Jokes aside, you got something against chocolate? Because that's what a lot of people think of when you tell them to think of something brown.
And while neither an MS or Apple fan, I say, the more competition, the merrier! I look forward to better mp3 players in the future, although probably the one I get won't be from either MS or Apple. Why not? Besides them and Creative, you'll have two types: those producing junk to sell to folks who can't or don't want to pay so much for a Zune or an iPod, and those who are making mp3 players better than everybody so they can make more headway into the market. Shop at a site that has customer reviews and you'll easily be able to tell them apart.
Good one, but in all seriousness, I know a guy who is 32 who hangs out at MySpace (yes, I was like "MySpace?! What the hell is wrong with you?"). Turns out there are enough people there in their mid- to late twenties and thirties to make it a social networking site for them too, not just the teens and tweens.
He started with "I'm really not trying to troll or flame" or something similar. That's the internet equivalent of "I'm just sayin'", which some people follow up rude or instulting comments under some illusion that it makes their statement less insulting or rude. Apparently, it works.
Internet, shminternet. This sort of thing happened before there was an internet. Ever heard of personal ads in newspapers? The only thing the internet adds to this is that it makes it easier to publish -- but it was still possible even in 1940. And the fact that the respondents did a stupid thing is hardly an excuse for violating them like this. What, you never made a stupid mistake of an embarassing nature? If you answer "no" you're either so young you shouldn't be reading at a site like/. or you're Jesus Himself. The difference is that you were probably luckier than these guys.
Tell that to the users of Xandros; there is no OCE with version 4 and it features full-fledged product activation, ala Windows XP. I kinda feel like you're right about a lot of distros, but not with a few others. Many have a "deluxe" or "professional" version for sale and claim that they charge for it to cover their costs, but then they keep jacking up their prices -- like the Mandrake community, memebership in which costed more on a yearly basis than Lindows CNR (which went down in price and is now free). I guess you find out which is which after you've been around a couple of years. Weird, just a few months ago I would've recommended Xandros OCE over Linspire to newbies, now I've completely switched around.
You work for them, don't you? Your post just drips with your agenda. "I assume that you have had the pleasure of using Apple hardware." Jesus. And this?" You realize that the quality of mac hardware is without comparison. Whether old or new mac hardware the build is beyond excellent and that is important to some people." No, Apple's hardware is not without comparison. The best PC hardware is just as good and often better. I use the best PC hardware and almost never have a problem with any of it whatsoever. (Windows itself is another story.) Yet I hear of Apple hardware problems on the internet almost every week. I'd love to see comparisons of the proportions of RMAed quality PC hardware versus RMAed Apple hardware -- I'd bet you a new gaming rig that they'd be lower. It's true that Apple beats the crap out of Dell, but someone like me never uses Dell parts for anything. You're right that excellent hardware matters to some people, it cetainly does to me, and that's why I build my own PCs from the best parts rather than buying Apple. I never build a computer using secnd-rate parts at all; my reputation in this area is built on that. If you bring me a Dell, Gateway, etc. I'll fix it and teach you how to use Windows more safely; if I build a computer for you, it will last at least 10 years. I don't mean to sound like a commercial for myself, I'm trying to show you how much what I do depends on great hardware.
As just a quick reference, go here, select sort by best rating and read on. Many of these parts have two hundred or more positive reviews without a single problem; several have over two hundred votes with no votes below 5 out of 5. If you actually read these you'll notice that several of them are written by people who don't treat their hardware delicately either. And that's just at Newegg; there are other sites. (I do my research on parts, so the reviews just at Newegg aren't enough for me.)
Very bad analogy. Murder is hardly comparable to copyright infringement, especially since they keep changing the copyright laws in their favor but to the detriment of everyone else.
Maybe it would help more nerds get dates if they did have to watch porn at high definition. Then they would realize that most real women don't look like that.
Windows has evolved more?! What the hell are you smoking? Can I have some? Here it is 2006 and we still don't have a final version of Vista yet. What year did XP come out again? Was it 2002 or 2003? And the people who have the RC of Vista can hardly name a single feature that Vista has that XP doesn't besides shiny new Aero. Every other OS out there has evolved much more than that in that time period. Jesus, the outright lies you see on here aren't even funny.
I don't own a 360 and will probably not own any of the next gen systems
We're with you -- and what says everything is that my husband is a hard-core gamer. I game some too, but more in pen & paper RPGs. Anyhoo, here's our assessment of the next generation consoles:
XBox 360: Very limited backwards compatibility. To play XBox games, you need an XBox. 360 doesn't play both. Therefore lacking in a big enough library of games to our tastes. PS3: If everthing holds true, WAY over-priced and too much DRM. Husband says if he wants to get screwed that way he can just commit a serious crime and turn himself in. Big library of games, true, but the vast majority of that will play on our PS2. Wii: Maaaaybe. Past two Nintendos haven't had a whole lot of games we wanted, but with Sony shooting themselves in the foot every time they speak, more devs might switch over to the Wii. Let's wait and see.
In conclusion, if we buy any console out of this generation, it'll almost certainly be the Wii and we're not even sure about that yet. If there are more folks out there like us, gamers old enough to have seen more than one console generation before now, this may not bode well for any of the console companies.
That's a very valid point. We keep seeing these sensationalist articles about how much damage Vista is going to do when it comes about to this or that, as if everyone running Windows is going to switch en masse. In what universe will that take place? There are still people running 98 and 2k now, so why do these authors assume that 90% of Windows boxes are going to be running Vista less than a year after it's debut? Besides that, most Windows-users were running 98 (or, oh God, ME) when XP came out and XP was a definite step up -- but it's been made clear over and over again that Vista won't be a huge step up from XP. I definitely believe that it's adoption is going to be slower than XP's for that reason. When it comes out, people will find out that it's not such a big deal. And they will find out; how could they not? Computers are more common now, and those who get it will be questioned by everyone they know who doesn't have it. Most likely 90% of people running Vista willbe those who got it on their new pre-manufactured computer.
No, they're not critical to life, but if you want to watch a movie or listen to music, you have to deal with them. Are there human beings who can see and hear who never want to watch a movie or listen to music if they possibly can? Have fun finding some of them.
have you ever tried implementing a Captcha system that was usable by the blind?
Good. Captcha is almost as over-used as Flash and no less than half as annoying. Everyone saya it's to prevent spammers, but everywhere I see it that either shouldn't be an issue or it has failed miserably to prevent spamming. Why the hell do I need to type in a Captcha to download a file that should be freely available? Or to sign up with a site that only has downloads, i.e., there's no possible way you could spam them? What the hell does that have to do with preventing spambots? And Captcha to prevent spammers from signging up to forums or email groups? I've never seen this work -- the only thing that works is active moderation. As soon as you lose the active mods, it becomes a spam pit, no matter how blurry the Captcha. I'm not just being a bitch here, I'd really like to know what Captcha is good for because I've never seen it be good for anything.
Re:Should Congressional Action Be Warranted?
on
UnBox Calls Home, A Lot
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· Score: 2, Interesting
If you don't like the way the companies are run, don't buy their products.
That's a statement I am so fucking sick of reading on this site. It would be applicable if the entertainment companies weren't pretty much the only game in town. But 99% of everything to do with media entertainment available is from them, so you have no damn choice but to deal with them. This "well you don't have to buy their products" line is bullshit, and over-used, dead tired bullshit at that.
or there is an "interdict law" among space-faring races, that protect from contact planets with primitive life forms that may eventually develop intelligence.
That assumes many things which shouldn't be assumed. Just because FTL travel exists in almost every modern SF show doesn't mean that it's possible. Sapient life could actually be common but we wouldn't know about it if very few, if any, species make it no farther than their own solar system. And then there's the War of the Worlds syndrome, which all too few/.ers seem to take seriously: the problem of alien bacteria. Native bacteria would likely be quite deadly to aliens. How could they possibly immunize themselves against everything? With that in mind, it might be safer to stick to lifeless planets to get your resources from. Just visiting out of curiosity? That assumes a lot too, like that some aliens would care. Perhaps some wouldn't give a crap about humanity, labeling us Species 8472 on Rock3. Even if they did, and they had the technology to get here, they could probably study us all they want from a safe distance (safe from us and our bacteria) without us ever knowing.
Actually, all of the major parts on that gaming rig except one first came out less than 14 months ago. I'm talking about the model of the parts, not when the parts themselves were manufactured.
You might find the occassional gamer satisfied with Win 98 and DX7.
DX7? DX9 works on Win98. I should know, a lot of my customers are still running 98, even though I encourage them to upgrade to 2k, which is far more stable.
It still is a perfectly fine operating system. Some apps require XP, but those are in the minority; most still work fine with 2k. And having expereinced both 2k and XP, I can tell you that 2k is actually more reliable. I've used XP for months now -- my husband wanted it because a few games he adores won't run on 2k -- and it has only locked up on me twice (which is actually as good as most *nix distros I've tried). But 2k was more reliable still, with lock-ups even fewer and some apps being more stable, despite the fact that some of those apps were developed after XP came out.
in a year or less you will NOT be able to purchase a computer with XP on it
Pre-manufactured computers, yes. Parts? I doubt it. I just built two computers and the parts all came with drivers for Windows 98 -- and one of them was a powerful gaming rig.
I call troll on your calling troll. You said that magic word in your argument that Macs are better than PCs -- Dell. Macs may be better than Dells, but Dells aren't the only PCs out there, let alone the best. I built a PC over 4 years ago that has not needed a replacement for even one part on it and is still running fine. I can build you a PC that is over TWICE as powerful as the nearest comparably-priced Mac, and I guaratee it will still work fine in 10 years. 25 years? My co-worker's IBM is literally that old too and it also still works fine. Durability and good hardware aren't the exclusive property of Macs.
Old? Go read some of the reviews of cases at Newegg -- lots of them still have sharp edges. It's actually still fairly common for cases to have sharp edges.
t's meant to scare competitors into either throwing the gauntlet or over spending
Hmmmm. If I were the sneaky type myself, I could believe this. Spread a rumor that you're going to do something like this, watch comptetiotors fall over themselves to do it before you do, then sit back and watch get into deep shit with everybody (possibly even the law). But then I'm not a particularly sneaky person, so I'd never think that.
/. doesn't just need "-1 WRONG," it also needs "-1 No Sense Of Humor."
It's needed even more for meta-modding. It's very common to mod a post down because they either didn't get the joke or didn't like it... then come back and abuse their mod points by modding anyone down who dared to even ask why the post was modded down.
Slashdot Mirror
Jokes aside, you got something against chocolate? Because that's what a lot of people think of when you tell them to think of something brown.
And while neither an MS or Apple fan, I say, the more competition, the merrier! I look forward to better mp3 players in the future, although probably the one I get won't be from either MS or Apple. Why not? Besides them and Creative, you'll have two types: those producing junk to sell to folks who can't or don't want to pay so much for a Zune or an iPod, and those who are making mp3 players better than everybody so they can make more headway into the market. Shop at a site that has customer reviews and you'll easily be able to tell them apart.
For fun?! Do you pull out your toenails for fun too? Dude, drink some beer or something.
Harp
And there are others too. If you're interested into an alternative to either d20 or White Wolf, you can probably find it.Lejendary Adventures
The Dying Earth
Worlds of Wonder
Good one, but in all seriousness, I know a guy who is 32 who hangs out at MySpace (yes, I was like "MySpace?! What the hell is wrong with you?"). Turns out there are enough people there in their mid- to late twenties and thirties to make it a social networking site for them too, not just the teens and tweens.
He started with "I'm really not trying to troll or flame" or something similar. That's the internet equivalent of "I'm just sayin'", which some people follow up rude or instulting comments under some illusion that it makes their statement less insulting or rude. Apparently, it works.
Internet, shminternet. This sort of thing happened before there was an internet. Ever heard of personal ads in newspapers? The only thing the internet adds to this is that it makes it easier to publish -- but it was still possible even in 1940. And the fact that the respondents did a stupid thing is hardly an excuse for violating them like this. What, you never made a stupid mistake of an embarassing nature? If you answer "no" you're either so young you shouldn't be reading at a site like /. or you're Jesus Himself. The difference is that you were probably luckier than these guys.
Tell that to the users of Xandros; there is no OCE with version 4 and it features full-fledged product activation, ala Windows XP. I kinda feel like you're right about a lot of distros, but not with a few others. Many have a "deluxe" or "professional" version for sale and claim that they charge for it to cover their costs, but then they keep jacking up their prices -- like the Mandrake community, memebership in which costed more on a yearly basis than Lindows CNR (which went down in price and is now free). I guess you find out which is which after you've been around a couple of years. Weird, just a few months ago I would've recommended Xandros OCE over Linspire to newbies, now I've completely switched around.
Sorry for the rambling post. I should be in bed.
You work for them, don't you? Your post just drips with your agenda. "I assume that you have had the pleasure of using Apple hardware." Jesus. And this?" You realize that the quality of mac hardware is without comparison. Whether old or new mac hardware the build is beyond excellent and that is important to some people." No, Apple's hardware is not without comparison. The best PC hardware is just as good and often better. I use the best PC hardware and almost never have a problem with any of it whatsoever. (Windows itself is another story.) Yet I hear of Apple hardware problems on the internet almost every week. I'd love to see comparisons of the proportions of RMAed quality PC hardware versus RMAed Apple hardware -- I'd bet you a new gaming rig that they'd be lower. It's true that Apple beats the crap out of Dell, but someone like me never uses Dell parts for anything. You're right that excellent hardware matters to some people, it cetainly does to me, and that's why I build my own PCs from the best parts rather than buying Apple. I never build a computer using secnd-rate parts at all; my reputation in this area is built on that. If you bring me a Dell, Gateway, etc. I'll fix it and teach you how to use Windows more safely; if I build a computer for you, it will last at least 10 years. I don't mean to sound like a commercial for myself, I'm trying to show you how much what I do depends on great hardware.
As just a quick reference, go here, select sort by best rating and read on. Many of these parts have two hundred or more positive reviews without a single problem; several have over two hundred votes with no votes below 5 out of 5. If you actually read these you'll notice that several of them are written by people who don't treat their hardware delicately either. And that's just at Newegg; there are other sites. (I do my research on parts, so the reviews just at Newegg aren't enough for me.)
Very bad analogy. Murder is hardly comparable to copyright infringement, especially since they keep changing the copyright laws in their favor but to the detriment of everyone else.
Maybe it would help more nerds get dates if they did have to watch porn at high definition. Then they would realize that most real women don't look like that.
Windows has evolved more?! What the hell are you smoking? Can I have some? Here it is 2006 and we still don't have a final version of Vista yet. What year did XP come out again? Was it 2002 or 2003? And the people who have the RC of Vista can hardly name a single feature that Vista has that XP doesn't besides shiny new Aero. Every other OS out there has evolved much more than that in that time period. Jesus, the outright lies you see on here aren't even funny.
We're with you -- and what says everything is that my husband is a hard-core gamer. I game some too, but more in pen & paper RPGs. Anyhoo, here's our assessment of the next generation consoles:
XBox 360: Very limited backwards compatibility. To play XBox games, you need an XBox. 360 doesn't play both. Therefore lacking in a big enough library of games to our tastes.
PS3: If everthing holds true, WAY over-priced and too much DRM. Husband says if he wants to get screwed that way he can just commit a serious crime and turn himself in. Big library of games, true, but the vast majority of that will play on our PS2.
Wii: Maaaaybe. Past two Nintendos haven't had a whole lot of games we wanted, but with Sony shooting themselves in the foot every time they speak, more devs might switch over to the Wii. Let's wait and see.
In conclusion, if we buy any console out of this generation, it'll almost certainly be the Wii and we're not even sure about that yet. If there are more folks out there like us, gamers old enough to have seen more than one console generation before now, this may not bode well for any of the console companies.
That's a very valid point. We keep seeing these sensationalist articles about how much damage Vista is going to do when it comes about to this or that, as if everyone running Windows is going to switch en masse. In what universe will that take place? There are still people running 98 and 2k now, so why do these authors assume that 90% of Windows boxes are going to be running Vista less than a year after it's debut? Besides that, most Windows-users were running 98 (or, oh God, ME) when XP came out and XP was a definite step up -- but it's been made clear over and over again that Vista won't be a huge step up from XP. I definitely believe that it's adoption is going to be slower than XP's for that reason. When it comes out, people will find out that it's not such a big deal. And they will find out; how could they not? Computers are more common now, and those who get it will be questioned by everyone they know who doesn't have it. Most likely 90% of people running Vista willbe those who got it on their new pre-manufactured computer.
No, they're not critical to life, but if you want to watch a movie or listen to music, you have to deal with them. Are there human beings who can see and hear who never want to watch a movie or listen to music if they possibly can? Have fun finding some of them.
That's a statement I am so fucking sick of reading on this site. It would be applicable if the entertainment companies weren't pretty much the only game in town. But 99% of everything to do with media entertainment available is from them, so you have no damn choice but to deal with them. This "well you don't have to buy their products" line is bullshit, and over-used, dead tired bullshit at that.
That assumes many things which shouldn't be assumed. Just because FTL travel exists in almost every modern SF show doesn't mean that it's possible. Sapient life could actually be common but we wouldn't know about it if very few, if any, species make it no farther than their own solar system. And then there's the War of the Worlds syndrome, which all too few /.ers seem to take seriously: the problem of alien bacteria. Native bacteria would likely be quite deadly to aliens. How could they possibly immunize themselves against everything? With that in mind, it might be safer to stick to lifeless planets to get your resources from. Just visiting out of curiosity? That assumes a lot too, like that some aliens would care. Perhaps some wouldn't give a crap about humanity, labeling us Species 8472 on Rock3. Even if they did, and they had the technology to get here, they could probably study us all they want from a safe distance (safe from us and our bacteria) without us ever knowing.
Actually, all of the major parts on that gaming rig except one first came out less than 14 months ago. I'm talking about the model of the parts, not when the parts themselves were manufactured.
DX7? DX9 works on Win98. I should know, a lot of my customers are still running 98, even though I encourage them to upgrade to 2k, which is far more stable.
It still is a perfectly fine operating system. Some apps require XP, but those are in the minority; most still work fine with 2k. And having expereinced both 2k and XP, I can tell you that 2k is actually more reliable. I've used XP for months now -- my husband wanted it because a few games he adores won't run on 2k -- and it has only locked up on me twice (which is actually as good as most *nix distros I've tried). But 2k was more reliable still, with lock-ups even fewer and some apps being more stable, despite the fact that some of those apps were developed after XP came out.
I call troll on your calling troll. You said that magic word in your argument that Macs are better than PCs -- Dell. Macs may be better than Dells, but Dells aren't the only PCs out there, let alone the best. I built a PC over 4 years ago that has not needed a replacement for even one part on it and is still running fine. I can build you a PC that is over TWICE as powerful as the nearest comparably-priced Mac, and I guaratee it will still work fine in 10 years. 25 years? My co-worker's IBM is literally that old too and it also still works fine. Durability and good hardware aren't the exclusive property of Macs.
Old? Go read some of the reviews of cases at Newegg -- lots of them still have sharp edges. It's actually still fairly common for cases to have sharp edges.