Except that unfortunately in the UK you don't even have the luxury of being able to keep your yap shut, since there isn't a right to remain silent anymore.
This is why folks should be paying attention to any diagnostics they can pull off their UPS. Sealed VRLA Batteries usually last about 4-5 years and often you'll see a trend of either decreased voltage or increased internal resistance a few months prior to them failing.
Proper maintenance practices can help prevent this kind of problem (as with most things).
This is pure FUD, pointing a finger at Mass Effect 2 as an example. My internet connection has been down at home for over a week and I've had many hours of fun with Mass Effect 2 over the last 2 days.You don't have to register with EA to play the game, nor do you need to be online whatsoever to play.. In terms of 'Good Gear' there is plenty of "good gear" in the game found through loot, in game stores and (primarily) in game research. The only additional items are several preorder items that were given to people who either preordered from a certain store or bought the collectors edition.
As far as I've seen there isn't ANY paid DLC online yet other than the Cerberus Network, and you get that for FREE if you bought a brand new copy of the game.
Northrop Grumman's core business is making airplanes (at least it was). So what we have here is a non-core business effort on behalf of a state government contract. I'll bet it was staffed by the B team at Northrup Grumman because real IT hot shots just are not motivated to get out of bed in the morning to chase state government contracts. On top of this staffing issues, I'm sure the government had lots of non-standard 'requirements' from insecure bureaucrats that need to justify their jobs. This is a lethal combination of doom for this project. The solution is standard requirements shared by lots of similar customers that is chased after by multiple competing vendors but I suspect the politics of patronage in Virginia would never let that happen.
Northrop Grumman has an entire arm of its business devoted to Information Systems that makes about $10 billion in revenue a year. They aren't exactly a small time operation when it comes to IT.
The Richmond Times Dispatch really seems to hate the Northrop Grumman / VITA project. Actually, from my experience a lot of folks down in Richmond hate it and tend to bad mouth it endlessly.
There is a lot of bad sentiment here in VA as this consolidation/outsourcing of IT cost quite a few State jobs which obviously upset a lot of people. Of course, they forget the fact that Northrop Grumman is one of the State's biggest employers and that they were hiring people to work at the new location. I still hear of lot of anger on radio stations and in the news when I'm in that region.
Power failure are very frequent depending on where you live in the country, and it only takes a brief sag in voltage to take down your system/rack/entire data center if you are unprotected by a UPS.
A good, solid UPS is very reliable as long as you keep it maintained. The major issue is keeping the batteries good, not continually exposing them to deep discharges, etc.
There is a reason that the Microsofts, Googles and other huge users of data centers spend millions of dollars on critical infrastructure like UPSs in order to protect their investments.
The decision to roll the tech out in Washington DC may have been made since Sprint's Executive HQ is in Reston, VA. Reston is just a stones throw from DC in the Dulles Corridor, the facility is basically on the main highway between DC and Dulles International Airport; its a very short distance.
I'm glad to see that Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is on the list. I greatly enjoyed co-op multiplayer action RPGs like that back in the XBox/PS2 days. I think I'll grab a used copy at lunchtime; plenty of entertainment for only $12 and my Wife will enjoy playing through it again.
I know Dark Alliance 2 has been on the list forever, but its so rare that it still commands upwards of $30 for a used copy in Gamestop. Besides, Dark Alliance was a much tighter game and had much less 'filler' than its rather lackluster sequel.
Yes, the huge traditional English breakfast is real.
It was a family tradition for me when I was a child - every Sunday morning without fail. Bacon, eggs, sausage, baked beans, fried mushrooms, tomatoes, toast, marmalade, and most importantly, fried bread.
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Except that unfortunately in the UK you don't even have the luxury of being able to keep your yap shut, since there isn't a right to remain silent anymore.
This is why folks should be paying attention to any diagnostics they can pull off their UPS. Sealed VRLA Batteries usually last about 4-5 years and often you'll see a trend of either decreased voltage or increased internal resistance a few months prior to them failing. Proper maintenance practices can help prevent this kind of problem (as with most things).
As far as I've seen there isn't ANY paid DLC online yet other than the Cerberus Network, and you get that for FREE if you bought a brand new copy of the game.
Northrop Grumman's core business is making airplanes (at least it was). So what we have here is a non-core business effort on behalf of a state government contract. I'll bet it was staffed by the B team at Northrup Grumman because real IT hot shots just are not motivated to get out of bed in the morning to chase state government contracts. On top of this staffing issues, I'm sure the government had lots of non-standard 'requirements' from insecure bureaucrats that need to justify their jobs. This is a lethal combination of doom for this project. The solution is standard requirements shared by lots of similar customers that is chased after by multiple competing vendors but I suspect the politics of patronage in Virginia would never let that happen.
Northrop Grumman has an entire arm of its business devoted to Information Systems that makes about $10 billion in revenue a year. They aren't exactly a small time operation when it comes to IT.
There is a lot of bad sentiment here in VA as this consolidation/outsourcing of IT cost quite a few State jobs which obviously upset a lot of people. Of course, they forget the fact that Northrop Grumman is one of the State's biggest employers and that they were hiring people to work at the new location. I still hear of lot of anger on radio stations and in the news when I'm in that region.
Master Yoda called this back in The Empire Strikes Back: "Luminous beings are we...not this crude matter!"
Power failure are very frequent depending on where you live in the country, and it only takes a brief sag in voltage to take down your system/rack/entire data center if you are unprotected by a UPS.
A good, solid UPS is very reliable as long as you keep it maintained. The major issue is keeping the batteries good, not continually exposing them to deep discharges, etc.
There is a reason that the Microsofts, Googles and other huge users of data centers spend millions of dollars on critical infrastructure like UPSs in order to protect their investments.
The decision to roll the tech out in Washington DC may have been made since Sprint's Executive HQ is in Reston, VA. Reston is just a stones throw from DC in the Dulles Corridor, the facility is basically on the main highway between DC and Dulles International Airport; its a very short distance.
I'm glad to see that Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is on the list. I greatly enjoyed co-op multiplayer action RPGs like that back in the XBox/PS2 days. I think I'll grab a used copy at lunchtime; plenty of entertainment for only $12 and my Wife will enjoy playing through it again. I know Dark Alliance 2 has been on the list forever, but its so rare that it still commands upwards of $30 for a used copy in Gamestop. Besides, Dark Alliance was a much tighter game and had much less 'filler' than its rather lackluster sequel.
Yes, the huge traditional English breakfast is real.
It was a family tradition for me when I was a child - every Sunday morning without fail. Bacon, eggs, sausage, baked beans, fried mushrooms, tomatoes, toast, marmalade, and most importantly, fried bread.
Bread. Fried in bacon grease. Food of the gods.
I think the honor of 'stealing the show' at last years E3 went resoundingly to Will Wright and the rather stunning presentation of 'Spore'.