1) coming up with a nifty idea for a device that he personally would find useful
2) Creating a prototype of that device, and deciding that it would be cool to produce and sell on the open market
3) Finding a manufacturer and working closely with them to get that prototype worked into a production form
4) Buying a share in that manufacturer with his own money when it looks like the manufacturer is in trouble
5) Defending himself when it looks like the manufacturer has gotten into bed with some unscrupulous characters and is attempting to steal his idea out from under him.
Constitutes being lazy, dishonest, and litigious.
He may still be a pompous ass, but until I hear the full story from BOTH sides and/or there is a decision on the case, I see no reason NOT to believe him, or at least give him the benefit of the doubt.
Incidentally, I DID RTFPDF (Read the F-ing PDF) and I found nothing in it that made me suspect shenanigans on Arrington's part. Of course, IANAL, and most of the accompanying legalese was opaque to me, to say the least. But the rest of it seemed above-board.
Perhaps, since this case relates to IP law, NYCL can comment? (assuming he hasn't already and I just missed it.) I would be interested to hear his take on it.
I love how my post, which includes multiple source links to back up my position is modedm "flamebait" while the post I am replying to, which is nothing but utter BS with nothing to back it up, is modded "Insightful".
Great post, except the part where you ascribe untruths to the Democratic party. They (we) represent a majority of Americans right now, and are not "far left" and DEFINITELY don't "hate the military". In fact many leaders of the Democrats (including Murtha) are retired military. Heck even many leaders of the far left, including Kos of DailyKos, are retired military. We may disagree about what is best for the military and the country, but please don't assign motives where none exist.
"Untruths"????
Did you not watch the video or read the quotes? Are you denying what is right there for everyone to read? The fact that members of the Democrat Party have, in the past, served, DOES NOT invalidate or absolve them from actions they have taken and things they have said since then.
Stop trying to use "Military Service" as a shield for heinous actions and statements. It's a braindead, strawman argument.
Oh, and the Dems representing a "majority" of the people is BS, complete and total. I mean, how can you POSSIBLY square that circle when poll after poll shows that Americans, OVERWHELMINGLY don't agree with the direction the Democrats are taking the country in, and that they don't trust the Dems?
However if you look at IDEOLOGY, Conservative vs Liberal vs Moderate, you will find that Conservatives FAR AND AWAY outnumber Liberals, and the "Moderate" group is shrinking, with more former moderates now identifying as Conservative. The Liberal group is also shrinking.
The nation is moving AWAY from far leftism as rapidly as it can, and Americans are becoming MORE conservative than ever before. So to say that the Far-Let Democrat party "repreresents a majority of Americans" is prevarication of the worst kind. To put it bluntly, you are full of shit and it is laughably easy to prove it.
Mandatory target practice is one thing, but virtual instruction that actually plays no part in gameplay is a bit idiotic.
Just about every powerful member of the Democrat party, to be honest.
(Yes, I realize that I accidentally included an apostrophe where I should not have if I meant multiple politicians. It was a typo, move on.)
But if you want specific examples, former presidential candidate John Kerry is an excellent one. In 2008 he infamously said to a group of college kids:
“You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”
Another excellent example is John Murtha's recent slander of the Marines, wherein he accused marines of murdering civilians in an incident at Haditha, Iraq. (Incidentally, all of the Marines involved have been acquitted or had the charges summarily dropped.) John Murtha is now being sued by the Marines and their families for slander.
Those are just TWO High profile examples. Unless you start thinking "Oh, it's just a couple of stupid loudmouths" Understand that this attitude runs from top to bottom of the far left, which has taken control of the Democrat party. We have had attacks on off-duty soldiers, vandalism against recruiting stations, and many many not-so-subtle jabs against military members as "stupid" "dumb" "thugs" "killers" etc. It's endemic in the far left and (by extension) the Democrat Party power structure. They HATE the military, and it shows.
Oh, and in case you were wondering about the education level of our Armed Forces:
– 49.2 percent of officers have advanced or professional degrees; 39.4 percent have master’s degrees, 8.5 percent have professional degrees and 1.3 percent have doctorate degrees.
– 22.8 percent of company grade officers have advanced degrees; 16.5 percent have master’s degrees, 5.9 percent have professional degrees and 0.3 percent have doctorate degrees.
– 85.4 percent of field grade officers have advanced degrees; 70.7 percent have master’s degrees, 12.1 percent have professional degrees and 2.5 percent have doctorate degrees.
– 99.9 percent of the enlisted force have at least a high school education; 73.3 percent have some semester hours toward a college degree; 16.2 percent have an associate’s degree or equivalent semester hours; 4.7 percent have a bachelor’s degree; 0.7 percent have a master’s degree and.01 percent have a professional or doctorate degree.”
that is from an internal military survey, which you can find HERE.
If you want more detailed information, an overall survey was performed by the heritage Foundation and an article on it (along with nifty charts) can be found HERE.
The point is, our military is OVERWHELMINGLY Educated, Middle Class, and White. (although whites are, on a proportional basis, slightly underrepresented, with Pacific Islanders somewhat overrepresented.) While I don't have specific figures I can quote, My understanding is that America's military is among the (if not THE) best educated and highest class (economically) in the world. That's something I, for one, am very proud of.
Mandatory target practice is one thing, but virtual instruction that actually plays no part in gameplay is a bit idiotic.
Unless, as Tellarin stated, the goal is to provide a more realistic simulation of what being in the Army is all about without the whole "spend months and months in training" bit. Thus the required learning and tests make perfect sense.
Honestly I think it's a smart approach. The last thing you want recruits to think is that you can join the Army and they just give you guns to play with. While I can't speak for other country's militaries, being a member of the American armed forces is actually quite difficult. Not merely on a physical level, but it is VERY mentally challenging.
Thus you will find that a very large portion of the American armed forced are highly intelligent and more often than not from middle class families. Despite some politician's desire to paint the military as a bunch of dumb poor people, the truth is the exact opposite.
(Note that I have never served in the American armed forces or any armed forces. Although I HAVE played the AA game and enjoyed it quite a bit. Hmmm.. Now I want to go download and play it again!)
Syndrome used technology, but his tech could be easily compared to this therapy.
His classic line delivered to Mr. Incredible seems most appropriate here: "...and when everyone is 'Super'... No-one will be."
It seems that once this is widely available, it won't really matter all that much as everyone will be 'Super'. We'll end up right back where we started, only more muscly.
Actually, what concerns me more is that we have become so good at making nutrient dense food that even if we completely stop producing myostatin we will STILL have Obese people. Just really strong Obese people.
And in other parts of the world which have health services based on Socialism and evil, not Capitalism and Freedom of choice, this treatment will be available as an elective free procedure, with a waiting list so long that no "common" person can get it, resulting in only the military and the elites that can buy it with corruption money actually receiving it.
FIFY.
What? Are you so naive that you actually think it works the way the Socialists say it will? Grow up. Socialized medicine is nothing but a death (AKA 'short life') sentence for anyone NOT tied into the political power structure.
Whoah, hold on there cowboy. Since when is it "child abuse" to NOT expose a child to sexually charged issues, PARTICULARLY without the parent's consent?
Yes, this ruling is inane, but that doesn't mean that allowing a parent to have the ultimate say over how their child is raised and what they are exposed to is "child abuse".
Also, it's not that children are a non-people, but that they are as-yet INCOMPLETE people in that as children, their cognitive centers are not yet fully formed and they are literally UNABLE to make the best and most informed decisions. Thus their parents and other adults in authority are given charge over them to raise them properly so that they will become healthy and productive members of society when they do reach adulthood.
At least, that's the general concept. It's not perfect, and doesn't always work (See: Geoffery Dahmer) But it's a damn sight better than anything else that's been tried. And it's certainly better than just exposing them to all the crap that's out there before their minds are ready for it.
If I'm playing an MMO and strike up a text chat with another character, not having any idea that this person is LEGALLY a "child" (IE: Under 18 years of age) and the conversation turns to drinking, then I could be ARRESTED in Canada?
WTF Canadians? I thought you people were nice and sensible!?
Welfare states collapse faster, and harm more people on the way by impoverishing them first.
If you look back through history, nearly every major civilization collapse can be credibly attributed to an overgrown and wasteful "socialistic" government.
It can also be accurately and credibly said that a state has NEVER collapsed from too much Freedom and Capitalism.
So which should we strive for? My money is on Freedom and Capitalism.
The Church of AGW has stolen TRILLIONS of dollars from the world economy on BS schemes which have both directly and indirectly cause economic and personal harm to BILLIONS of people around the world. (Hello? Kyoto Accords?)
I wonder how many people have starved because the AGW quacks have us turning food-stocks into auto fuel? Or have you already forgotten the cornmeal shortage-caused riots in the 3rd world over the last few summers? Another stupid scam foisted upon us by the Church of AGW.
You would have to be willfully ignorant to not see the massive damage already caused by the Church of AGW and their political accomplices on the far left. And what they have PLANNED will spell nothing less than the collapse of Human civilization and possibly the extinction of our species. All for a lie.
I love how when the "science" behind the global warming religion is shown to be a complete hoax, you warmers just point back to the ALREADY SHOWN TO BE FAKE data as some kind of "proof" that AGW is real.
(Realclimate? Seriously? Realclimate is the freaking Vatican of the Church of Global Warming. We're supposed to take ANYTHING they write seriously? HA!)
Get over it. AGW is a hoax, always has been. Your religion is a lie that was designed to allow AGW scientists to feather their nests with multi-million dollar grants and for their fellow travelers on the political far left to use as a tool to bludgeon free societies into socialist servitude. It's well past time to accept it like a big boy and move on.
Anyone who still believes the AGW crap is a brainwashed moron.
This is/. It's not as though many non-geek types who would need to be educated about blocking ads ever come here.
It's just us geeks here, and we are almost all already blocking the ads. There are literally BILLIONS of people who would never come here that will willingly continue to view annoying ads, thus subsidizing our little community. Those non-tech people will always be far larger than the tech people, so ad-banner revenues are in no danger for the foreseeable future, if ever.
I'd just like the ad guys to be WAY more security conscious so as to lessen the number of infection vectors from drive-by viruses and malware.
I get a kick out of all the dipshits replying to my post who either ignore or excise out the section of my post that says:
Worse still, many of the ads are from some of the same places that have had (or currently have) issues with drive-by infection ads. So in order to watch your video, you MUST put your machine at risk.
Right before the last part where I say:
It's a disgusting abuse of viewers and needs to stop.
Then proceed to impugn my intentions with the implication that I think content should be free.
You see these primarily on video sites (Hulu, various news channel video sections, etc.) where you have some video content that you want to see, but FIRST they want to display an ad to you.
If you have AdBlock Plus installed, you can NEVER see the video! It is specifically set up so that you cannot get to the video without first viewing the ad. Blocking the ad results in a blacked-out video player and no error message. (Although the observant will usually notice the "attempting to connect to [ad server]" message in the browser status area.)
Worse still, many of the ads are from some of the same places that have had (or currently have) issues with drive-by infection ads. So in order to watch your video, you MUST put your machine at risk.
It's a disgusting abuse of viewers and needs to stop.
Oh, I knew about the EVE Bank scandal, You couldn't play EVE and NOT know about it. I was just questioning the veracity of the report that the CEO in question actually used the virtual funds to buy a real house.
Although I suppose (as another has postulated) that he could have sold the funds for real money, but that seems unlikely as well, given the high-profile nature of the scam, I suspect that CCP was watching his account closely for large ISK transfers. Although back then I know that they weren't as vigilant as they are now, so a massive RMT for all those billions of ISK might be possible, although I still think it highly unlikely.
There is no "CEO" of Eve Online. Eve Online is a game produced by CCP of Iceland.
There ARE Virtual CEO's of Virtual corporations within the Space-based MMO EVE Online.
I am also not aware of any corp CEO that has used EVE-O ISK to buy a real world house. Somehow I doubt any bank would accept a virtual money as collateral on a real house. Of course, If a private party was that foolish, then hey, more power to the corp CEO. Nevertheless that sounds like a fake story.
Umm.. The size rating refers to the inner diameter of the barrel, NOT the length of the barrel. So a 16' gun would be firing a shell the size of a small house. Somehow I doubt that would be a good fit on even the largest of seafaring vessels, all issues of weight and practicality aside.
Re:So let me get this straight...
on
Less Than Free
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· Score: 0, Offtopic
Just as a side note, for all the Android fans out there, the Palm's WebOS has had the exact same ability since release as well.
(In regards to not needing to "jailbreak" the phone to put cool mods and 3rd party stuff on it.)
I've been busy moving / getting laid off (yay recession!) / starting a new job / fixing up my house for the last 3 years and pretty much stopped following the component market.
I'm still using an Athlon 64 3500+ (socket 939) on an Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard. That's an AGP motherboard for anyone who cares. So I have an Nvidia 7600GS AGP card. 2 GB Ram running Windows XP SP3.
I think my setup is at least 4 years old, possibly 5 or 6. I've honestly lost track. but it's still going strong, even though I just had to replace my DVD burner as my 6 year old Lite-On burner finally gave up the ghost and wouldn't read discs of any kind anymore.
Slashdot Mirror
Pompous ass or not, I don't see how Arrington;
1) coming up with a nifty idea for a device that he personally would find useful
2) Creating a prototype of that device, and deciding that it would be cool to produce and sell on the open market
3) Finding a manufacturer and working closely with them to get that prototype worked into a production form
4) Buying a share in that manufacturer with his own money when it looks like the manufacturer is in trouble
5) Defending himself when it looks like the manufacturer has gotten into bed with some unscrupulous characters and is attempting to steal his idea out from under him.
Constitutes being lazy, dishonest, and litigious.
He may still be a pompous ass, but until I hear the full story from BOTH sides and/or there is a decision on the case, I see no reason NOT to believe him, or at least give him the benefit of the doubt.
Incidentally, I DID RTFPDF (Read the F-ing PDF) and I found nothing in it that made me suspect shenanigans on Arrington's part. Of course, IANAL, and most of the accompanying legalese was opaque to me, to say the least. But the rest of it seemed above-board.
Perhaps, since this case relates to IP law, NYCL can comment? (assuming he hasn't already and I just missed it.) I would be interested to hear his take on it.
I love how my post, which includes multiple source links to back up my position is modedm "flamebait" while the post I am replying to, which is nothing but utter BS with nothing to back it up, is modded "Insightful".
Can I get a correction mod please?
"Untruths"????
Did you not watch the video or read the quotes? Are you denying what is right there for everyone to read? The fact that members of the Democrat Party have, in the past, served, DOES NOT invalidate or absolve them from actions they have taken and things they have said since then.
Stop trying to use "Military Service" as a shield for heinous actions and statements. It's a braindead, strawman argument.
Oh, and the Dems representing a "majority" of the people is BS, complete and total. I mean, how can you POSSIBLY square that circle when poll after poll shows that Americans, OVERWHELMINGLY don't agree with the direction the Democrats are taking the country in, and that they don't trust the Dems?
Yes, Political PARTY affiliation is slightly higher with the Dems than the GOP, Although that is shrinking.
However if you look at IDEOLOGY, Conservative vs Liberal vs Moderate, you will find that Conservatives FAR AND AWAY outnumber Liberals, and the "Moderate" group is shrinking, with more former moderates now identifying as Conservative. The Liberal group is also shrinking.
The nation is moving AWAY from far leftism as rapidly as it can, and Americans are becoming MORE conservative than ever before. So to say that the Far-Let Democrat party "repreresents a majority of Americans" is prevarication of the worst kind. To put it bluntly, you are full of shit and it is laughably easy to prove it.
Just about every powerful member of the Democrat party, to be honest.
(Yes, I realize that I accidentally included an apostrophe where I should not have if I meant multiple politicians. It was a typo, move on.)
But if you want specific examples, former presidential candidate John Kerry is an excellent one. In 2008 he infamously said to a group of college kids:
HERE is the video of that one.
Another excellent example is John Murtha's recent slander of the Marines, wherein he accused marines of murdering civilians in an incident at Haditha, Iraq. (Incidentally, all of the Marines involved have been acquitted or had the charges summarily dropped.) John Murtha is now being sued by the Marines and their families for slander.
Those are just TWO High profile examples. Unless you start thinking "Oh, it's just a couple of stupid loudmouths" Understand that this attitude runs from top to bottom of the far left, which has taken control of the Democrat party. We have had attacks on off-duty soldiers, vandalism against recruiting stations, and many many not-so-subtle jabs against military members as "stupid" "dumb" "thugs" "killers" etc. It's endemic in the far left and (by extension) the Democrat Party power structure. They HATE the military, and it shows.
Oh, and in case you were wondering about the education level of our Armed Forces:
that is from an internal military survey, which you can find HERE.
If you want more detailed information, an overall survey was performed by the heritage Foundation and an article on it (along with nifty charts) can be found HERE.
The point is, our military is OVERWHELMINGLY Educated, Middle Class, and White. (although whites are, on a proportional basis, slightly underrepresented, with Pacific Islanders somewhat overrepresented.) While I don't have specific figures I can quote, My understanding is that America's military is among the (if not THE) best educated and highest class (economically) in the world. That's something I, for one, am very proud of.
I hope that answers your questions.
Unless, as Tellarin stated, the goal is to provide a more realistic simulation of what being in the Army is all about without the whole "spend months and months in training" bit. Thus the required learning and tests make perfect sense.
Honestly I think it's a smart approach. The last thing you want recruits to think is that you can join the Army and they just give you guns to play with. While I can't speak for other country's militaries, being a member of the American armed forces is actually quite difficult. Not merely on a physical level, but it is VERY mentally challenging.
Thus you will find that a very large portion of the American armed forced are highly intelligent and more often than not from middle class families. Despite some politician's desire to paint the military as a bunch of dumb poor people, the truth is the exact opposite.
(Note that I have never served in the American armed forces or any armed forces. Although I HAVE played the AA game and enjoyed it quite a bit. Hmmm.. Now I want to go download and play it again!)
Syndrome used technology, but his tech could be easily compared to this therapy.
His classic line delivered to Mr. Incredible seems most appropriate here: "...and when everyone is 'Super'... No-one will be."
It seems that once this is widely available, it won't really matter all that much as everyone will be 'Super'. We'll end up right back where we started, only more muscly.
Actually, what concerns me more is that we have become so good at making nutrient dense food that even if we completely stop producing myostatin we will STILL have Obese people. Just really strong Obese people.
Sooo... You're that guy in the medical book from "The Breakfast Club"?
Glad to see you found a treatment for your condition. Besides, who wants the Brat Pack laughing at them?
FIFY.
What? Are you so naive that you actually think it works the way the Socialists say it will? Grow up. Socialized medicine is nothing but a death (AKA 'short life') sentence for anyone NOT tied into the political power structure.
Hmmm... That brings up an interesting point:
Does "teabagging n00bs after you've Pwned them" count as "chat"?
An interesting question to ponder... ;)
Whoah, hold on there cowboy. Since when is it "child abuse" to NOT expose a child to sexually charged issues, PARTICULARLY without the parent's consent?
Yes, this ruling is inane, but that doesn't mean that allowing a parent to have the ultimate say over how their child is raised and what they are exposed to is "child abuse".
Also, it's not that children are a non-people, but that they are as-yet INCOMPLETE people in that as children, their cognitive centers are not yet fully formed and they are literally UNABLE to make the best and most informed decisions. Thus their parents and other adults in authority are given charge over them to raise them properly so that they will become healthy and productive members of society when they do reach adulthood.
At least, that's the general concept. It's not perfect, and doesn't always work (See: Geoffery Dahmer) But it's a damn sight better than anything else that's been tried. And it's certainly better than just exposing them to all the crap that's out there before their minds are ready for it.
If I'm playing an MMO and strike up a text chat with another character, not having any idea that this person is LEGALLY a "child" (IE: Under 18 years of age) and the conversation turns to drinking, then I could be ARRESTED in Canada?
WTF Canadians? I thought you people were nice and sensible!?
Welfare states collapse faster, and harm more people on the way by impoverishing them first.
If you look back through history, nearly every major civilization collapse can be credibly attributed to an overgrown and wasteful "socialistic" government.
It can also be accurately and credibly said that a state has NEVER collapsed from too much Freedom and Capitalism.
So which should we strive for? My money is on Freedom and Capitalism.
Congratulations. You can ape George Monbiot. Got any other tricks, or is that the extent of your intellect?
The Church of AGW has stolen TRILLIONS of dollars from the world economy on BS schemes which have both directly and indirectly cause economic and personal harm to BILLIONS of people around the world. (Hello? Kyoto Accords?)
I wonder how many people have starved because the AGW quacks have us turning food-stocks into auto fuel? Or have you already forgotten the cornmeal shortage-caused riots in the 3rd world over the last few summers? Another stupid scam foisted upon us by the Church of AGW.
You would have to be willfully ignorant to not see the massive damage already caused by the Church of AGW and their political accomplices on the far left. And what they have PLANNED will spell nothing less than the collapse of Human civilization and possibly the extinction of our species. All for a lie.
You Church of AGW types know all about Bullshit. It's your stock in trade.
I love how when the "science" behind the global warming religion is shown to be a complete hoax, you warmers just point back to the ALREADY SHOWN TO BE FAKE data as some kind of "proof" that AGW is real.
(Realclimate? Seriously? Realclimate is the freaking Vatican of the Church of Global Warming. We're supposed to take ANYTHING they write seriously? HA!)
Get over it. AGW is a hoax, always has been. Your religion is a lie that was designed to allow AGW scientists to feather their nests with multi-million dollar grants and for their fellow travelers on the political far left to use as a tool to bludgeon free societies into socialist servitude. It's well past time to accept it like a big boy and move on.
Anyone who still believes the AGW crap is a brainwashed moron.
Dude, chill out.
This is /. It's not as though many non-geek types who would need to be educated about blocking ads ever come here.
It's just us geeks here, and we are almost all already blocking the ads. There are literally BILLIONS of people who would never come here that will willingly continue to view annoying ads, thus subsidizing our little community. Those non-tech people will always be far larger than the tech people, so ad-banner revenues are in no danger for the foreseeable future, if ever.
I'd just like the ad guys to be WAY more security conscious so as to lessen the number of infection vectors from drive-by viruses and malware.
I get a kick out of all the dipshits replying to my post who either ignore or excise out the section of my post that says:
Right before the last part where I say:
Then proceed to impugn my intentions with the implication that I think content should be free.
Idiots.
Worse than even that though are "chained" ads.
You see these primarily on video sites (Hulu, various news channel video sections, etc.) where you have some video content that you want to see, but FIRST they want to display an ad to you.
If you have AdBlock Plus installed, you can NEVER see the video! It is specifically set up so that you cannot get to the video without first viewing the ad. Blocking the ad results in a blacked-out video player and no error message. (Although the observant will usually notice the "attempting to connect to [ad server]" message in the browser status area.)
Worse still, many of the ads are from some of the same places that have had (or currently have) issues with drive-by infection ads. So in order to watch your video, you MUST put your machine at risk.
It's a disgusting abuse of viewers and needs to stop.
Oh, I knew about the EVE Bank scandal, You couldn't play EVE and NOT know about it. I was just questioning the veracity of the report that the CEO in question actually used the virtual funds to buy a real house.
Although I suppose (as another has postulated) that he could have sold the funds for real money, but that seems unlikely as well, given the high-profile nature of the scam, I suspect that CCP was watching his account closely for large ISK transfers. Although back then I know that they weren't as vigilant as they are now, so a massive RMT for all those billions of ISK might be possible, although I still think it highly unlikely.
There is no "CEO" of Eve Online. Eve Online is a game produced by CCP of Iceland.
There ARE Virtual CEO's of Virtual corporations within the Space-based MMO EVE Online.
I am also not aware of any corp CEO that has used EVE-O ISK to buy a real world house. Somehow I doubt any bank would accept a virtual money as collateral on a real house. Of course, If a private party was that foolish, then hey, more power to the corp CEO. Nevertheless that sounds like a fake story.
Umm.. The size rating refers to the inner diameter of the barrel, NOT the length of the barrel. So a 16' gun would be firing a shell the size of a small house. Somehow I doubt that would be a good fit on even the largest of seafaring vessels, all issues of weight and practicality aside.
Just as a side note, for all the Android fans out there, the Palm's WebOS has had the exact same ability since release as well.
(In regards to not needing to "jailbreak" the phone to put cool mods and 3rd party stuff on it.)
Just so you know.
Wow. It's amazing how prices have come down.
I've been busy moving / getting laid off (yay recession!) / starting a new job / fixing up my house for the last 3 years and pretty much stopped following the component market.
I'm still using an Athlon 64 3500+ (socket 939) on an Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard. That's an AGP motherboard for anyone who cares. So I have an Nvidia 7600GS AGP card. 2 GB Ram running Windows XP SP3.
I think my setup is at least 4 years old, possibly 5 or 6. I've honestly lost track. but it's still going strong, even though I just had to replace my DVD burner as my 6 year old Lite-On burner finally gave up the ghost and wouldn't read discs of any kind anymore.
Maybe it's time to upgrade...
This is /. We don't DO "lower tech" solutions here bub.