They'll find a way to screw us into paying more taxes no matter what happens. They've already started with our '$30 car tabs' that the people passed several years ago. Now, they require a new license plate every 5 years on a vehicle, plus they can raise the rate being paid for tabs based on the weight of the vehicle. They're already talking about upping sales tax, which will likely pass. Next they will be looking at a state income tax once more. It's been pushed several times over the past 20 years, and each time they push it, it gets closer to passing. Now that there's a true fiscal need due to one of the highest budget deficits in state history, the state legislature is going to have to find a way to make up that difference. The only way is to raise taxes.
The down side is that many small businesses, which there are thousands of in WA, will likely burden the majority of these taxes. Companies like Microsoft will likely keep their tax breaks to stay here, while the rest of small businesses pay the exorbitant B&O taxes that are levied. Paying $75 in taxes on an $80 job (and yes, this did happen in one town here in WA just recently) means that no-one could survive while running a small business unless they charged prices that the economy can't sustain.
Actually, streaming to the Xbox is done in HD, albeit 720p last I checked. The PS3 also gets some content in HD, but not as much as the Xbox does yet. The Xbox in our house is pretty much used only for netflix streaming as it's connected to the old tv in the bedroom (and netflix is currently the only content we watch on that TV). I have brought it out to my 46" Bravia and seen a difference when streaming the HD version of content vs. the SD version of the same content.
I'm actually surprised the PS3 doesn't get more HD content, but then again, Microsoft has pretty much bought their way into being the sole provider of quite a few multiplatform contents that I would much rather see on my PS3. Not only do they get to have Netflix deny some HD content to the PS3, but they also took over the Rock Band Network, which means that 95% or more of the RBN releases that are coming out are only on the Xbox.
I have comcast, which gave me McAfee for the last few years, but then they switched to Norton, which caused nothing but problems for my machine. So, I went on the same search about a week ago. I tried quite a few, but after reading about many, I settled on MSE as well.
Clamwin had issues in that all the testing reviews I could find only showed it recognizing about 50% of the viruses that were thrown at it. Avast! was listed higher, but it slowed machines down, AVG has always had one issue or another on the computers I've installed it on, and the free versions of any commercial product are so watered down that they were not worth it, either.
I went with MSE after reading quite a few positive reviews that put it above most other free AVs out there. It's got it's own issues (only finding about 95% of the viruses thrown at it), but it's still much better than any other option I've tried. I've even found it to not interfere with any other processes that are running.
Actually, if you read the complaint, there was NO indication in any documentation that was agreed upon by the parents that the school would access the webcam. The documents that were filed have this stated within them several times.
Personally, I like the XMB better than the interface to Xbox Live. It's really all about preferences. I own all 3 systems (PS3, Wii, X360), and I do a lot of online gaming on all 3. The Wii's version is the absolute worst. If you're going to require a friend code, it needs to be 1 universal code for ALL games, not just the game I happen to have in my console. But, that's not the subject.
The XMB seems more logically laid out to me. It's got a better flow to it in my opinion, and the integration into games is a lot better than it was when I bought my system a couple of years ago. Xbox Live, even with the "New Experience" is essentially the same as it was when I bought my Xbox. The only difference is that now I see a picture of my friends' avatar when I look at the list. In a way, it's also designed very similar to the XMB. Sure, it goes vertical instead of horizontal to pick the category. However, the interactions are all pretty much the same.
Honestly, I haven't seen anything on the Xbox that I can't do on the PS3. The main difference between the two is that the PS3's XMB integration into games feels more polished and superior to me. If you have MW2, it's drop dead easy to join a friend's session or invite them to yours. The same goes for other games that I play multiplayer and use the XMB for managing invites.
Actually, ALL PS3's have BC for PS1 Games, it's PS2 support that they don't have. The PS1 is fully software emulated in the PS3, while the PS2 is only 100% emulated on the early 60GB versions of the console. It had an EE chip in it that's missing from the other iterations of the hardware.
The BC in the 80GB version of the PS3 that I have only supports about 92% (last time I checked) of PS2 games because the EE chip couldn't be fully emulated. This means that some of my games are unplayable unless I find a PS2.
A good chunk of the reason I bought my PS3 when I did was because I was informed that PS2 compatibility was going to go away after the 80GB I bought was sold out. Since I had a few PS2 games I really enjoyed playing, I wanted to make sure I could continue to do so. I had a PS2 before I bought the PS3, but didn't really see the need to keep yet another system in my TV shelf.
Keep in mind that when the PS3 came out, Sony aggressively promoted the BC features. When they dropped support for it in the later revisions of the hardware, there was a major outcry on their discussion boards. In my opinion, it was Sony's way of saying that the PS3 wasn't selling as well as they had hoped, so to keep hardware sales up, they needed to re-focus some attention on the PS2 due to its popularity.
They forced this 'optimization' on a lot of us that bought laptops during Black Friday. I got a great deal on the laptop I bought, but had to cough up an extra $50 to buy it. If it wasn't for the fact the deal was still worth it, I wouldn't have gone with it and voted with my dollars.
I went back later that day, told the manager that he could either refund me the $50 extortion fee, or they could be charged my normal rate for fixing a computer to remove their optimizations. I had a bill in hand to fill out and hand to him if he said that they wouldn't refund the excess purchase. The upside: I got my money back, the downside: I had to spend an hour doing the system restore that came built into the laptop.
I had hoped he would have offered to pay me for my services to clean it. I would have gone through it step by step to remove what they had done, it might have been several hours, but it would have made my laptop free.
And for those that are wondering, yes it did make a difference. Using the default Sony load on my Vaio, the laptop is MUCH faster than it was with their 'optimized' services.
I'm curious as I have almost the exact same setup (7 Home Premium instead of Pro) and haven't run into this type of issue (yet). Since they both use the same Media Center, I can bet that this will happen later if it's going to. I have it checking a library that has approximately 200 videos, though I haven't tried the photo stuff yet. I don't really have a need to view my pictures on the TV, so I didn't get into it.
The real reason I like WMC is simply that it's easy. The interface is actually fairly clear and quick to understand, and that makes it easier for my kids to use it as well.
The Windows Media Center in Windows 7 blows Vista's out of the water for me. I currently have a PC connected to the TV with Vista on it, and refuse to use the media center. Instead, I stream media center to our Xbox from my Windows 7 machine to have access to much more content, including netflix. The only thing I haven't tried yet is to watch a blu-ray through it, but I have a PS3 for those and don't mind switching over to watch them.
Vista's MC doesn't have access to as much content as the MC in Windows 7. There's actually full TV shows available now, instead of the clips that Vista gives you. If possible, I'd get a copy of 7 and put it on a machine. The RC of 7 I'm running on our HTPC is on some fairly mediocre hardware: Intel 2.8 Dual Pentium, Gigabyte board with Intel HD4000 integrated graphics, and 2 GB of RAM. I think the whole system cost me $200 to build using an old case and power supply and a couple of small harddrives I had lying around.
Pretty much any Dell laptop has had this problem. I've worked on latitudes, inspirons, and many others of theirs, and all of them would do this eventually. It would act like there was something constantly pressing on a part of the touchpad, but there would be nothing there.
Found out that it was just the heat from other components radiating onto the device. When we ran them with cooling fans underneath to get rid of the heat, they worked fine.
It'll be just like FFXI, everyone there has the same name as any of the given characters. I think I've seen 30 or 40 variations of how to spell Sephiroth, as well as all the XxxSephirothxxx clones. At least their living the storyline, Sephiroth can pop up anywhere, out any of his 'kin' that are still roaming.
Don't be surprised if in the future you do see it.
I have heard a lot more local TV news stations that are affiliates of NBC or ABC advertise on the local CBS radio stations. The same for NBC advertising on the local ABC station, since the NBC station no longer exists.
You also see stuff on TV for the same. The local Fox and (before it became CW) WB stations would cross advertise all of hte time, and you couldn't go to any of the local channels without seeing an ad for Enterprise back when it was on the air.
I have 2 kids, 1 is 5yrs old, the other just turned 1yr old a couple days ago. Fortunately, I have never had this problem. I taught my daughter to not reach out towards the shelves before she turned 2. It wasn't that hard, but I did get a lot of stares from people around me.
I wasn't beating my kid (that's bad, and should never be done!!!!). Instead, I used the 'distract' method. If my daughter grabbed towards a shelf, I would drop her toy in her lap and say 'no grabbing'. Of course, this means having a toy with you at all times, but after a while, it works wonders. When she was 2 1/2, we stopped using the toy and relied on just 'no grabbing'. Believe it or not, it worked wonders.
The reason people looked at myself and my wife funny when we did this was because we were sharp about the tone when we said it. They thought we were slapping wrists, or spanking the kid (which did happen, as physical pain from a handslap is sometimes required).
Might want to give something like that a try next time you are at the store.
That's when it will really hit the fan. When the members of the AARP can't enjoy their TiVo that the grandson brought over, and the businessman that just spent 40,000 on his new A/V setup can't watch last night's game because of this. That's when the problems will start for the dumbasses that created these laws.
Take away the ability of your highest demographic of voters to do what they have always done and enjoy, and it will bite you in the ass hard.
You know, I came into the mod-scene with the original PlayStation. There were a ton of games that a friend of mine brought over from Europe and Japan that we wanted to play while he was here. Unfortunately, the European PS doesn't play on an NTSC TV.
Because of this, we modded my PS to play his games (all purchased copies, no 'backups'), and I learned of quite a few games that I would have missed out on, had it not been for that modchip.
I had him send me more games when he got back, as he travelled to Japan regularly and could get games for a decent price at the time. Too bad I couldn't read Japanese, though, as some of those games looked like they had interesting dialogue:)
If your program gave me a pop-up stating that the information was going to be sent... then there is no problem. If your software grabs that information and sends it to you without my knowledge, then that *IS* a problem to me.
Whether or not it is misconceived as a crack for the latest warez, or a weather program that will tell me what the conditions are in Alaska, doesn't matter. It's the fact that you are taking this data without my permission and posting it in a public place where I may not want it advertised.
I've never had a problem with Mandrake RPM front ends. URPMI and gURPMI seem to work just fine for what I use them for. I have had Mandrake boxen running for the last 4 or 5 years with that setup. In fact, their package management has gotten a lot better in the last two releases, and it is almost excellent in 10.0.
The hardest part about using MDK's package management, in my opinion, is choosing what you want to install. If you are in KDE, Kpackage comes up, asks for your root pass, then installs the RPM. No muss, no fuss.
Because ripping a CD doesn't require that you break any encryption. Because DVD's use CSS for encrypting the data that is on them, you cannot legally break that copy protection under the DMCA. CD's don't have that luxury as there is nothing encrypted on the disc.
I make my own DVD's by moving all of the RPM's the same folder, or by copying the RPMS,(2),(3) folder to the same dir that the original RPMS folder is in (forgot the path, and can't look at it at the moment). Just burn that to a DVD and it works fine... never swap a disc again:)
It's good to see someone use the GPL back at $CO for what it is worth. If Fyodor hadn't, would anyone else?
I would hope so, but so far it doesn't seem to be happening. I can't wait for others to do the same. Maybe groups like Samba can muster up the courage to do the same to these guys. Since $CO seems to be touting integration with Windows networks, losing Samba would be one of the things that they couldn't afford to do.
I got one of these a few months ago, and even though we don't have some of the features that the stand-alone boxes have, I really enjoy it. The local cable company is about $65 a month for the same channels I get for $45 (including Tivo service) from DirecTV.
I get all of the locals that are worth getting, and if I was outside of the area for my locals, I could get national access to ABC,NBC,CBS, etc. for either no cost, or $5 a month.
A company that I did support for recently moved from a shop in the US (my company) to one that is in India to 'reduce costs'. However, they have since hired more second and third level support reps in-house to maintain quality. So, they went from spending a minor amount having us do their support to spending far less, then increasing costs even higher by hiring more people at their location.
If a company is trying to save money, moving to another country isn't always the best option.
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They'll find a way to screw us into paying more taxes no matter what happens. They've already started with our '$30 car tabs' that the people passed several years ago. Now, they require a new license plate every 5 years on a vehicle, plus they can raise the rate being paid for tabs based on the weight of the vehicle. They're already talking about upping sales tax, which will likely pass. Next they will be looking at a state income tax once more. It's been pushed several times over the past 20 years, and each time they push it, it gets closer to passing. Now that there's a true fiscal need due to one of the highest budget deficits in state history, the state legislature is going to have to find a way to make up that difference. The only way is to raise taxes.
The down side is that many small businesses, which there are thousands of in WA, will likely burden the majority of these taxes. Companies like Microsoft will likely keep their tax breaks to stay here, while the rest of small businesses pay the exorbitant B&O taxes that are levied. Paying $75 in taxes on an $80 job (and yes, this did happen in one town here in WA just recently) means that no-one could survive while running a small business unless they charged prices that the economy can't sustain.
Actually, streaming to the Xbox is done in HD, albeit 720p last I checked. The PS3 also gets some content in HD, but not as much as the Xbox does yet. The Xbox in our house is pretty much used only for netflix streaming as it's connected to the old tv in the bedroom (and netflix is currently the only content we watch on that TV). I have brought it out to my 46" Bravia and seen a difference when streaming the HD version of content vs. the SD version of the same content.
I'm actually surprised the PS3 doesn't get more HD content, but then again, Microsoft has pretty much bought their way into being the sole provider of quite a few multiplatform contents that I would much rather see on my PS3. Not only do they get to have Netflix deny some HD content to the PS3, but they also took over the Rock Band Network, which means that 95% or more of the RBN releases that are coming out are only on the Xbox.
I have comcast, which gave me McAfee for the last few years, but then they switched to Norton, which caused nothing but problems for my machine. So, I went on the same search about a week ago. I tried quite a few, but after reading about many, I settled on MSE as well.
Clamwin had issues in that all the testing reviews I could find only showed it recognizing about 50% of the viruses that were thrown at it. Avast! was listed higher, but it slowed machines down, AVG has always had one issue or another on the computers I've installed it on, and the free versions of any commercial product are so watered down that they were not worth it, either.
I went with MSE after reading quite a few positive reviews that put it above most other free AVs out there. It's got it's own issues (only finding about 95% of the viruses thrown at it), but it's still much better than any other option I've tried. I've even found it to not interfere with any other processes that are running.
Actually, if you read the complaint, there was NO indication in any documentation that was agreed upon by the parents that the school would access the webcam. The documents that were filed have this stated within them several times.
Personally, I like the XMB better than the interface to Xbox Live. It's really all about preferences. I own all 3 systems (PS3, Wii, X360), and I do a lot of online gaming on all 3. The Wii's version is the absolute worst. If you're going to require a friend code, it needs to be 1 universal code for ALL games, not just the game I happen to have in my console. But, that's not the subject.
The XMB seems more logically laid out to me. It's got a better flow to it in my opinion, and the integration into games is a lot better than it was when I bought my system a couple of years ago. Xbox Live, even with the "New Experience" is essentially the same as it was when I bought my Xbox. The only difference is that now I see a picture of my friends' avatar when I look at the list. In a way, it's also designed very similar to the XMB. Sure, it goes vertical instead of horizontal to pick the category. However, the interactions are all pretty much the same.
Honestly, I haven't seen anything on the Xbox that I can't do on the PS3. The main difference between the two is that the PS3's XMB integration into games feels more polished and superior to me. If you have MW2, it's drop dead easy to join a friend's session or invite them to yours. The same goes for other games that I play multiplayer and use the XMB for managing invites.
She needs to be a Guest, not a subscriber. We do this at my house with Halo 3 all the time, so the wife and I can both play against friends.
Actually, ALL PS3's have BC for PS1 Games, it's PS2 support that they don't have. The PS1 is fully software emulated in the PS3, while the PS2 is only 100% emulated on the early 60GB versions of the console. It had an EE chip in it that's missing from the other iterations of the hardware.
The BC in the 80GB version of the PS3 that I have only supports about 92% (last time I checked) of PS2 games because the EE chip couldn't be fully emulated. This means that some of my games are unplayable unless I find a PS2.
A good chunk of the reason I bought my PS3 when I did was because I was informed that PS2 compatibility was going to go away after the 80GB I bought was sold out. Since I had a few PS2 games I really enjoyed playing, I wanted to make sure I could continue to do so. I had a PS2 before I bought the PS3, but didn't really see the need to keep yet another system in my TV shelf.
Keep in mind that when the PS3 came out, Sony aggressively promoted the BC features. When they dropped support for it in the later revisions of the hardware, there was a major outcry on their discussion boards. In my opinion, it was Sony's way of saying that the PS3 wasn't selling as well as they had hoped, so to keep hardware sales up, they needed to re-focus some attention on the PS2 due to its popularity.
They forced this 'optimization' on a lot of us that bought laptops during Black Friday. I got a great deal on the laptop I bought, but had to cough up an extra $50 to buy it. If it wasn't for the fact the deal was still worth it, I wouldn't have gone with it and voted with my dollars.
I went back later that day, told the manager that he could either refund me the $50 extortion fee, or they could be charged my normal rate for fixing a computer to remove their optimizations. I had a bill in hand to fill out and hand to him if he said that they wouldn't refund the excess purchase. The upside: I got my money back, the downside: I had to spend an hour doing the system restore that came built into the laptop.
I had hoped he would have offered to pay me for my services to clean it. I would have gone through it step by step to remove what they had done, it might have been several hours, but it would have made my laptop free.
And for those that are wondering, yes it did make a difference. Using the default Sony load on my Vaio, the laptop is MUCH faster than it was with their 'optimized' services.
I'm curious as I have almost the exact same setup (7 Home Premium instead of Pro) and haven't run into this type of issue (yet). Since they both use the same Media Center, I can bet that this will happen later if it's going to. I have it checking a library that has approximately 200 videos, though I haven't tried the photo stuff yet. I don't really have a need to view my pictures on the TV, so I didn't get into it.
The real reason I like WMC is simply that it's easy. The interface is actually fairly clear and quick to understand, and that makes it easier for my kids to use it as well.
The Windows Media Center in Windows 7 blows Vista's out of the water for me. I currently have a PC connected to the TV with Vista on it, and refuse to use the media center. Instead, I stream media center to our Xbox from my Windows 7 machine to have access to much more content, including netflix. The only thing I haven't tried yet is to watch a blu-ray through it, but I have a PS3 for those and don't mind switching over to watch them. Vista's MC doesn't have access to as much content as the MC in Windows 7. There's actually full TV shows available now, instead of the clips that Vista gives you. If possible, I'd get a copy of 7 and put it on a machine. The RC of 7 I'm running on our HTPC is on some fairly mediocre hardware: Intel 2.8 Dual Pentium, Gigabyte board with Intel HD4000 integrated graphics, and 2 GB of RAM. I think the whole system cost me $200 to build using an old case and power supply and a couple of small harddrives I had lying around.
Pretty much any Dell laptop has had this problem. I've worked on latitudes, inspirons, and many others of theirs, and all of them would do this eventually. It would act like there was something constantly pressing on a part of the touchpad, but there would be nothing there. Found out that it was just the heat from other components radiating onto the device. When we ran them with cooling fans underneath to get rid of the heat, they worked fine.
It'll be just like FFXI, everyone there has the same name as any of the given characters. I think I've seen 30 or 40 variations of how to spell Sephiroth, as well as all the XxxSephirothxxx clones. At least their living the storyline, Sephiroth can pop up anywhere, out any of his 'kin' that are still roaming.
Don't be surprised if in the future you do see it.
I have heard a lot more local TV news stations that are affiliates of NBC or ABC advertise on the local CBS radio stations. The same for NBC advertising on the local ABC station, since the NBC station no longer exists.
You also see stuff on TV for the same. The local Fox and (before it became CW) WB stations would cross advertise all of hte time, and you couldn't go to any of the local channels without seeing an ad for Enterprise back when it was on the air.
I have 2 kids, 1 is 5yrs old, the other just turned 1yr old a couple days ago. Fortunately, I have never had this problem. I taught my daughter to not reach out towards the shelves before she turned 2. It wasn't that hard, but I did get a lot of stares from people around me.
I wasn't beating my kid (that's bad, and should never be done!!!!). Instead, I used the 'distract' method. If my daughter grabbed towards a shelf, I would drop her toy in her lap and say 'no grabbing'. Of course, this means having a toy with you at all times, but after a while, it works wonders. When she was 2 1/2, we stopped using the toy and relied on just 'no grabbing'. Believe it or not, it worked wonders.
The reason people looked at myself and my wife funny when we did this was because we were sharp about the tone when we said it. They thought we were slapping wrists, or spanking the kid (which did happen, as physical pain from a handslap is sometimes required).
Might want to give something like that a try next time you are at the store.
Actually, they get 1 or 2 more. I know that the next one is called 'Cars' or something like that. Haven't heard what the story line is, though.
Heh... now I can blame the TV when I forget to hit the jump button right before I fall down that cliff!!!
Hey... I need all the excuses I can get in some games :)
That's when it will really hit the fan. When the members of the AARP can't enjoy their TiVo that the grandson brought over, and the businessman that just spent 40,000 on his new A/V setup can't watch last night's game because of this. That's when the problems will start for the dumbasses that created these laws.
Take away the ability of your highest demographic of voters to do what they have always done and enjoy, and it will bite you in the ass hard.
You know, I came into the mod-scene with the original PlayStation. There were a ton of games that a friend of mine brought over from Europe and Japan that we wanted to play while he was here. Unfortunately, the European PS doesn't play on an NTSC TV.
:)
Because of this, we modded my PS to play his games (all purchased copies, no 'backups'), and I learned of quite a few games that I would have missed out on, had it not been for that modchip.
I had him send me more games when he got back, as he travelled to Japan regularly and could get games for a decent price at the time. Too bad I couldn't read Japanese, though, as some of those games looked like they had interesting dialogue
If your program gave me a pop-up stating that the information was going to be sent... then there is no problem. If your software grabs that information and sends it to you without my knowledge, then that *IS* a problem to me.
Whether or not it is misconceived as a crack for the latest warez, or a weather program that will tell me what the conditions are in Alaska, doesn't matter. It's the fact that you are taking this data without my permission and posting it in a public place where I may not want it advertised.
I've never had a problem with Mandrake RPM front ends. URPMI and gURPMI seem to work just fine for what I use them for. I have had Mandrake boxen running for the last 4 or 5 years with that setup. In fact, their package management has gotten a lot better in the last two releases, and it is almost excellent in 10.0.
The hardest part about using MDK's package management, in my opinion, is choosing what you want to install. If you are in KDE, Kpackage comes up, asks for your root pass, then installs the RPM. No muss, no fuss.
Because ripping a CD doesn't require that you break any encryption. Because DVD's use CSS for encrypting the data that is on them, you cannot legally break that copy protection under the DMCA. CD's don't have that luxury as there is nothing encrypted on the disc.
I make my own DVD's by moving all of the RPM's the same folder, or by copying the RPMS,(2),(3) folder to the same dir that the original RPMS folder is in (forgot the path, and can't look at it at the moment). Just burn that to a DVD and it works fine... never swap a disc again :)
It's good to see someone use the GPL back at $CO for what it is worth. If Fyodor hadn't, would anyone else?
I would hope so, but so far it doesn't seem to be happening. I can't wait for others to do the same. Maybe groups like Samba can muster up the courage to do the same to these guys. Since $CO seems to be touting integration with Windows networks, losing Samba would be one of the things that they couldn't afford to do.
I got one of these a few months ago, and even though we don't have some of the features that the stand-alone boxes have, I really enjoy it. The local cable company is about $65 a month for the same channels I get for $45 (including Tivo service) from DirecTV. I get all of the locals that are worth getting, and if I was outside of the area for my locals, I could get national access to ABC,NBC,CBS, etc. for either no cost, or $5 a month.
A company that I did support for recently moved from a shop in the US (my company) to one that is in India to 'reduce costs'. However, they have since hired more second and third level support reps in-house to maintain quality. So, they went from spending a minor amount having us do their support to spending far less, then increasing costs even higher by hiring more people at their location.
If a company is trying to save money, moving to another country isn't always the best option.