any burning impurities) are rising upwards this gives a more even melt with less chance of excessive melting.
Jonah HEX