I sold something on eBay, and opted to print out a UPS label, and pay for the shipping directly through their PayPal system. Started the process and everything was fine, I paid for it, and only needed to print the label out.
Crap! I didn't have the right kind of paper (I wanted to use label material) so I had to go find some in my wife's office.
By the time I got back, my session had timed out. I went back to my original eBay item, and followed the same process. Thinking that it would register as the same shipping/payment. Wrong, it charged me again.
Okay...fine, I'll just cancel the first one.
Can't cancel a shipping payment until UPS receives the electronic statement from PayPal. Okay, I'll check back the next day.
Whoops- can't cancel a shipping payment after 24 hours have passed.
eBay customer service did ONE thing for me when I contacted them about this. They confirmed that I was screwed.
$46 down the drain because their sessions time out too quickly. Fuck them...
I bought a 'bridging' HDTV a few years ago. It is a 32" 4:3 CRT HD set, and it has served me well. I'm bummed that the new HD DVD players will require HDMI because my set is component only. But I didn't expect this one to last too long, I knew it was just a bridge.
But, I bought it for only $1,000, and it has been serving up HDTV from my cable box and Xbox for a few years now, so I can't complain too much.
Buying a 4:3 set was a choice I made that I am still happy with. Since most of the content in the past few years has been standard format, my TV displayed it without any problem. It goes wide-screen when it gets an HD signal- with black bars on the top and bottom. Since the size constraint was based on the horizontal size of my cabinet, this was the best choice. (Rather than buying a widescreen set that would have black bars on the left and right 90% of the time)
I knew at the time I would eventually be buying something else, but it kept me from buying an over-priced plasma set. When I do buy one in another year, the price will be brought way down, and the quality will be improved.
Umm, yeah, I mentioned Distorted View. I do like it. But it is hard to keep up with a 5x a week podcast. I like the once a week thing.
I'll take a listen to Nobody Likes Onions.
The Ricky Gervais show might not be for everyone- but the thing I like about it is the character development. Mostly Karl's character, which is basically what the entire show is about.
Distorted View is funny, I once listened to 20 episodes in a row while waiting for jury duty...
I've been listening to the Ricky Gervais podcast since the first episode, and it is damn funny. (Monkey News kinda lost something after about the 4th week, but the damn diary more than makes up for it.)
This is one podcast I would be interested in paying for. I usually laugh out loud like an idiot during the whole show. These guys are pros, and it shows.
Sadly, the only other podcasts I have found that I like are Major Nelson and Distorted View.
I *might* pay for Major Nelson, just because I am an Xbox geek. But I can't see myself paying for Distorted View, even if I do like it.
Sorry Distorted View guy, it is funny stuff, but I just can't imagine spending money on it.
In my 3.5 years of owning an original Xbox, I probably purchased 50 games or so.
On the 360 I've already bought 7 (+ 4 XBLA games)
I don't consider myself a 'hardcore gamer'. I'm just someone who doesn't mind buying games. It doesn't mean that I PLAY games for 30+ hours per week. It just means that I like to try out a lot of different games.
Well, I am replying to you because this is one of the few parent messages that seem like they know what is going on. (meaning you have actually used the system, not someone who has an opinion based only on the name of the company that designed the Xbox 360)
YES, I am addicted to achievements and gamerscore. And YES, I go onto my computer to check out how many points an achievement has given me right after I get one. Sometimes if there is a 5 minute lag in adding the score, I get a little anxious. YES, achievements make me play the games a lot longer than I normally would. (Good for MS, or bad?)
When I first heard about the achievement system I thought it was idiotic. Who cares about my score? But once I got started, it is a very big deal. I've even tried to explain the achievements thing to my wife...not that she gives a shit, but I think this is very, very cool.
I usually buy 1-2 games per month. A lot of them ended up being 'throw-aways' something I would play for 30 minutes and decided that I hated it, so I wouldn't play it anymore. Also, when I played a game and 'finished' it, I would stop playing. Not anymore- I need my damn points!
In fact today, I was just looking at my Call of Duty 2 score, thinking that I *really* need to go back and play on Veteran difficulty to pick up some points. That is odd because I NEVER replay first person shooters in single player mode. But I will do it this time.
If anyone cares enough to see my score, take a look at my gamercard.
Yes, I agree it sounds stupid. Until you have your own gamercard...now I think it is awesome.
And on a more practical note, it allows you to gauge someone's skill when you are playing on-line, and it's great for comparing people in your friends list also.
The original Xbox used a different style of protection- the games you bought on Live Arcade were tied to the Xbox you purchased them with. It sucked.
I had a Xbox with about 10 XBLA games and a ton of paid downloadable content on it (golf courses among other things)...my daughter killed the Xbox by spilling some juice on it. When I bought a replacement console, there was no way to retrieve (without paying) those games (and add-ons) I had previously purchased.
But when I sold my second Xbox, the new owner was able to play the new games I had downloaded. Yay...for them.
I'm much happier with the 360 system. If something happens and I need to download everything again, I can...for free. This has been a factor that encouraged me to download a lot more, because everything is retrievable if necessary. The other system burned me, and I wasn't too happy about it.
The only other option would be that the games were freely copiable. That just isn't realistic in a world where people would copy it and distribute it for free to all of their friends.
XBLA seems like a good deal to me. Microsoft has said that the developers/publishers (whoever gives the game to MS) get over half of the revenue from the game, which is pretty darn good. They are providing an outlet for a type of game which is fairly easy to make, and does not require a huge studio with deep, deep pockets- the type of game that brick and mortar stores avoid. Every game has a playable demo, so you can always try before you buy. You can re-download the games for free if necessary. And to top it all of- the games are pretty cheap.
You're right....instead of basing our opinions on what a company is doing right now, we should listen to what garrett714 has to say about them on Slashdot.
That other guy, who is basing his statements on reality, is just a dumb fanboi.
"You spend all that money on a game system not to play games?"
I'm not sure if you know this...but the Xbox has just about the best performance/dollar ratio you can find.
The original Xbox was a fantastic value, and so is the 360.
It is actually smart to buy one if you can re-purpose it to something else. That is why people are emphasizing the fact that they do not purchase games- which is where Microsoft makes the money to (theoretically) offset the loss they take on the hardware.
(Using your car/furniture analogy)
What if the furniture dealer was selling one of those race-car beds for $300. But you could convert it into a REAL race-car....that is what he is doing.
The only Internet 'radio' I listen to is Podcasts.
The idea of using it for background noise doesn't work with me for a few reasons.
#1- I hate the idea of wasting all of that bandwidth. If every person started listening to Internet radio, there would be so much traffic that the latest virus wouldn't even be able to spread.
#2- Sound fidelity is usually not very good.
#3- If I am at my computer, I have a huge library of music already available to me. And possibly some standard radio stations if I want something new.
Podcasts are great on-demand talk radio. But streaming music doesn't make much sense to me. If it is your thing, then fine- but I don't see much sense in it.
Are you expecting them to look at the laptop, use the system, discover its features and finally exclaim, "Wow, this is fantastic, what version of Windows are you running!"
You are more likely to hear, 'Where is the Start button!?!'
Less flexibility, fewer bells and whistles. The Unix shop I was familiar with previously was ANYTHING but 'nimble'.
When your IT department can't do the stuff people see on TV, they perceive it as a failure. Even if it is 100% rock solid.
Why do you think you've been craving after that new gadget? It isn't going to make your life better...and the damn thing is going to break down eventually....but you WANT it, don't you?
Slashdot Mirror
I *am* a programmer.
And guess what- 90% of my job is spent accounting for the sheer stupidity of users. It's called 'dummy proofing'.
In my opinion, that is what separates good programmers from bad programmers.
Microsoft should just pull out of Korea before it's too late.
There would be a lot fewer problems.
Hell, more Koreans should just pull out before it's too late.
There would be a lot fewer Koreans.
I got screwed over by PayPal.
I sold something on eBay, and opted to print out a UPS label, and pay for the shipping directly through their PayPal system. Started the process and everything was fine, I paid for it, and only needed to print the label out.
Crap! I didn't have the right kind of paper (I wanted to use label material) so I had to go find some in my wife's office.
By the time I got back, my session had timed out. I went back to my original eBay item, and followed the same process. Thinking that it would register as the same shipping/payment. Wrong, it charged me again.
Okay...fine, I'll just cancel the first one.
Can't cancel a shipping payment until UPS receives the electronic statement from PayPal. Okay, I'll check back the next day.
Whoops- can't cancel a shipping payment after 24 hours have passed.
eBay customer service did ONE thing for me when I contacted them about this. They confirmed that I was screwed.
$46 down the drain because their sessions time out too quickly. Fuck them...
A few years ago, there were many announcements about Microsoft getting into different businesses:
Microsoft getting into the business financial software space
Microsoft getting into XXXX space
And the world thought the sky was falling, and Microsoft was going to take over everything and nobody else had a chance.
Ended up not being true. Away from their core businesses, Microsoft ended up being 'just another competitor'.
Will Google get away from their core, and have they same thing happen? Can the magic last?
eBay is very well entrenched...
HDMI...
I bought a 'bridging' HDTV a few years ago. It is a 32" 4:3 CRT HD set, and it has served me well. I'm bummed that the new HD DVD players will require HDMI because my set is component only. But I didn't expect this one to last too long, I knew it was just a bridge.
But, I bought it for only $1,000, and it has been serving up HDTV from my cable box and Xbox for a few years now, so I can't complain too much.
Buying a 4:3 set was a choice I made that I am still happy with. Since most of the content in the past few years has been standard format, my TV displayed it without any problem. It goes wide-screen when it gets an HD signal- with black bars on the top and bottom. Since the size constraint was based on the horizontal size of my cabinet, this was the best choice. (Rather than buying a widescreen set that would have black bars on the left and right 90% of the time)
I knew at the time I would eventually be buying something else, but it kept me from buying an over-priced plasma set. When I do buy one in another year, the price will be brought way down, and the quality will be improved.
Umm, yeah, I mentioned Distorted View. I do like it. But it is hard to keep up with a 5x a week podcast. I like the once a week thing.
I'll take a listen to Nobody Likes Onions.
The Ricky Gervais show might not be for everyone- but the thing I like about it is the character development. Mostly Karl's character, which is basically what the entire show is about.
Distorted View is funny, I once listened to 20 episodes in a row while waiting for jury duty...
Yes, Songbird at version ZERO POINT one (0.1) is going to wipe iTunes off the map.
I've been listening to the Ricky Gervais podcast since the first episode, and it is damn funny. (Monkey News kinda lost something after about the 4th week, but the damn diary more than makes up for it.)
This is one podcast I would be interested in paying for. I usually laugh out loud like an idiot during the whole show. These guys are pros, and it shows.
Sadly, the only other podcasts I have found that I like are Major Nelson and Distorted View.
I *might* pay for Major Nelson, just because I am an Xbox geek. But I can't see myself paying for Distorted View, even if I do like it.
Sorry Distorted View guy, it is funny stuff, but I just can't imagine spending money on it.
Hardcore can mean a lot of different things....
In my 3.5 years of owning an original Xbox, I probably purchased 50 games or so.
On the 360 I've already bought 7 (+ 4 XBLA games)
I don't consider myself a 'hardcore gamer'. I'm just someone who doesn't mind buying games. It doesn't mean that I PLAY games for 30+ hours per week. It just means that I like to try out a lot of different games.
If you can't see the difference between 32" HD and 32" NTSC (or PAL if you swing that way) then you need glasses.
I *just* finished watching a TV show (Survivor if anyone cares...yeah, yeah, total crap...but I watch it) on my 360.
Downloaded it onto my computer, and streamed it to the 360. Looked great. Ended up watching an episode I would have missed.
That, and viewing my pictures on my HD TV...or streaming music to my games.
Yes, those things are important to me. (Not in a cosmic/life/love way, but only in a 'choosing a game console' way.)
HD is a performance drain.
Then again, so is color. Why not just make it black and white?
Well, I am replying to you because this is one of the few parent messages that seem like they know what is going on. (meaning you have actually used the system, not someone who has an opinion based only on the name of the company that designed the Xbox 360)
YES, I am addicted to achievements and gamerscore. And YES, I go onto my computer to check out how many points an achievement has given me right after I get one. Sometimes if there is a 5 minute lag in adding the score, I get a little anxious. YES, achievements make me play the games a lot longer than I normally would. (Good for MS, or bad?)
When I first heard about the achievement system I thought it was idiotic. Who cares about my score? But once I got started, it is a very big deal. I've even tried to explain the achievements thing to my wife...not that she gives a shit, but I think this is very, very cool.
I usually buy 1-2 games per month. A lot of them ended up being 'throw-aways' something I would play for 30 minutes and decided that I hated it, so I wouldn't play it anymore. Also, when I played a game and 'finished' it, I would stop playing. Not anymore- I need my damn points!
In fact today, I was just looking at my Call of Duty 2 score, thinking that I *really* need to go back and play on Veteran difficulty to pick up some points. That is odd because I NEVER replay first person shooters in single player mode. But I will do it this time.
If anyone cares enough to see my score, take a look at my gamercard.
Yes, I agree it sounds stupid. Until you have your own gamercard...now I think it is awesome.
And on a more practical note, it allows you to gauge someone's skill when you are playing on-line, and it's great for comparing people in your friends list also.
Step 1: Set a console with Goldeneye and a console with Halo side by side.
Step 2: Empty your mind of rosey nostalgia.
Step 3: Play each game for and hour, and see how much you like Goldeneye.
I did basically that same thing once and it was scary.
Goldeneye's greatness lives in our fond memories, not in the actual reality of the game.
It makes me laugh that you don't know what you are talking about. Gravity Wars was a good game at one time- but it is not on the Xbox 360.
No, they'll be stuck with an FPS that only attracts their core audience.
I wonder what the licensing of Goldeneye was like...
Who owns it now, Nintendo, or Rare? Does Nintendo have the right to publish it for a new console?
Something tells me that Rare might not let Nintendo use it...
The original Xbox used a different style of protection- the games you bought on Live Arcade were tied to the Xbox you purchased them with. It sucked.
I had a Xbox with about 10 XBLA games and a ton of paid downloadable content on it (golf courses among other things)...my daughter killed the Xbox by spilling some juice on it. When I bought a replacement console, there was no way to retrieve (without paying) those games (and add-ons) I had previously purchased.
But when I sold my second Xbox, the new owner was able to play the new games I had downloaded. Yay...for them.
I'm much happier with the 360 system. If something happens and I need to download everything again, I can...for free. This has been a factor that encouraged me to download a lot more, because everything is retrievable if necessary. The other system burned me, and I wasn't too happy about it.
The only other option would be that the games were freely copiable. That just isn't realistic in a world where people would copy it and distribute it for free to all of their friends.
XBLA seems like a good deal to me. Microsoft has said that the developers/publishers (whoever gives the game to MS) get over half of the revenue from the game, which is pretty darn good. They are providing an outlet for a type of game which is fairly easy to make, and does not require a huge studio with deep, deep pockets- the type of game that brick and mortar stores avoid. Every game has a playable demo, so you can always try before you buy. You can re-download the games for free if necessary. And to top it all of- the games are pretty cheap.
You've posted 6 times in the last year. Two of them were today, both were putting down Microsoft's gaming plans....maybe you have an axe to grind.
Do you understand what Xbox Live is all about? Do you know how it works, and what part costs money?
Even more importantly, have you gone on-line with any other console? (It's generally crap by the way.)
You're right....instead of basing our opinions on what a company is doing right now, we should listen to what garrett714 has to say about them on Slashdot.
That other guy, who is basing his statements on reality, is just a dumb fanboi.
"You spend all that money on a game system not to play games?"
I'm not sure if you know this...but the Xbox has just about the best performance/dollar ratio you can find.
The original Xbox was a fantastic value, and so is the 360.
It is actually smart to buy one if you can re-purpose it to something else. That is why people are emphasizing the fact that they do not purchase games- which is where Microsoft makes the money to (theoretically) offset the loss they take on the hardware.
(Using your car/furniture analogy)
What if the furniture dealer was selling one of those race-car beds for $300. But you could convert it into a REAL race-car....that is what he is doing.
The only Internet 'radio' I listen to is Podcasts.
The idea of using it for background noise doesn't work with me for a few reasons.
#1- I hate the idea of wasting all of that bandwidth. If every person started listening to Internet radio, there would be so much traffic that the latest virus wouldn't even be able to spread.
#2- Sound fidelity is usually not very good.
#3- If I am at my computer, I have a huge library of music already available to me. And possibly some standard radio stations if I want something new.
Podcasts are great on-demand talk radio. But streaming music doesn't make much sense to me. If it is your thing, then fine- but I don't see much sense in it.
Are you expecting them to look at the laptop, use the system, discover its features and finally exclaim, "Wow, this is fantastic, what version of Windows are you running!"
You are more likely to hear, 'Where is the Start button!?!'
Take a look at this screenshot.
Yes...NIIIICCCCCCEEEEEE tip there. 'Just hit alt-f2 and type in the program name'.
Yeah...that will go over real well with your average Joe-Non-Power-User.
Yes, and they could design their own landscaping equipment too.
But there are companies out there already who design the equipment, so why bother?
As far as they know, they got LESS.
Less flexibility, fewer bells and whistles. The Unix shop I was familiar with previously was ANYTHING but 'nimble'.
When your IT department can't do the stuff people see on TV, they perceive it as a failure. Even if it is 100% rock solid.
Why do you think you've been craving after that new gadget? It isn't going to make your life better...and the damn thing is going to break down eventually....but you WANT it, don't you?