You know, I'm sick and tired of people bashing on the quality of downloadable music, at least when it comes to iTunes. I've compared the audio quality of multiple tracks in CD, Ogg and M4A formats. Not suprisingly, the Ogg file and CD track sounded identical. But the biggest suprise was the loss of quality in the M4A file was miniscule. I know I'm not the biggest audiophile out there, but if I were to play that track again in a random format, I would not have been able to pick out the format unless I had the others to compare it to.
I decided then and there to toss my Ogg Vorbis collection and re-ripped all my CDs to M4A, to allow iTunes to be my permenant audio jukebox.
About the Colecovision controller: It's really convenient for no one, and this pad provided no improvements over the Atari classic.
Anyone who grew up with both an Atari 2600 and Colecovision will tell you, the Colecovision controller did provide improvements. Sure, some of them were minor, such as using the numeric pad to select the gameplay options instead of flipping a dip switch on the console like Atari; but by far the biggest improvement was comfort. Playing Centepede (sp?) for half an hour on an Atari controller will tend to cause pain in your "stick hand", especially when the controller starts to lose responsiveness due to intense play and you really have to put some effort into moving it. In contrast, the Coleco controller was leaner, making it easy for a child to hold, it was symmetrical, making it easy for a lefty to play, and the "D-Pad" was as easy to maneuver as today's analog sticks.
Having worked at a friend's computer shop for the past year, I've made some observations about "support service" businesses.
Thankfully, I've worked at an honest place where our main goal is to give the customer exactly what he/she needs, nothing more, nothing less. Our customers realize this and appreciate it, that's why we've remained in business longer than any other shop in town. Our main competition is with a rival shop with a much different goal. I can speak from experience that a person will almost always go to a shop that has a fancy sign or whichever is listed first in the yellow pages. So what ends up happening is a customer will buy a $700 system from "ABC Computers", and once this customer tries "ABC Computers" to get support for their new system, they'll often turn to us for support, even if it's still under warranty. This can be a good and a bad thing; they'll often be steamed at "ABC Computers" and will tend to be huffy at us. But once we're able to do our thing and take the time to expalin to them what we did to fix the problem and how they can prevent it from happening again, we will have another loyal customer.
It always makes me angry when a customer tells me what happened when they took their system to "ABC Computer" and I can tell that they've been hosed-over. One time I got a customer that complained that an RMA'd motherboard had slower RAM than the one that was replaced. I knew right away that this other shop had sold him PC2100 RAM, told him it was PC2700 and simply overclocked it.
We realize that it's difficult to get a good reputation through word-of-mouth and easy to get a bad rep. Sure, we're not going to be a massive support company by only charging for the work we do (I would never DREAM of charging a customer 3 hours at a rate of $40/hr to do a backup, format, and O.S. install when I know that in reality I'm actually working on it for 2 hours), but that's not what we're trying to accomplish. We want to provide a great service and great products all at a reasonable price. If we stay true to this goal, there's no reason why we couldn't be in business for another 20+ years.
I graduated last May with a B.S. in Information Science & Technology with minors in Electronics and Management Information Systems. I worked as a Computer Support Assistant at my college for 2 years, and I worked at a friend's computer shop for 1 year. Working at the college, I realized that I want to be a Computer Support Specialist (at least for a few years), then eventually move into a sysadmin position.
Here's my problem though: I graduated from a small state college in Nebraska, where I currently reside, and can't find work (obviously). I've been sending resumes to companies in Portland, OR, where I can stay with my sister until I get on my feet. However, I have heard *NOTHING* back from anyone I've sent resumes to. What am I doing wrong? Are employers passing me over because I'm in Nebraska and still have to move? Is it because I graduated from a small college that no one has heard of? Not enough experience?
I wonder if hardware companies would start to develop devices to help you along in these types of games, like a pulse meter that will allow the game to speed up or slow down based on your target heart rate, etc. They might even be able to market a weight scale that will monitor your weight loss progress.
The worst is yet to come. I work at a college and next week is when all professors will return back for the fall semester. Not only do we at computer services have to worry about (more) staff getting infected with the sobig virus, but we also have to worry about the older virii that have been waiting for them on our mail server for the past few months.
Actually, the computer only takes from the wattage what it needs. The average computer only draws about 90 watts at a given time, unless of course if they have dual processors, 2+ HDDs, etc. Plus, if he doesn't use an LCD, this would be a good time to try to get his parents to buy him one; these things take up a LOT less wattage than a CRT.
That game wasn't published by Atari, so I don't think it applies to them. Besides, I've played the game (found it in a rom package). The woman didn't look in pain; in fact, she had what appears to be a big toothless grin on her face.
I installed gentoo about a week ago. After running emerge sync for awhile the screen went blank. For some odd reason I thought my computer had given up and gone on strike until I reinstalled slackware. Thank God it was just going into sleep mode.
When and if these things will replace the more traditional "home theater in a box" sets, and if so, does that mean that companies like RCA or Panasonic will move away from making propietary components in favor of making "small pc's in a box that can be used for a home theater"? Will this force these companies to make a switch to small pc manufacturers?
Slashdot Mirror
If this isn't the perfect oportunity for a desperate 25th level Cleric to conjure up a potion of rohypnol, I don't know what is.
Just like any other video game in the 80s, I preferred the arcade version. It was a little too short and a little too easy, though.
You know, I'm sick and tired of people bashing on the quality of downloadable music, at least when it comes to iTunes. I've compared the audio quality of multiple tracks in CD, Ogg and M4A formats. Not suprisingly, the Ogg file and CD track sounded identical. But the biggest suprise was the loss of quality in the M4A file was miniscule. I know I'm not the biggest audiophile out there, but if I were to play that track again in a random format, I would not have been able to pick out the format unless I had the others to compare it to. I decided then and there to toss my Ogg Vorbis collection and re-ripped all my CDs to M4A, to allow iTunes to be my permenant audio jukebox.
About the Colecovision controller:
It's really convenient for no one, and this pad provided no improvements over the Atari classic.
Anyone who grew up with both an Atari 2600 and Colecovision will tell you, the Colecovision controller did provide improvements. Sure, some of them were minor, such as using the numeric pad to select the gameplay options instead of flipping a dip switch on the console like Atari; but by far the biggest improvement was comfort. Playing Centepede (sp?) for half an hour on an Atari controller will tend to cause pain in your "stick hand", especially when the controller starts to lose responsiveness due to intense play and you really have to put some effort into moving it. In contrast, the Coleco controller was leaner, making it easy for a child to hold, it was symmetrical, making it easy for a lefty to play, and the "D-Pad" was as easy to maneuver as today's analog sticks.
C:\>ping pakistan
Ping request could not find host pakistan. Please check the name and try again.
C:\>
tee hee
Having worked at a friend's computer shop for the past year, I've made some observations about "support service" businesses.
Thankfully, I've worked at an honest place where our main goal is to give the customer exactly what he/she needs, nothing more, nothing less. Our customers realize this and appreciate it, that's why we've remained in business longer than any other shop in town. Our main competition is with a rival shop with a much different goal. I can speak from experience that a person will almost always go to a shop that has a fancy sign or whichever is listed first in the yellow pages. So what ends up happening is a customer will buy a $700 system from "ABC Computers", and once this customer tries "ABC Computers" to get support for their new system, they'll often turn to us for support, even if it's still under warranty. This can be a good and a bad thing; they'll often be steamed at "ABC Computers" and will tend to be huffy at us. But once we're able to do our thing and take the time to expalin to them what we did to fix the problem and how they can prevent it from happening again, we will have another loyal customer.
It always makes me angry when a customer tells me what happened when they took their system to "ABC Computer" and I can tell that they've been hosed-over. One time I got a customer that complained that an RMA'd motherboard had slower RAM than the one that was replaced. I knew right away that this other shop had sold him PC2100 RAM, told him it was PC2700 and simply overclocked it.
We realize that it's difficult to get a good reputation through word-of-mouth and easy to get a bad rep. Sure, we're not going to be a massive support company by only charging for the work we do (I would never DREAM of charging a customer 3 hours at a rate of $40/hr to do a backup, format, and O.S. install when I know that in reality I'm actually working on it for 2 hours), but that's not what we're trying to accomplish. We want to provide a great service and great products all at a reasonable price. If we stay true to this goal, there's no reason why we couldn't be in business for another 20+ years.
I graduated last May with a B.S. in Information Science & Technology with minors in Electronics and Management Information Systems. I worked as a Computer Support Assistant at my college for 2 years, and I worked at a friend's computer shop for 1 year. Working at the college, I realized that I want to be a Computer Support Specialist (at least for a few years), then eventually move into a sysadmin position.
Here's my problem though: I graduated from a small state college in Nebraska, where I currently reside, and can't find work (obviously). I've been sending resumes to companies in Portland, OR, where I can stay with my sister until I get on my feet. However, I have heard *NOTHING* back from anyone I've sent resumes to. What am I doing wrong? Are employers passing me over because I'm in Nebraska and still have to move? Is it because I graduated from a small college that no one has heard of? Not enough experience?
That ilovebees.com site is almost stupid as Subserviantchicken
Atari was going to put out a similar device for their 2600 way back when.
I wonder if hardware companies would start to develop devices to help you along in these types of games, like a pulse meter that will allow the game to speed up or slow down based on your target heart rate, etc. They might even be able to market a weight scale that will monitor your weight loss progress.
Now if we can just get him to accidentally induce a "wardrobe malfunction" on Padme....
I got an XP box and didn't pay astronomical prices. The hard part is getting that "for education use only" sticker off the front...
I tried to play it once, but when I saw some dude's heavily pixilated wang all I could do was run....fast.
I remember watching a documentary that stated that it only takes 1.21 gigawatts to time travel. They need to get with the times and get a Mr. Fusion.
Does anyone know how Rockstar got around the agreement they made with Sony to make GTA III and Vice City PS2/PC only games?
yeah, right along all those E.T. Atari 2600 cartridges.
The worst is yet to come. I work at a college and next week is when all professors will return back for the fall semester. Not only do we at computer services have to worry about (more) staff getting infected with the sobig virus, but we also have to worry about the older virii that have been waiting for them on our mail server for the past few months.
That is the funniest damn thing I've read since I dunno when.
Actually, the computer only takes from the wattage what it needs. The average computer only draws about 90 watts at a given time, unless of course if they have dual processors, 2+ HDDs, etc. Plus, if he doesn't use an LCD, this would be a good time to try to get his parents to buy him one; these things take up a LOT less wattage than a CRT.
That game wasn't published by Atari, so I don't think it applies to them. Besides, I've played the game (found it in a rom package). The woman didn't look in pain; in fact, she had what appears to be a big toothless grin on her face.
I remember that game. You played as Custard and went on a rampage to rape Cherrypie indian women.
Geez... this is better than watching Battlebots!
Now imagine if one battlebot ran Linux and the other SCO Unix.
I installed gentoo about a week ago. After running emerge sync for awhile the screen went blank. For some odd reason I thought my computer had given up and gone on strike until I reinstalled slackware. Thank God it was just going into sleep mode.
Most.
When and if these things will replace the more traditional "home theater in a box" sets, and if so, does that mean that companies like RCA or Panasonic will move away from making propietary components in favor of making "small pc's in a box that can be used for a home theater"? Will this force these companies to make a switch to small pc manufacturers?