I simply do not agree on modding being illegal. I still feel that by modding an Xbox i get more functionality, I paid for the hardware and if i own it I can smash it, mod it, or do whatever I like to do with it in the privacy of my home.
Now selling 77 games on the HDD is not a good thing, but being able to play a copy of a game comes handy sometimes.
E.G. I am the owner of the original game "Ghost recon Summit strike" NTSC but since I do no have Live I play on XBC or KAI. Since I figured that the game is only compatible with the same system (NTSC vs NTSC and PAL vs PAL) I cannot play with my european buddies online unless I have a PAL version, and even if I buy a pal version I cannot play it in my unmodded NTSC Xbox. So I have a copy of the PAL game just for the purpose to be eble to play overseas.
But that is just one reason I own a modchip and why I refuse to buy a game 2 times. (UBI I love you guys, make the next GR playable all-over just like any other developers and I won't own an illegal copy I promise.
Now when it comes to game modding on consoles, ripping the game (whether you own it or steal it) is also a requirement (or to be able to make a custom DVD with the new files) .
Same goes with extra maps (without live).
But still this is just the game part, when you want to use your box as an AVI player, listen to online radio and etce..tc..tc
What is next? I buy a honda and there will be an eula that if I put on an extra exhaust pipe, or change the air filter I am modding illegally? Oh yeah, I circumvented the rev limiter because my bike moved like grandma's.... everyone does that.....
If it goes like this we will see computers with locks on it that only repairmen can open, and the police will come to you and check if your computer is still sealed, if not you pay $$$$ and go to jail.
A bit of info: I asked my local retailer for an unmodded Xbox. All I heard is : are you crazy? Why would you sell that here?
I mentioned it before, but here in Costa Rica a game goes for $80 for ps2/xbox while a copy goes for $5-$6.
Now which is selling better when a McDonalds worker makes around $200 a month ?
I personally order games used from Amazon or Ebay for like $15 a piece, but many people have no US shipping address here, and do not own a credit card, nor they want to pay for a game that's $80 and you are missing half the functionality as it is Xbox live only, as they barely have a dialup at home.
Just some inside look why piracy goes on here..... Well now returning to the LA story, I am sure those guys who bought these preloaded boxes made more than $200 a month, and I am sure I would be ashamed to get anything like thet in the US where you have $10 used games on storeshelves.
Oh, I saw ads last year around Christmas on TV advertising chipped consoles with 5 games included. I am 99% sure that those were copies too.
While I am happy to be "offshore" and in Costa Rica I am sure with laws or without my government owned telco is keeping an eye on it's customers - I do not care.
I am not a privacy freak, and I know how to look at stuff privately if I really want, however I do not watch childporn, or visit "terrorist websites", nor call drugdealers and so.... so they can log the crap out of me if they want.
European laws: not with the privacy but with over taxation and with bureocracy they drove me crazy... police stopping me 5+ times a week to check if my car papers were OK? Come on.... Tax agency sending some shit all the time while I paid all my taxes?
Here I live in peace, make less, live in a bit of chaos, but still happier....
Hate me for that or agree, that is just my 2c. Since I moved here I have once a year contact with authorities and agencies to renew my stay permit, and report taxes if I have to. No other crap, and it makes my life just so great. In europe it was a constant headache, no matter if I made my tax reports or my bookkeper. no matter if my car was new or 20 years old, no matter if I was a student or a worker.
Oh well, you can get a double flat tire in a pothole the size of a smaller car... but hey, you get it without paperwork:)
BTW if it gets too organized here I am sure I will move to somewhere else:). And I am a well organized person - before you think I am an anarchist of some kind or something...
Hmm, I will try Forza you seem like a driving freak (no pun)... somehow PGR just does not cut it for me:) I tried and disliked.
But still Toca Race driver is more of a sim for me than any.
Grand turismo: got an original, but I have a chipped PS2 (mostly for imports and REZ - I could not get an original and just love that game) , and somehow it did not run, I had to return it (and actually exchanged to NFS MW).
SSX: yep I agree amped is more realistic, but SSX is more fun. Do not get me wrong, I did real extreme sports (competed BMX for years, did MTB for years and ride dirt bikes/quads), but on that scene I want a fun game, not overly real physics. If I want real I just get on my bike. Amped is sloppy and boring, SSX gets you pumped.
Arcade vs Sim: hmm yep, I am not on either side. Burnout is too arcade, Juiced is an OK street racer sim for me. I swear I get Forza (at least rent and get if I like).
Halo issue: you know it is maybe the 12 year old kids shouting "dude i owned them" that scares me away besides the pink monsters:) . I really would play it if it wasn't 4/team 4 teams all the time on the smallest map, no sword no shield. I will get an unchipped xbox and get a live account, and see wherer it goes from there. Kai and XBC is all that crap.
And again: I like real stuff: Ghost Recon and RS3 is my favourite definetely, and I will take your advice and get Forza. On that DAMN PGR: no way, PGR2 I hate. PGR3 I might try if I decide on a 360 (when PS3 is out). I just do not want to get 2 consoles again and have one only collect dust (as my Ps2 now).
Hood view: only that. Or cockpit. No outside view, that makes arcade even more arcade. In burout it works well, but again I do not play Revenge as it is waaay tooooo arcade, more than the precious.
I know that NFS MW is more of an arcade racer, but I find it a lot more fun than other arcade racers. Midnight club can be fun, but it is somehow repetitive, and I got bored.
Burnout was a great game, however revenge is messed up. I hate how cars bounce off you in many races, it is just not fun anymore.
Now on realistic game: I liked Juiced, which is pretty different with every car and seems realistic with damage model and stuff.
Toca race driver is also great, never saw Forza though.
OK, now my problem with PGR: there is something I cannot stand, it is something with the controls, or the responsiveness of the game. I have the same problem with some other games, such as Amped (vs SSX), PGR (vs anything except SRS (which is a crap)), Halo (vs most other FPS).
Every time I play these games I have the feeling, that my thumbs or the cars or the characters are made out of lead, and are too heavy.
If you look at the list and compare the games (if you know them) you might know what I mean.
And as I said I am not run&gun and love GhostRecon or Rainbow6, and realistic racers, but somehow PGR falls into the HALO control problem: cars are like halo characters, they look nice, but they wear a heavy space suit, and move like they pooped into their pants.
To really feel the difference load up SSX, then load Amped....
I am a racing fan, really bored with the new breed of "street racing" type games.
However the latest NFS - Most wanted is really a cool piece of game, which returns to the roots: polica cars are back, and pretty clever, and they have a new system that offers you only to run a selection of races to move to the next level (not forcing you to play modes you hate that much (I hate drag race e.g.).
I have the xbox (not 360) version, and it chokes the system sometimes, but it is the most enjoyable racer I have ever played in my life. If you liked "Hot Pursuit" and do not mind upgrading car parts and a little of buying/selling, you will love it.
It also received very little attention in the shadow of "Project Godham", which I find a very crappy game btw (only played v 2, do not even wanna see the 3rd).
Another game, also wit little attention is Ghost Recon 2 - Summit strike. Many treat it as an expansion pack, but besides a ton of new maps (multiplayer too) you have new fun multiplayer modes and the networking code is a lot stable. I am playing on KAI/XBC though, so dunno about Live, but disconnects and other problems are gone.
Ohh, when you start the game, have your communicator disconnected, otherwise most discs crap out with an error. This is a programmong error and the only fix is to disconnect communicator and/or additional gamepads. This is nasty, but well, I live with it. Also used it runs for like $15 on ebay.
Well these are my December games.
Also try "Path of Neo" as a rental first, I have mixed feelings (because the camera controls kinda suck), but it is a fun slash and dash with nice character animations and lotsa stuff to blow up (the freeing morpheus machine gun on helicopter demolition is just beautiful):)
I see a price $668, that looks good. I will definetely keep an eye on that cam too, especially when
1. Xmas is over and prices drop (January) 2. Xmas is over and my wallet recuperates:)
thanks
ps: Continuous: 3.0 fps up to 14 JPEG / 4 RAW frames - that could be a bit faster though, well maybe on smaller resolutions that can be higher. Google on that, I will.
I appreciate the tip, I am looking into Pentax.... I hate Olympus, I had an Olympus digi and it lasted 2 months... I abused it, but it should have taken it. I need something that can take lots of shaking (lotse dirt roads where I go), sitting in a backpack riding bikes, quads, and lots of sand and sun as well - well I moved to the tropics, so I need something that can take up with all the crap .
Thanks again, I quite honestly did not know pentax still existed (had some non-digi pentax stuff, and I liked them back in the nineties:) ).
Photographer friends: none:) I am a happy amateur and all I want is optics I can change, but digital...
All I want from an SLR is standard size lens, so I can walk into a store, buy a fisheye, or a 200mm + tele-objective
I would even settle with 4-5 megapix, as most pictures I watch on the LCD screen, TV or projector, and my printouts are 20cm at max....
So it is nice to put SLR quality into a matchstick, but I would prefer an affordable full size body in (higher end) compact resolutions.....
Just for reference: I have an old canon crame for "real" photos, and a nicon 2 megapix for whatever else (compact coolpix series) and I am really looking into something more serious (as I take a lot of pix, and travel a lot locally) but I am not willing to shell out $2000 for anything just to be able to use third party optics....
just my 2 cents.... I am sure many would like an affordable SLR just for the optics, but I do not see anyone providing it...
There is http://www.geekcorps.org/ and maybe an other few, and I am sure if they need training these guys (or others) will recruit some...
I am actually considering signing up with them, not for the salary for sure (as it is like cost of living) but to do something GOOD..
I do not know where they are going to put these first, but I am sure some Costa Rican (where I live) schools could use a few here, or just over the border in Panama or Nicaragua...
I mean if they need people I would improve my spanish a bit and read the manual twice than explain it to a few teachers (if needed with the help of a translator). Damn I would do it just to travel a bit....
i would be probably selfish enough to build it into my car for my GPS, or to make a digital picture frame out of it.... or yep, if none of the above, i might give it away too...
the problem is that i tend to collect dead and working hardware... and if i did not move 3 times to a different country to live i would have like a garage full of old computer parts:)
in fact 3 years ago I had a Vaio (I hav it now but it is dead) with that resolution, and I was carrying it to do work, and everywhere....
It was perfectly OK to have files with me, to run office aps, and a browser, and to connect to cisco and other appliances and run a term on it...
it was also fairly smaller than my current toshiba, that I am not carrying anymore as i consider it too big, too bloat, too expensive, to throw on a car seat and then drive on dirt roads and alike...
Actually I would be happy if someone sold a 800x600 laptop, with a small screen and I top it with what some might agree with : I do not need a color screen... put 32 or 64 shades of gray or even less, and make it cheap, so if i drop it in the server room and it breaks I do not have to pay $500 for a damn color LCD...
1GB of flash is also killer anough for a lot of things.. OK my ipod has 4:) but I also remember running linux in 94 on some beatup 386 with like 12megs of ram or so and a 650meg hdd (maybe even smaller) can't remember:)
1. No wal mart in costa rica:) it is called "mas por menos", the fisrt is "automercado" 2. no, what I mean is that they are cheap, so they have limited services (just as the "other store")
3. well pickles:)
What I meant that it is that: it is one thing to offer less for a smaller price, but whatever the price is you should not sell broken services... (and a website you cannot see is a broken service)
now it is OK not to give free bags with your purchase (and have lower prices) , but it is not OK to sell rotten vegetables, or pickles or whatever...:)
HAHA... on the bag issue: in many places in europe they charge you for a bag.
While it is not convenient, people tend to take bags to the supermarket, and at the end they save money, and do good to the environment....
I personally pay more at the store for everything so the bag is paid by at the end... I would prefer if they had recyclled paper though... i am a treehugger you know:)
cheers....
in europe we had cucumber in a bottle, it is not your traditional pickle, but actual cucumbers with yeast, traditionally made with bread (for the yeast) in Hungary we called them "kovaszos uborka" (which translates to cucumber...
both are decent, at layered i rent a 99 server (3G Ht P4, 1G ram,80G Sata, intel mobo)... they have decent BW rates as well.... and I have a feed aggregator that visits like 50k feeds daily, so I need the BW limit high:) ( http://azfeeds.com/ just if you get curious , and yes has some probs right now mainly in explorer)
I dunno about HDTVs, but when it comes to projectors they usually supply you with a VGA cable, svideo and composite.
NO COMPONENT cable, and usually it is a messed up proprietary connector that connects to the VGA input, and costs a lot
my projector can handle 800x600 native or 1024x768 converted (i know it is 720p at best which is not true HDTV but better than 480i pixelsize the size of my head),
but most people will use svideo at best because Epson sells the cable for $110...
of course my kind goes the "check the wiring and buy parts at radioshack and build it" way, but most won't....
I am sure when it comes to hdtv you get component cables with some, but I am sure the average customer has no clue what gives better resolutions, and I am sure some will connect devices that have no COMPONENT out at all.....
in a world where people would connect a DVD audio output to the "phono in" on amps, and do not realize that everything is distorted, they do not realize the difference between 480i or 1020i/720p...
Looking up www.justoneclubcard.com first Looking up www.justoneclubcard.com Making HTTP connection to www.justoneclubcard.com Sending HTTP request. HTTP request sent; waiting for response. HTTP/1.1 302 Moved Temporarily Data transfer complete
lynx: Start file could not be found or is not text/html or text/plain
Exiting...
sorry dude:( and it has nothing to do with apple, jre, java or safari or SCO... it is lynx on linux..
my local store gives bags (plastic only though) when you buy it, in fact they package everything for you, and they help you to carry stuff to your car (tip of $0.025-0.5 is welcomed and expected) they are more expensive...
the other one (i prefer not to go to) is cheaper. you have to pay an extra for bags, and then carry it...
now Godaddy is none of them, not even Walmart: when they sell a rotten bottle of cucumber, or meat with shitflies stuck to it they exchange it with big apologies.... and don't say that their provider shipped the bad merchandise and go FSCK yourself...
because that is what they are doing now...
you pay for a service, than some customers do not see your page (maybe even crawlers), then the service is a rotten bottle of cucumber.... and I was overly polite
Serverpronto ? $25 per reboot ? don't get me wrong, my colo server's uptime is 500daysm so I am not a whiner....
but my provider gives free reboots, and if you happen to firewall yourself out (or screw routing up) they restore it for you for free....
my other provider does free reboots and $30 an hour support if they have to touch something (e.g. attach keyboard/monitor)... not $75/30 mins...
and $99 buys you a 3gig HT p4 with 80G hdd and 1gig ram..... I did a lot of comparison shopping too...
my domains are registerfly... their support used to suck and I hate the admin panel that has like 200 little flashy gifs to load, but their DNS and service is stable as hell.....99 gets you privacy protection, so your info is not public to whois crawlers.....
I actually heard a year ago that many people dropped Godaddy, because they were serving different/incorrect/empty pages to crawlers and people's sites were dropping from SE indexes like crazy...
dunno, never used them, but since those conplaints by many I did not want to go with them...
Now it makes me wonder what googlebot, msnbot, yahoo and other members of the artificial gang see from these 302/404/no source sites.... good chance that they do not see crap, and your godaddy site goes down the loo...
When I subscribe to DSL,Cable, dialup or something else I am purchasing Internet access.
including port 25 TCP, 6666-6669, FTP, P2P ports, access to warez sites (wheter I use them or not) and access to "THE WEB", not just a selection of sites my government, ISP or grandma thinks is good for me.
IF I choose filtering (e.g. I have kids and I cannot install a filter) thant put the damn thing on.
It is really sickening.
Actually transparent proxies are also unacceptable practices and should be mentioned if used in your ISP contract.
Sorry, that's the way I like it: Public IP, no filter on ISP side - all ports without proxies.
I am a happy online shopper when it comes to items around a $100 bucks, but knowing that a fair amount of electronics I bought did not even leave the store before I asked for a replacement, after seeing a scratch, a dead pixel or not working at all. I am talking about all kinds of stuff, my last one being a DV cam with 3-4 huge dead pixels (all white) next to each other on the LCD..... but I opened TV boxes in the store with cracked CRT and tested 3 feet bubble massagers at Pricesmart - all broken.
I would never buy anything that has a CCD, LCD or moving component inside. Especially in a world when a bubble bath (from a leading manufacturer) would come broken from the store.
I mean if a pump comes dead by default, what should I expect from micron technology ccd lcd enabled technology that is put in the mail and kicked around by "who cares" postal service employees.....
Not me...
Oh did I forget that a good 75% of US companies cannot copy an address so it is not missing parts from it? Last case : amazon marketplace, my paid expedited shipping DVD is in the lost mail for 2 weeks now because people think that part of the address is just decoration and when that part makes you actually receive the order -> you are screwed.
If it is a $20 DVD game, it's OK I guess (NOT), but when it is a $3000 camera I would be sitting in my bank doing my chargeback
more ont he story: it is an outrage, and I would have been recording the conversations after the first call, then sue the shit out of these crooks.
I also agree, they did not want to ship, because they make the MONEY on the overpriced accessories...
and when you are stuck at some dangerous/crappy place because something goes wrong even if you paid, then you can sue the company and buy 3 cars...
not for me... I am really an electronic friendly person, but when it comes to a reliable vehicle it is all but lotsa electronics...
it's like if you go to siberia you want an ak47 not some spiffy hightech rambo gear from the latest installment of ghost recon or other near science fiction shooter
I found this gizmo and works well on win/lin (and meybe others)...
technically it is a proxy that sits on your machine so you can use it with different clients of your like (e.g. I tried with trilian talking to gaim over OTR) and it just worked kickass..
on the other hand I also do not hink major players will include that for the sake of "big brother"
I usually have firefox sticky on my left monitor. the middle is an editor (of choice), or mail, or gaim/irc (bitchx) optionally other..
I just feel like I must have a browser with all, as links come from all these...
on the 3rd head I have a browser as well. and the 4th it is winamp an explorer.. now the 3rd and 4th head is an other machine with that other "w" system that is a necessity... ahm connected by x2vnc or synergy.... (oh right now it has a blue screen and does not start... crap)
I am kinda getting sick of gnome with dual and looking into enlightenment (remember windows properties suck in gnome, and I am tired restarting things and organizing, even that it happens once a week or so - yes we have power outs here, and my ups is crap)
Slashdot Mirror
I simply do not agree on modding being illegal. I still feel that by modding an Xbox i get more functionality, I paid for the hardware and if i own it I can smash it, mod it, or do whatever I like to do with it in the privacy of my home.
.....
Now selling 77 games on the HDD is not a good thing, but being able to play a copy of a game comes handy sometimes.
E.G. I am the owner of the original game "Ghost recon Summit strike" NTSC but since I do no have Live I play on XBC or KAI.
Since I figured that the game is only compatible with the same system (NTSC vs NTSC and PAL vs PAL) I cannot play with my european buddies online unless I have a PAL version, and even if I buy a pal version I cannot play it in my unmodded NTSC Xbox. So I have a copy of the PAL game just for the purpose to be eble to play overseas.
But that is just one reason I own a modchip and why I refuse to buy a game 2 times. (UBI I love you guys, make the next GR playable all-over just like any other developers and I won't own an illegal copy I promise.
Now when it comes to game modding on consoles, ripping the game (whether you own it or steal it) is also a requirement (or to be able to make a custom DVD with the new files) .
Same goes with extra maps (without live).
But still this is just the game part, when you want to use your box as an AVI player, listen to online radio and etce..tc..tc
What is next? I buy a honda and there will be an eula that if I put on an extra exhaust pipe, or change the air filter I am modding illegally? Oh yeah, I circumvented the rev limiter because my bike moved like grandma's.... everyone does that
If it goes like this we will see computers with locks on it that only repairmen can open, and the police will come to you and check if your computer is still sealed, if not you pay $$$$ and go to jail.
A bit of info: I asked my local retailer for an unmodded Xbox. All I heard is : are you crazy? Why would you sell that here?
I mentioned it before, but here in Costa Rica a game goes for $80 for ps2/xbox while a copy goes for $5-$6.
Now which is selling better when a McDonalds worker makes around $200 a month ?
I personally order games used from Amazon or Ebay for like $15 a piece, but many people have no US shipping address here, and do not own a credit card, nor they want to pay for a game that's $80 and you are missing half the functionality as it is Xbox live only, as they barely have a dialup at home.
Just some inside look why piracy goes on here..... Well now returning to the LA story, I am sure those guys who bought these preloaded boxes made more than $200 a month, and I am sure I would be ashamed to get anything like thet in the US where you have $10 used games on storeshelves.
Oh, I saw ads last year around Christmas on TV advertising chipped consoles with 5 games included. I am 99% sure that those were copies too.
While I am happy to be "offshore" and in Costa Rica I am sure with laws or without my government owned telco is keeping an eye on it's customers - I do not care.
.... so they can log the crap out of me if they want.
....
... but hey, you get it without paperwork :)
:). And I am a well organized person - before you think I am an anarchist of some kind or something ...
I am not a privacy freak, and I know how to look at stuff privately if I really want, however I do not watch childporn, or visit "terrorist websites", nor call drugdealers and so
European laws: not with the privacy but with over taxation and with bureocracy they drove me crazy... police stopping me 5+ times a week to check if my car papers were OK? Come on....
Tax agency sending some shit all the time while I paid all my taxes?
Here I live in peace, make less, live in a bit of chaos, but still happier
Hate me for that or agree, that is just my 2c. Since I moved here I have once a year contact with authorities and agencies to renew my stay permit, and report taxes if I have to. No other crap, and it makes my life just so great. In europe it was a constant headache, no matter if I made my tax reports or my bookkeper. no matter if my car was new or 20 years old, no matter if I was a student or a worker.
Oh well, you can get a double flat tire in a pothole the size of a smaller car
BTW if it gets too organized here I am sure I will move to somewhere else
Hmm, I will try Forza you seem like a driving freak (no pun) ... :) I tried and disliked.
somehow PGR just does not cut it for me
But still Toca Race driver is more of a sim for me than any.
Grand turismo: got an original, but I have a chipped PS2 (mostly for imports and REZ - I could not get an original and just love that game) , and somehow it did not run, I had to return it (and actually exchanged to NFS MW).
SSX: yep I agree amped is more realistic, but SSX is more fun. Do not get me wrong, I did real extreme sports (competed BMX for years, did MTB for years and ride dirt bikes/quads), but on that scene I want a fun game, not overly real physics. If I want real I just get on my bike. Amped is sloppy and boring, SSX gets you pumped.
Arcade vs Sim: hmm yep, I am not on either side. Burnout is too arcade, Juiced is an OK street racer sim for me. I swear I get Forza (at least rent and get if I like).
Halo issue: you know it is maybe the 12 year old kids shouting "dude i owned them" that scares me away besides the pink monsters:) . I really would play it if it wasn't 4/team 4 teams all the time on the smallest map, no sword no shield. I will get an unchipped xbox and get a live account, and see wherer it goes from there. Kai and XBC is all that crap.
And again: I like real stuff: Ghost Recon and RS3 is my favourite definetely, and I will take your advice and get Forza. On that DAMN PGR: no way, PGR2 I hate.
PGR3 I might try if I decide on a 360 (when PS3 is out). I just do not want to get 2 consoles again and have one only collect dust (as my Ps2 now).
Hood view: only that. Or cockpit. No outside view, that makes arcade even more arcade. In burout it works well, but again I do not play Revenge as it is waaay tooooo arcade, more than the precious.
cheers:)
Hmm mostly agree on what you wrote.
I know that NFS MW is more of an arcade racer, but I find it a lot more fun than other arcade racers.
Midnight club can be fun, but it is somehow repetitive, and I got bored.
Burnout was a great game, however revenge is messed up. I hate how cars bounce off you in many races, it is just not fun anymore.
Now on realistic game: I liked Juiced, which is pretty different with every car and seems realistic with damage model and stuff.
Toca race driver is also great, never saw Forza though.
OK, now my problem with PGR: there is something I cannot stand, it is something with the controls, or the responsiveness of the game. I have the same problem with some other games, such as Amped (vs SSX), PGR (vs anything except SRS (which is a crap)), Halo (vs most other FPS).
Every time I play these games I have the feeling, that my thumbs or the cars or the characters are made out of lead, and are too heavy.
If you look at the list and compare the games (if you know them) you might know what I mean.
And as I said I am not run&gun and love GhostRecon or Rainbow6, and realistic racers, but somehow PGR falls into the HALO control problem: cars are like halo characters, they look nice, but they wear a heavy space suit, and move like they pooped into their pants.
To really feel the difference load up SSX, then load Amped....
I am a racing fan, really bored with the new breed of "street racing" type games.
:)
However the latest NFS - Most wanted is really a cool piece of game, which returns to the roots:
polica cars are back, and pretty clever, and they have a new system that offers you only to run a selection of races to move to the next level (not forcing you to play modes you hate that much (I hate drag race e.g.).
I have the xbox (not 360) version, and it chokes the system sometimes, but it is the most enjoyable racer I have ever played in my life. If you liked "Hot Pursuit" and do not mind upgrading car parts and a little of buying/selling, you will love it.
It also received very little attention in the shadow of "Project Godham", which I find a very crappy game btw (only played v 2, do not even wanna see the 3rd).
Another game, also wit little attention is Ghost Recon 2 - Summit strike.
Many treat it as an expansion pack, but besides a ton of new maps (multiplayer too) you have new fun multiplayer modes
and the networking code is a lot stable. I am playing on KAI/XBC though, so dunno about Live, but disconnects and other problems are gone.
Ohh, when you start the game, have your communicator disconnected, otherwise most discs crap out with an error. This is a programmong error and the only fix is to disconnect communicator and/or additional gamepads. This is nasty, but well, I live with it. Also used it runs for like $15 on ebay.
Well these are my December games.
Also try "Path of Neo" as a rental first, I have mixed feelings (because the camera controls kinda suck), but it is a fun slash and dash with nice character animations and lotsa stuff to blow up (the freeing morpheus machine gun on helicopter demolition is just beautiful)
oooh, thanks!
:)
I see a price $668, that looks good. I will definetely keep an eye on that cam too, especially when
1. Xmas is over and prices drop (January)
2. Xmas is over and my wallet recuperates
thanks
ps: Continuous: 3.0 fps up to 14 JPEG / 4 RAW frames - that could be a bit faster though, well maybe on smaller resolutions that can be higher. Google on that, I will.
I appreciate the tip, I am looking into Pentax .... I hate Olympus, I had an Olympus digi and it lasted 2 months ...
:) I am a happy amateur and all I want is optics I can change, but digital ...
I abused it, but it should have taken it. I need something that can take lots of shaking (lotse dirt roads where I go), sitting in a backpack riding bikes, quads, and lots of sand and sun as well - well I moved to the tropics, so I need something that can take up with all the crap .
Thanks again, I quite honestly did not know pentax still existed (had some non-digi pentax stuff, and I liked them back in the nineties:) ).
Photographer friends: none
appreciate the tip again.
cheers
All I want from an SLR is standard size lens, so I can walk into a store, buy a fisheye, or a 200mm + tele-objective
....
.... I am sure many would like an affordable SLR just for the optics, but I do not see anyone providing it ...
I would even settle with 4-5 megapix, as most pictures I watch on the LCD screen, TV or projector, and my printouts are 20cm at max....
So it is nice to put SLR quality into a matchstick, but I would prefer an affordable full size body in (higher end) compact resolutions.....
Just for reference: I have an old canon crame for "real" photos, and a nicon 2 megapix for whatever else (compact coolpix series) and I am really looking into something more serious (as I take a lot of pix, and travel a lot locally) but I am not willing to shell out $2000 for anything just to be able to use third party optics
just my 2 cents
am i alone?
"is useless without training and mentors."
...
..
...
There is http://www.geekcorps.org/ and maybe an other few, and I am sure if they need training these guys (or others) will recruit some
I am actually considering signing up with them, not for the salary for sure (as it is like cost of living) but to do something GOOD
I do not know where they are going to put these first, but I am sure some Costa Rican (where I live) schools could use a few here, or just over the border in Panama or Nicaragua
I mean if they need people I would improve my spanish a bit and read the manual twice than explain it to a few teachers (if needed with the help of a translator). Damn I would do it just to travel a bit....
you are a good person ...
.... or yep, if none of the above, i might give it away too ...
... and if i did not move 3 times to a different country to live i would have like a garage full of old computer parts :)
i would be probably selfish enough to build it into my car for my GPS, or to make a digital picture frame out of it
the problem is that i tend to collect dead and working hardware
Well 800x600 is just fine for a lot of things...
....
...
...
... put 32 or 64 shades of gray or even less, and make it cheap, so if i drop it in the server room and it breaks I do not have to pay $500 for a damn color LCD ...
.. OK my ipod has 4 :) but I also remember running linux in 94 on some beatup 386 with like 12megs of ram or so and a 650meg hdd (maybe even smaller) can't remember :)
in fact 3 years ago I had a Vaio (I hav it now but it is dead) with that resolution, and I was carrying it to do work, and everywhere
It was perfectly OK to have files with me, to run office aps, and a browser, and to connect to cisco and other appliances and run a term on it
it was also fairly smaller than my current toshiba, that I am not carrying anymore as i consider it too big, too bloat, too expensive, to throw on a car seat and then drive on dirt roads and alike
Actually I would be happy if someone sold a 800x600 laptop, with a small screen and I top it with what some might agree with :
I do not need a color screen
1GB of flash is also killer anough for a lot of things
1. No wal mart in costa rica :) it is called "mas por menos", the fisrt is "automercado"
:)
... (and a website you cannot see is a broken service)
... :)
... on the bag issue: in many places in europe they charge you for a bag.
....
... I would prefer if they had recyclled paper though ... i am a treehugger you know :)
....
...
2. no, what I mean is that they are cheap, so they have limited services (just as the "other store")
3. well pickles
What I meant that it is that:
it is one thing to offer less for a smaller price, but whatever the price is you should not sell broken services
now it is OK not to give free bags with your purchase (and have lower prices) , but it is not OK to sell rotten vegetables, or pickles or whatever
HAHA
While it is not convenient, people tend to take bags to the supermarket, and at the end they save money, and do good to the environment
I personally pay more at the store for everything so the bag is paid by at the end
cheers
in europe we had cucumber in a bottle, it is not your traditional pickle, but actual cucumbers with yeast, traditionally made with bread (for the yeast) in Hungary we called them "kovaszos uborka" (which translates to cucumber
i use layeredtech.com and happy with them . my other is dallas colo http://colo4dallas.com/
... .... and I have a feed aggregator that visits like 50k feeds daily, so I need the BW limit high :) ( http://azfeeds.com/ just if you get curious , and yes has some probs right now mainly in explorer)
both are decent, at layered i rent a 99 server (3G Ht P4, 1G ram,80G Sata, intel mobo)
they have decent BW rates as well
I dunno about HDTVs, but when it comes to projectors they usually supply you with a VGA cable, svideo and composite.
...
...
NO COMPONENT cable, and usually it is a messed up proprietary connector that connects to the VGA input, and costs a lot
my projector can handle 800x600 native or 1024x768 converted (i know it is 720p at best which is not true HDTV but better than 480i pixelsize the size of my head),
but most people will use svideo at best because Epson sells the cable for $110
of course my kind goes the "check the wiring and buy parts at radioshack and build it" way, but most won't....
I am sure when it comes to hdtv you get component cables with some, but I am sure the average customer has no clue what gives better resolutions, and I am sure some will connect devices that have no COMPONENT out at all.....
in a world where people would connect a DVD audio output to the "phono in" on amps, and do not realize that everything is distorted, they do not realize the difference between 480i or 1020i/720p
lynx www.justoneclubcard.com
:( and it has nothing to do with apple, jre, java or safari or SCO ... it is lynx on linux ..
Looking up www.justoneclubcard.com first
Looking up www.justoneclubcard.com
Making HTTP connection to www.justoneclubcard.com
Sending HTTP request.
HTTP request sent; waiting for response.
HTTP/1.1 302 Moved Temporarily
Data transfer complete
lynx: Start file could not be found or is not text/html or text/plain
Exiting...
sorry dude
oh wait didn't linux contain SCO code ?
walmart example:
...
...
.... and don't say that their provider shipped the bad merchandise and go FSCK yourself ...
...
.... and I was overly polite
my local store gives bags (plastic only though) when you buy it, in fact they package everything for you, and they help you to carry stuff to your car (tip of $0.025-0.5 is welcomed and expected)
they are more expensive
the other one (i prefer not to go to) is cheaper. you have to pay an extra for bags, and then carry it
now Godaddy is none of them, not even Walmart: when they sell a rotten bottle of cucumber, or meat with shitflies stuck to it they exchange it with big apologies
because that is what they are doing now
you pay for a service, than some customers do not see your page (maybe even crawlers), then the service is a rotten bottle of cucumber
now that you mentioned crawlers :
..
...
302 redirects are suspected to draw a penalty from search engines, while a
HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently is the appropriate thing to do with a moved document
in fact 302 is over-abuses by doorway pages and are a big bad point on the SEO field
I also suspect that any bot would simply drop such a site with such a messed up redirect into itself 2 times
Serverpronto ? $25 per reboot ? don't get me wrong, my colo server's uptime is 500daysm so I am not a whiner ....
... not $75/30 mins ...
..... I did a lot of comparison shopping too ...
... their support used to suck and I hate the admin panel that has like 200 little flashy gifs to load, but their DNS and service is stable as hell .... .99 gets you privacy protection, so your info is not public to whois crawlers .....
but my provider gives free reboots, and if you happen to firewall yourself out (or screw routing up) they restore it for you for free....
my other provider does free reboots and $30 an hour support if they have to touch something (e.g. attach keyboard/monitor)
and $99 buys you a 3gig HT p4 with 80G hdd and 1gig ram
my domains are registerfly
8.5 too on linux, however lynx craps out for me too... but links works as well .... this is stragnely crappy :)
==
Version 8.5
Build 1358
Platform Linux
System i686, 2.6.14
Qt library 3.3.5
Java Java Runtime Environment installed
==
$lynx --version
Lynx Version 2.8.5rel.1 (04 Feb 2004)
libwww-FM 2.14, SSL-MM 1.4.1, GNUTLS 0.8.12
Built on linux-gnu Feb 5 2004 21:29:38
==
$ links --version
ELinks 0.10.6 (built on Sep 17 2005 18:12:19)
==
I actually heard a year ago that many people dropped Godaddy, because they were serving different/incorrect/empty pages ...
.... good chance that they do not see crap, and your godaddy site goes down the loo...
to crawlers and people's sites were dropping from SE indexes like crazy
dunno, never used them, but since those conplaints by many I did not want to go with them...
Now it makes me wonder what googlebot, msnbot, yahoo and other members of the artificial gang see from these 302/404/no source sites
When I subscribe to DSL,Cable, dialup or something else I am purchasing Internet access.
including port 25 TCP, 6666-6669, FTP, P2P ports, access to warez sites (wheter I use them or not) and access to "THE WEB", not just a selection of sites my government, ISP or grandma thinks is good for me.
IF I choose filtering (e.g. I have kids and I cannot install a filter) thant put the damn thing on.
It is really sickening.
Actually transparent proxies are also unacceptable practices and should be mentioned if used in your ISP contract.
Sorry, that's the way I like it: Public IP, no filter on ISP side - all ports without proxies.
I am a happy online shopper when it comes to items around a $100 bucks, but knowing that a fair amount of electronics I bought did not even leave the store before I asked for a replacement, after seeing a scratch, a dead pixel or not working at all. I am talking about all kinds of stuff, my last one being a DV cam with 3-4 huge dead pixels (all white) next to each other on the LCD..... but I opened TV boxes in the store with cracked CRT and tested 3 feet bubble massagers at Pricesmart - all broken.
I would never buy anything that has a CCD, LCD or moving component inside. Especially in a world when a bubble bath (from a leading manufacturer) would come broken from the store.
I mean if a pump comes dead by default, what should I expect from micron technology ccd lcd enabled technology that is put in the mail and kicked around by "who cares" postal service employees.....
Not me...
Oh did I forget that a good 75% of US companies cannot copy an address so it is not missing parts from it?
Last case : amazon marketplace, my paid expedited shipping DVD is in the lost mail for 2 weeks now because people think that part of the address is just decoration and when that part makes you actually receive the order -> you are screwed.
If it is a $20 DVD game, it's OK I guess (NOT),
but when it is a $3000 camera I would be sitting in my bank doing my chargeback
more ont he story: it is an outrage, and I would have been recording the conversations after the first call, then sue the shit out of these crooks.
I also agree, they did not want to ship, because they make the MONEY on the overpriced accessories...
and when you are stuck at some dangerous/crappy place because something goes wrong even if you paid, then you can sue the company and buy 3 cars ...
...
not for me... I am really an electronic friendly person, but when it comes to a reliable vehicle it is all but lotsa electronics
it's like if you go to siberia you want an ak47 not some spiffy hightech rambo gear from the latest installment of ghost recon or other near science fiction shooter
2 words OTR proxy (off the record)
...
I found this gizmo and works well on win/lin (and meybe others)
technically it is a proxy that sits on your machine so you can use it with different clients of your like (e.g. I tried with trilian talking to gaim over OTR) and it just worked kickass..
on the other hand I also do not hink major players will include that for the sake of "big brother"
... is your friend AKA sticky.
...
.. ... ahm connected by x2vnc or synergy.... (oh right now it has a blue screen and does not start ... crap)
I usually have firefox sticky on my left monitor. the middle is an editor (of choice), or mail, or gaim/irc (bitchx) optionally other..
I just feel like I must have a browser with all, as links come from all these
on the 3rd head I have a browser as well. and the 4th it is winamp an explorer
now the 3rd and 4th head is an other machine with that other "w" system that is a necessity
I am kinda getting sick of gnome with dual and looking into enlightenment (remember windows properties suck in gnome, and I am tired restarting things and organizing, even that it happens once a week or so - yes we have power outs here, and my ups is crap)