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User: bigman2003

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  1. Re:Where's the problem here? on University Bans Wireless Access Points · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Well, I'm not a lawyer either...but I can Google like one:

    read about waiving your rights

    If you are granted a right, you can waive that right. The University granted you the right to live in the housing. You sign a contract where they have the ability to kick you out for their specified reasons.

    On the other hand, when you are just renting a regular apartment, I really doubt you would sign something that says they can kick you out if you don't maintain at least a 2.0 average.

    And YES- you can sign away your rights- even the first 10, the vaunted 'bill of rights'.

    If you disagree, then obviously you've never been in the military, or served the government in one of the many, many positions where you do sign your rights away.

  2. Re:Where's the problem here? on University Bans Wireless Access Points · · Score: 2, Informative

    And when you cease to be a student at the University...trying staying in your rented apartment.

    When you sign up for university housing, you are entering into a very different contract from the standard renter's contract. They can boot you for many different reasons. You don't have the same rights, because you waive some of those rights when you sign the contract.

  3. Re:Testimonial on Windows Media Player 10 Reviewed · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "microsoft does not offer more 'choices', every ms product that claims they offer more choice, they really mean that ms offers more compatibility with OTHER MS PRODUCTS, which absolutely does not count in the real world."

    Absolutely correct. Unless of course you are one of the ~90% of the people out there who do run their PC on Microsoft products.

    But for that OTHER 10%- you hit the nail on the head.

    Too bad 90% is just a niche- what the heck are they thinking when they release products to support that 90% niche?!?

  4. Re:Testimonial on Windows Media Player 10 Reviewed · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Right- and HDTV will never take off, because you can't go jogging in the park with a 42" plasma screen on your back.

    What does WMP have to do with an iPod Mini? Did you realize that there are other portable music players out there- some of which play WMA files? In fact, me and my friends were just talking about one of them yesterday.

    Personally, I use a Pocket PC for my portable music player. A could of 1 gig SD cards, and I can carry plenty of music- while 'jogging through the park'. But then when I am done, I can go to the local coffeehouse and get my e-mail, surf the web, etc. etc.

    Not saying the Pocket PC is a better portable player...but I'm just wondering where the heck you come up with your comparison.

  5. Re:Almost had a heart attack! on Cold Fusion Back From The Dead · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    My point was that CF is a good technology. The previous perception was that it was 'teh ghey' (as the above poster told us). This was due mainly to the number of crappy coders who were using it- not a reflection of the language/platform (whatever you want to call it) itself.

    It has been a good product for a long time- but the good parts were overshadowed by some of the crappy code people were putting together. Now it has less crappy code, and this is actually a good thing.

  6. Re:Almost had a heart attack! on Cold Fusion Back From The Dead · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Whoops...I assume you are talking about the site on my sig. (or maybe it was a general comment...)

    Yes- the site linked on my sig is a pretty basic piece of crap...but I like it that way. In no way does it reflect my super-uber hard-core coding skills that I use during my wonderful life at work. Or possibly it does...but from looking at my linked site, at least you know I'm not a very good designer.

  7. Re:Cool! on G5 iMac To Come With Marble Blaster Gold · · Score: 1

    I really like the fact that the article talks about Marble Blast for the Mac.

    But if you look at the screenshots, the very first picture is obviously from an Xbox.

    Did that version look better or something?

    But seriously, this game will be sooooo much better with a game controller, than with a keyboard/mouse. Marbles want to be analog!

  8. Re:Almost had a heart attack! on Cold Fusion Back From The Dead · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    I use Cold Fusion every day. I like it a lot.

    Cold Fusion was supposed to drown under the ASP tidal wave. Then PHP was the obvious answer. Both products are free, and that was always cited as the reason that Cold Fusion would die.

    CF has reach a point of decline- which is okay- but it's not dead.

    I am willing to challenge anyone out there- if we are both given the same criteria for building a dynamic site- I'll use Cold Fusion, you can use PHP, ASP, JSP, whatever. I'll have my site done first. It will be secure, scalable, fast, and easily maintained. I've built dozens and dozens of sites that get moderate to heavy use (depending on your point of reference...) and Cold Fusion has never been an impediment, frequently it was the saving grace- allowing the project to get done on-time.

    People love to bash CF, because it is not the language du jour. It costs money- some people don't like that. It USED to be that a lot of crappy little projects were started in Cold Fusion, because it was easy- and any yokel could squeeze working code out of their ass- whether or not it was good. (That's how I started) But now most of the 'beginner' projects are done in ASP or PHP- because they are free, and can be created 'on the sly' without having to request $800-$1,500 of server software.

    Now I spend about 25% of my time converting someone's crap-ass (poorly done) PHP projects over to Cold Fusion once the people in charge find out that it's insecure, crash-prone and impossible to build on to. Strangely, the time has come that the Cold Fusion programmers are the ones with more experience (because it is not the language du jour, newbies are no longer jumping on the bandwagon) and the projects are put together in a more mature manner.

    Just as before, when Cold Fusion's biggest problem was that any jackass could use it- now I see the same thing happening to PHP. Jackasses covertly set it up on their small department webserver...and then I get paid to clean up their mess.

    Oh well- it's a job!

  9. Re:Unlikely on Apple Introduces New G5 iMac · · Score: 1

    That is so awesome that Splinter Cell is out on the Mac! (June 23rd)

    Just two more years until Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow comes out- THEN we'll show those weenies who's boss!

  10. I ain't leavin' on Tech Turnover Rate Lowest Since The 80's · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This article pretty much states the obvious for me-

    I'm in a job, working for a fairly stable place. I've had friends who had 5 or 6 jobs in the past 5 years. They've gone from the high of "wow, I'm makin' a shitload of money!" to the low of "damn...unemployment won't even cover my car payment".

    Until things get really good, I won't be leaving my SECURE job.

    So nobody else will be sitting in my chair (turnover) until you pry my sweaty, greasy ass off of it.

  11. Re:consoles and freeware on In-Game Advertising Breaks Out · · Score: 3, Interesting

    And in a big grand circle...

    Xbox is the 'official console' of World Cup 2006.

  12. Re:Once again, protest with your money on RIAA Grinds Down Individuals in the Courtroom · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Do you really think that getting $3,000 is PROFITABLE?

    The only reason they do this is to deter other people from sharing music. I don't think they really care about the awards here...just the publicity.

  13. Re:Amped not cut!!!11 on Microsoft To Close Xbox Sports Game Studio · · Score: 2, Informative

    Yes- the article says that Links (best golf game available) and Amped (good game too) are not getting canned.

    Also- the other two XSN games that are worth a shit: Top Spin (made by PAM) and Rallisport Challenge (Made by DICE) won't be affected.

    I've never played their hockey, basketball, or football games- but those are the ones getting cut. I'm not sure about their quality, but I heard they were pretty bad.

    In general, I am not a huge fan of EA games- the only one that I really like is NBA Street 2. The rest just seem a little too 'canned'. Good solid games, but nothing thrilling. So I hope that this announcement causes Sega to really step up and support the Xbox even more. They support it very well now, but maybe in the next generation it will be their primary platform.

  14. Re:Motion Sickness an Issue? on Play Halo at the Movies · · Score: 1

    Yep, same thing happens to me.

    I set up a projector, and had a 7 foot tall screen.

    Golf looked great, so did tennis.

    Halo made me sick in about 2 minutes. It's just too fast for me to handle on a big screen.

  15. Re:Specific Ocean? on Writing Software for Worldwide Distribution Proves Difficult · · Score: 3, Funny

    This kind of 'study' and the statistic about the Pacific Ocean are just bullshit.

    There is no way possible that only 20% of the teenage population in America could identify the United States on a standard globe.

    Now, possibly if this globe only had latitude/longitude lines, and no geo/political markings (such as continents, countries, oceans) etc. I could believe it.

    We have all stared at maps. We all watch TV where the outline of the country is shown on the news. We know what the outline of the country looks like. Florida is that little thingy on the bottom, and Maine is the one way up on top.

    We know what the North/South American landmass looks like...okay, yes, South America and Africa could be mistaken for each other - but North America doesn't look much like Eurasia.

    I could possibly, somehow, believe that 20% of the teenagers could NOT find the United States. And I would assume that retards would make up about 1/2 of that number.

    Take me to a highschool in the most backwoods, or crack infested neighborhood. At least 50% of those kids have some sort of brain and kind and could find the United States. Then go to a fairly decent high school, and you are talking about at least 95% (the other 5% being the aforementioned retards).

    Yes, there are morons like Jessica Simpson (god I'd like to bone her) running around who don't know fish from poultry. But that is not 80% of the population.

    Shit...if nothing else, about 20% of the teenagers are immigrants...and therefore by world standards, they must be educated enough to pick out our country on a globe.

  16. Re:The Korean analogy... on Is America Ready For Competitive Gaming On TV? · · Score: 1

    Actually, I enjoy WATCHING real violence- not being part of it.

    So- when the day comes that what is computer generated, and what is real cannot be determined on my screen- I won't really give a crap whether it is a game, or if it is real.

    But the part that will be missing, is when one person (or group of people) triumph over others. I guess maybe the back-story could be about the gamers themselves.

    "Stevie has wonderful hand-eye coordination, and the ability to sit for hours without blinking. If it weren't for his over-active bladder, he would easily be ranked in the top 10 this year."

    But will anyone really care to watch 16 year olds with greasy hair, and black T-shirts? Other than their peers, other people won't really be able to connect with them in any way.

    Games need to come out of the closet, and hit mainstream- then maybe we could have competitors that people could back.

    I've been playing ESPN NFL 2K5 and there are times that the game is nearly indistinguishable from a real game. But still- nobody wants to sit and watch me play...because they don't really give a shit about whether I win, or lose. And they know it only took 20 hours to get where I am now...and maybe if they spent the same 20 hours, they could be just as good- or probably better.

    But then again...I don't watch real football either...

  17. Re:Give them a reason to! on Should Game Consoles Make Breakfast, Too? · · Score: 1

    On the other hand...

    I live in a fairly podunk town in California (which is near a few non-podunk towns) and I get excellent cell-phone coverage everywhere I go. I can go out hiking, and I'll look down at my phone (use it as a timepiece too...is that un-necessary convergence?) and I'll have 4 bars on my reception indicator. Sometimes I look around and wonder "why the hell am I getting reception out here? Why did they even bother?" In fact, I was on a conference call two days ago, and two of the people out of the 5 were on their cell phones (not me). Over the course of an hour-long conversation there was not a single dropped call, broken word, noise, etc. etc. Admittedly, both guys were fairly stationary, and both outdoors.

    About the only time I don't get good coverage, is when I am INSIDE some large building.

    So my guess is that the technology is not to blame, but the providers in your area do not see a profit-motive to improve the service.

  18. Re:Only Nintendo really "gets it". on Should Game Consoles Make Breakfast, Too? · · Score: 1

    The previous respondant mentioned Xbox Connect...but you were talking 'officially'.

    Systemlink will connect local Xboxes LAN-party style. So you can compete against other people if they bring their boxes over to your house...or same LAN center, or whatever.

    Because of logistics (multiple Xboxes, and much worse...multiple TV's) it is not extremely popular- but it does work, it is used, and it is free.

  19. Re:Only Nintendo really "gets it". on Should Game Consoles Make Breakfast, Too? · · Score: 2, Informative

    Typical Nintendo problem...

    Go buy a football (American) game for the Gamecube.

    I'll bet $100 you come home with Madden.

    Why? Because nobody else makes a football game for the Gamecube anymore.

    The rest of the public is not 'blind' because they don't want to be pigeonholed into Nintendo-esque games...maybe a lot of people just don't buy into the whole premise of Mario-this and Pokemon-that. Personally, I like to play games online. Can't really do that on a Gamecube.

    Not everyone will agree that Nintendo makes the best consoles, or the best games. In fact, for me- they are a distant 3rd...

  20. Re:Possibly. on Japanese Game Publishers Show Mixed Results · · Score: 1

    When you say that Madden's competition is getting worse...are you referring to games like NFL 2K5?

    Gamerankings.com scores NFL 2K5 at 91.7 (got an 89 last year) and Madden at 93.4. Take out Gamespy's skewing of the scores, and they would be dead even.

    On the other hand, there are FEWER games competing- but they are not getting worse. This year there is no FEVER, and some other game I can't remember. But, there is NFL Street, also from EA, but a different game.

  21. Re:Games Are Deep on Japanese Game Publishers Show Mixed Results · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm not sure if you are a FAN of me-sucky-long-time RPGs, or if you are against them...but that's not the point. (The point is that this gives me an opportunity to spout my own opinion...)

    I hear a lot of the "oh, RPGs don't sell as well, because they are so good, and so deep, that you only need to buy one or two a year."

    And of course, usually this is said while giving a negative reference to sports/FPS games. Because we all know that RPGs are like the be-all and end-all of the gaming world.

    Well I beg to differ on a few points here.

    #1- Sports games can take up tons, and tons, and tons of time. For instance, my latest addiction is NFL 2K5. I'm almost done with my first season (Super Bowl party this weekend!) and I've got at least 30 hours playing 2K5. Each game takes about an hour. Then you spend time fixing up your crib, and looking at stats. And depending on your style of play, you need to scout out the next team. And of course, playing outside of franchise mode against friends, on-line, etc. And then there are off-season trades, changing the playbook, etc. I really expect to go at least 3 seasons with my team (Buccaneers) so I can see the effect of my trades, drafts, etc.

    If past history is any indication here, I will easily spend 150+ hours on this game off-line and on-line combined. (You can actually argue that this type of game IS an RPG...but then a bunch of true-RPG sissies might threaten you with some form of phone phreaking, and the only time you'll get any peace is during the annual Comic-Con)

    #2- Rainbow Six 3 is another good example of a non-RPG game that can be a major time sucker. Every wife/girlfriend/little sister has heard "just one more round" coming from a Rainbow Six 3 player. I say it again, and again, and again. While on-line, you can see how many kills other players have, and when you figure how much time they've spent on the game, it's astounding.

    So I don't believe it at all when RPG fans blame the lower over-all sales of the RPG genre on "the games are so deep, you don't need as many". I prefer to blame it on "No 'Lord of the Everlasting Butterfly' the rest of the world does NOT want to pretend that they are the wizard of all fairy insects".

    Okay...I think that is all for now. Because It's Time For Buccannnneeeeeeeeerrrr Footballlllll!

    (And a personal, heart-felt apology to any RPG player who is not currently wearing a black T-shirt, and does not speak any languages whose basis comes from fantasy literature.)

  22. Re:Surreal.. on Open Source in California Government · · Score: 0

    Then again, if we didn't burn fuel, we wouldn't have an economy.

  23. Re:Netcraft Confirms It on Open Source in California Government · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I think the whole point of the report was:

    "Here are things we should change in the future"

    Not- "gee, look at the cool stuff we are doing now."

    It makes perfect sense that they are NOT running open source now, but are supporting a move toward open source in the FUTURE.

  24. Re:USofAns on Racial Issues Alleged In GTA San Andreas, Other Games · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Well, since you are from So. Cal, but didn't mention LA- my guess i that you are from either the Valley, or more likely O.C.

    I'm from OC, and prior to moving away I had the exact same feeling that you did. Not so much that "black people were bad", but that if you lived in a neighborhood with black people, then you were obviously in a really bad neighborhood. And, a true "mexican neighborhood" (I.e., Santa Ana) was also something that should be avoided...other than making weekly runs to Townsend St. to pick up a bag of weed.

    So eventually I left OC and went into the Army and gasp! I ended up spending 3 years being one of only ~5 white guys in a platoon full of 55 black guys. That opened my eyes to a LOT of things. I would not have considered myself 'racist' in the past, just completely un-aware. Growing up in a fairly well-off neighborhood in Orange County can do that to you. Oh yeah...we had a black guy at our high school...but his dad was a professional athlete.

    I've moved on, and now I live in a city where the population is about 45% hispanic, 40% white, and a mix of everything else for the last 15%.

    My sister who still lives in the same area I grew up, never moved away. Now I consider her to be one of the most racist people I know. I look back and wonder..."was I as bad as she is?"

    Well the whole point of this is....some of those "middle class white neighborhoods" of Southern California can gives kids a very distorted view of the world. The real estate prices are so high- and the reality of the hispanic/black underclass so prevalent...that a lot of kids grow up surrounded only by whites (and of course Japanese/Chinese...) They're not raised to be prejudice, but it just becomes an outgrowth of their environment.

    Oh...and also, while I was in the Army I lived in Germany. While OC may just be racist 'by accident' (mostly financial) I found Germany to be an extremely overtly racist place. Going out to local parks/pools/restaurants with my friends (black) gave me a view of what the US must have been like in the 50's. My friends wouldn't be let into nightclubs because of a 'dresscode', or we would be told that the 'pool was closed now' (with tons of people in it). Or we would go to a restaurant and the waitress just would never come to our table to take our order. No...Europe is no wonderland of color-blind society.

  25. Re:Army guys? on Tim Schafer Talks Psychonauts Originality, Dialog, Release · · Score: 1

    Damn I hate ACs...

    I wasn't judging it solely on the fact that Majesco will be the publisher.

    I was also basing my judgment on the fact that another publisher dropped the game.

    It went from a top-tier publisher on the Xbox (Microsoft) to a bottom-tier publisher.

    To me, that says something.