I'm probably going to get a MacBook Pro later this year, depending on if I can convince myself I really need one (as my three and a half year old 1 GHz PowerBook G4 is still working wonderfully). However, there are two features I'd love to see in a MacBook Pro that would convince me to get one in a heartbeat.
1) Docking station support. Granted, I could use Belkin's ExpressCard-based high speed dock when it's released, but that would limit me to Windows as it doesn't support Mac. Call me lazy, but I'd like to just dock it in when I'm at my desk.
2) An option for a built-in 3G or other broadband cellular wireless. I'm on the road sometimes and it would help to have this ability. Again, I could go with another option, except our provider doesn't have ExpressCard 3G cards out yet.
These aren't dealbreakers, of course, but it would make my life a bit easier...:-)
Hmm, i didn't have much problems doing this. For earlier versions of Linux, a kernel patch for MPPE was required, but since then this has been integrated into the Linux kernel. For some time, there was a rather nasty bug in the Linux kernel, preventing MTU detection from working PPTP MTU Problems - but this has been resolved since then.
I'll grant that it had been a while since I had tried to build PPTP. I had also tried FreeS/WAN, but if anything that was even MORE of a pain in the ass. OpenVPN was a breeze by comparison. Obviously we had differing experiences.;-)
I've looked at these solutions again about half a year ago. At that time, i didn't feel comfortable guiding a sales rep or a person with similar IT know how through the procedure through the phone - this is different with Windows's and OS X's PPTP client - they're idiot proof. And that's my main reason for using it.
And more problems; OpenVPN and u:pw authentication against Active Directory doesn't seem to be easily possible.
I'll grant the idiot-proof as well for the most part, except I usually don't have an issue getting people onto the OpenVPN installs I control; I just give them the program to install, and a zip file with the certs/config and instructions to dump in a specific folder. From there they get on without issues.
As far as AD user/pass... well, I haven't tested this myself, but if your OpenVPN server is on a Linux box, it does allow user/pass authentication via PAM. You would just need to have the PAM configuration point towards pam_winbind.so. Granted, it'll probably be a minor annoyance getting it set up on the server side, but hopefully the users don't see the issue.;-) More info can be found here.
Not trying to convert you to OpenVPN, mind you... if PPTP works for you by all means go for it. I just found OpenVPN to be perfect for my own means.:-)
I use OpenVPN a lot, but only for site-to-site configurations. For roadwarriors, i recommend PPTP.
Why?
Both OS X and Windows (from 2000) have a native PPTP client. PPTP uses GRE, so it doesn't work with routers that don't support VPN Passthrough, but nearly 99% do. The ease of deployment of PPTP is massive - OpenVPN requires a lot more work, and isn't as nicely integrated into the OS as PPTP on both OS X and Windows.
Actually, in my experience, setting up a PPTP server was a complete and total pain in the ass. I had tried PoPToP on my Linux server (didn't know of any other solutions at the time, and wasn't going to Windows for my server), but I got frustrated as all hell trying to get it working. Even when I thought I got it working, I could never get the clients to connect properly. On the other hand, I had very few problems setting up OpenVPN as a server once I read through the HOWTO on their site thoroughly. I've set up two different OpenVPN server setups, one bridged and one routed, and both work fine with a minimum of hassle.
As far as "nicely integrating with the OS", well, if you want an easy OpenVPN client solution, pick up OpenVPN-GUI for Windows or Tunnelblick for OS X. They're GUI frontends for OpenVPN that, once you get the config and key files into the configuration directories, connect/disconnect with a couple of mouse-clicks. I use both extensively to connect to my home network, and never have had an issue.
What I always found amusing is that when I worked for Toys R Us back when the Sega CD was out, I had to explain to a LOT of customers that they needed a Sega Genesis in order for the Sega CD to work. They just could not wrap their heads around the idea that it was purely an add-on and not a console in its own right.:-)
No worries.:-) In short, during the Battlestar Galactica miniseries, it's established that a Number Six model Cylon (who'd come to be known as "Caprica-Six") seduced Gaius Baltar and convinced him she worked for a rival defense contract company. She got him to show her the source code for the software he developed for controlling military vehicles.
As a result, the Cylons found a remotely exploitable bug in the software; when the Cylons launched their surprise attack, their forces preceded the attacks by exploiting the software and sending a shutdown command to the Colonial computer systems. Most of the Colonial forces, as a result, were left in dead in space and were easy targets for the Cylons. The only reason Galactica and its older Vipers survived was because they didn't have the software loaded and/or their computers weren't networked.
Have him see if there's a firmware update for the device from T-Mobile or HTC. My own Cingular WM5 device was just as buggy and unstable, until I found that there was a firmware update available from HTC. Once I applied it, not only did the direct-push email work MUCH better, the device itself has been relatively stable and crash-free.
Why do I get the feeling that Creative doesn't give a damn about the patents, but is doing this only for the chance that Apple will be prohibited from selling iPods for some time?
There's nothing worse than a stupid nerdy geek telling people off for following some geekhole paranoid rule that has only minimal risk in real life. Like the telltale at school who takes all the rules literally, without trying to understand their purpose and the spirit behind them.
Considering the laws that have gone into effect concerning accountability and auditing in regards to accounting and IT here in the USA (Sarbanes-Oxley, in particular)... I do believe I understand the purpose and spirit behind the rules, and that is why people get in trouble for sharing passwords. I might not fire them (that's not my decision), but their accounts will certainly be locked out and they will have to explain themselves to management, who thanks to all of the scandals surrounding Enron et al take Sarbanes-Oxley compliance VERY seriously...
For me, it all depends on whether or not the machine is one I directly own or control.
If it is one I personally own or am more or less directly responsible for above anyone else, then I use root if needed.
If it's one that I don't personally own or I'm reporting to someone else who's ultimately responsible for the machine, I don't ask for the root password and request sudo access instead. That way, there's a log of my actions so I can go back and show exactly what I was and wasn't responsible for doing. Showing accountability is key when you're in a position of trust, IMHO.
Well, the StarForce Forum Administrator who made the post (with torrent link) is from Russia.
What he did might not be illegal over there.
Legalities aside, what he did is certainly extremely hypocritical considering later in the thread he points to the forum rules and says anyone else posting links to pirated materials will have their posts deleted.
Just an FYI... "series" is the word they use for "season" in the UK and other countries.
It'll make a lot more sense (and hopefully bring your blood pressure down a little) if you realize that when they say "series one", what they mean in our terms is "season one".:-)
At the risk of karma whoring or site advertising...
I was at Midway Gamers Day in Chicago back in August, and while we were putting MK: Shaolin Monks through its paces, they actually brought Brice in to play several rounds against Ed Boon (co-creator of MK and MK development head). Fortunately I had my camcorder with me, so we managed to get nearly nine minutes' worth of footage of them having it out; Brice won every single match.
Here is the link where you can get the videos if you're interested... just scroll down towards the end of the article where there are links to low-quality and high-quality versions (both in Quicktime format).
The Spike TV VGA nominees came out less than a month ago. Of those nominees, several of them had not been released yet. Cut to the actual awards show, and three games that won awards (Aeon Flux, True Crime: New York City, and 50 Cent Bulletproof) only came out this past week. Another (King Kong) won't be out for another few days. For that matter, when was the voting closed and the votes tallied? Were the previously mentioned games even out when the voting was closed?
How am I supposed to believe these awards are in any way legitimate if at least one of the winning games wasn't out when the votes were tallied? It would be like an unreleased movie being nominated for the Oscars. Sure, the Academy voters might see it, but what about the general public? For all we know, these wins were bought and paid for. (Granted, this is possible even with the Oscars, but then at least they wait a few months for the year to be over before announcing nominees...)
The saddest thing about this whole fiasco is that a lot of people will watch the broadcast when it comes out in December and probably won't realize it's pre-recorded... and won't realize that unlike at the time they're watching the awards, some of the winning games hadn't been out for more than a week...
Please note an easier and more acceptable solution requires cooperation from Apple, who we have already reached out to in hopes of addressing this issue. To help speed this effort, we ask that you use the following link to contact Apple and ask them to provide a solution that would easily allow you to move content from protected CDs into iTunes or onto your iPod rather than having to go through the additional steps above:
On the other hand, the easiest and most acceptable solution doesn't require cooperation from Apple:
Normally, a mediocre game release isn't a big deal, except that, because of EA's negotiated exclusivity deal with the NFL, this is the only NFL title you'll get to play this year. So, what are the players to do?
How about go for a football game WITHOUT the NFL license? Midway's making one that should be out in a couple of months called Blitz: The League, and because they don't have the NFL license anymore they're free to put in stuff the NFL wouldn't allow before. I was at a Midway event earlier this month, and listening to people talk afterwards it seemed like they were impressed by what they saw.
As a side note, I have a friend who's the biggest sports nut I know, and he's actually looking forward to the new Blitz game more than he was Madden.:-)
Granted, it wasn't live-action, but it was a theatrical release, and it came out between Batman Returns and Batman Forever. It uses the Animated Series/Gotham Knights/Justice League continuity and was done by the TAS team.
Frankly, I consider it better than the other live-action films, with the possible exception of the 1989 Batman.
Heh, in my particular case, I actually bought a DVD BECAUSE of DVD Decrypter...
I happen to be a big Doctor Who fan. A relative from Great Britain was coming to visit a few weeks ago, so I asked her if she could bring me the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie on DVD. When she brought it, I immediately used DVD Decrypter to make a region-free DVD-R copy. I now keep it in the same DVD case as the original, and use that whenever I want to watch it. The movie's not available in the States, so without DVD Decrypter I probably would not have bought the Doctor Who DVD.
On a related note, I also used DVD Decrypter to rip the first CD of my original Battlestar Galactica DVD box set; not because I wanted to distribute copies, but to see if it could work around a flaw in the disc that crashed every player I put it in at one specific point. It took numerous tries to read that one sector, but it finally did. I ended up with a DVD-R copy that actually could play in my DVD player. It now sits in the BSG box with the original flawed disc.
I wonder how many other people out there are in the same boat I am: not using DVD Decrypter so much to pirate or make copies to distribute, but to watch discs they would never have been able to otherwise....
Just my $.02...
(And yes, there probably is a way to make my DVD player region-free. It was just easier to make a disc that was region-free so I could take it whereever I go.)
Well, you're in luck. Mac OS X (as of 10.2) came with an upgrade option called "Archive and Install". Basically, what it does is it takes your old system files, puts them in a special folder called "Previous System", and then loads a clean copy of the new OS. During this install you're given the option of saving all of your old settings.
That's actually the method I used to upgrade my Powerbook from Jaguar to Panther, and it worked almost flawlessly. (The only issue was that my Palm HotSync Manager stopped working, but a reinstall of the Palm software fixed that.) I'd personally say it's the best way to cleanly upgrade your system and maintain your current settings.
If you want more info on Archive and Install (as of Panther), just click here.
People seem to forget that, even when "purchasing" music, even at $0.99/song, you don't really "own" the music, just the right to play it on a portable device, burn it onto a CD or two, and play it on a few machines that you own... and a significantly "upgraded" machine is considered a new machine. Upgrade enough times and, with most of the DRM software out there, you can't have your music any more.
Actually, that's not exactly true. There is an option in iTunes that will allow you to deauthorize your computer, so that if a machine is going to be reloaded, serviced, what-have-you, it's not going to take up one of your five allotments anymore. If you forget to deauthorize a machine and have already wiped it, they even provide a web-based form which allows you to deauthorize it without being on the machine.
There's an Apple knowledge base article which explains it more here.
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I'm probably going to get a MacBook Pro later this year, depending on if I can convince myself I really need one (as my three and a half year old 1 GHz PowerBook G4 is still working wonderfully). However, there are two features I'd love to see in a MacBook Pro that would convince me to get one in a heartbeat.
:-)
1) Docking station support. Granted, I could use Belkin's ExpressCard-based high speed dock when it's released, but that would limit me to Windows as it doesn't support Mac. Call me lazy, but I'd like to just dock it in when I'm at my desk.
2) An option for a built-in 3G or other broadband cellular wireless. I'm on the road sometimes and it would help to have this ability. Again, I could go with another option, except our provider doesn't have ExpressCard 3G cards out yet.
These aren't dealbreakers, of course, but it would make my life a bit easier...
Just my $.02...
I'll grant that it had been a while since I had tried to build PPTP. I had also tried FreeS/WAN, but if anything that was even MORE of a pain in the ass. OpenVPN was a breeze by comparison. Obviously we had differing experiences.
I'll grant the idiot-proof as well for the most part, except I usually don't have an issue getting people onto the OpenVPN installs I control; I just give them the program to install, and a zip file with the certs/config and instructions to dump in a specific folder. From there they get on without issues.
As far as AD user/pass... well, I haven't tested this myself, but if your OpenVPN server is on a Linux box, it does allow user/pass authentication via PAM. You would just need to have the PAM configuration point towards pam_winbind.so. Granted, it'll probably be a minor annoyance getting it set up on the server side, but hopefully the users don't see the issue.
Not trying to convert you to OpenVPN, mind you... if PPTP works for you by all means go for it. I just found OpenVPN to be perfect for my own means.
Just my $.02...
Actually, in my experience, setting up a PPTP server was a complete and total pain in the ass. I had tried PoPToP on my Linux server (didn't know of any other solutions at the time, and wasn't going to Windows for my server), but I got frustrated as all hell trying to get it working. Even when I thought I got it working, I could never get the clients to connect properly. On the other hand, I had very few problems setting up OpenVPN as a server once I read through the HOWTO on their site thoroughly. I've set up two different OpenVPN server setups, one bridged and one routed, and both work fine with a minimum of hassle.
As far as "nicely integrating with the OS", well, if you want an easy OpenVPN client solution, pick up OpenVPN-GUI for Windows or Tunnelblick for OS X. They're GUI frontends for OpenVPN that, once you get the config and key files into the configuration directories, connect/disconnect with a couple of mouse-clicks. I use both extensively to connect to my home network, and never have had an issue.
Just my $.02...
What I always found amusing is that when I worked for Toys R Us back when the Sega CD was out, I had to explain to a LOT of customers that they needed a Sega Genesis in order for the Sega CD to work. They just could not wrap their heads around the idea that it was purely an add-on and not a console in its own right. :-)
Just my $.02...
I don't watch BSG ;~(
:-) In short, during the Battlestar Galactica miniseries, it's established that a Number Six model Cylon (who'd come to be known as "Caprica-Six") seduced Gaius Baltar and convinced him she worked for a rival defense contract company. She got him to show her the source code for the software he developed for controlling military vehicles.
I am missing out.
No worries.
As a result, the Cylons found a remotely exploitable bug in the software; when the Cylons launched their surprise attack, their forces preceded the attacks by exploiting the software and sending a shutdown command to the Colonial computer systems. Most of the Colonial forces, as a result, were left in dead in space and were easy targets for the Cylons. The only reason Galactica and its older Vipers survived was because they didn't have the software loaded and/or their computers weren't networked.
Hope this helps...
You know, the whoosh the previous posters heard was the joke going completely over their heads.
(Hint: the signature should be a dead giveaway.)
Have him see if there's a firmware update for the device from T-Mobile or HTC. My own Cingular WM5 device was just as buggy and unstable, until I found that there was a firmware update available from HTC. Once I applied it, not only did the direct-push email work MUCH better, the device itself has been relatively stable and crash-free.
Hope this helps...
Those people who say that any publicity is good publicity really need to tell that to Gary Condit, O.J. Simpson, Robert Blake, or Michael Jackson.
Just my $.02...
Considering Creative litigated Aureal out of existence and then hit id Software with patent infringement right before DOOM 3 was about to go gold (which resulted in DOOM 3 adding in special EAX extensions...), I'd say your gut feeling is dead on.
Just my $.02...
There's nothing worse than a stupid nerdy geek telling people off for following some geekhole paranoid rule that has only minimal risk in real life. Like the telltale at school who takes all the rules literally, without trying to understand their purpose and the spirit behind them.
Considering the laws that have gone into effect concerning accountability and auditing in regards to accounting and IT here in the USA (Sarbanes-Oxley, in particular)... I do believe I understand the purpose and spirit behind the rules, and that is why people get in trouble for sharing passwords. I might not fire them (that's not my decision), but their accounts will certainly be locked out and they will have to explain themselves to management, who thanks to all of the scandals surrounding Enron et al take Sarbanes-Oxley compliance VERY seriously...
Just my $.02...
For me, it all depends on whether or not the machine is one I directly own or control.
If it is one I personally own or am more or less directly responsible for above anyone else, then I use root if needed.
If it's one that I don't personally own or I'm reporting to someone else who's ultimately responsible for the machine, I don't ask for the root password and request sudo access instead. That way, there's a log of my actions so I can go back and show exactly what I was and wasn't responsible for doing. Showing accountability is key when you're in a position of trust, IMHO.
Just my $.02...
Well, the StarForce Forum Administrator who made the post (with torrent link) is from Russia.
i c=670&st=20#, if you want to see for yourself.
What he did might not be illegal over there.
Legalities aside, what he did is certainly extremely hypocritical considering later in the thread he points to the forum rules and says anyone else posting links to pirated materials will have their posts deleted.
http://www.star-force.com/forum/index.php?showtop
Last I checked posting a link wasn't illegal.
Tell that to 2600 Magazine.
Just an FYI... "series" is the word they use for "season" in the UK and other countries.
:-)
It'll make a lot more sense (and hopefully bring your blood pressure down a little) if you realize that when they say "series one", what they mean in our terms is "season one".
Just my $.02...
At the risk of karma whoring or site advertising...
I was at Midway Gamers Day in Chicago back in August, and while we were putting MK: Shaolin Monks through its paces, they actually brought Brice in to play several rounds against Ed Boon (co-creator of MK and MK development head). Fortunately I had my camcorder with me, so we managed to get nearly nine minutes' worth of footage of them having it out; Brice won every single match.
Here is the link where you can get the videos if you're interested... just scroll down towards the end of the article where there are links to low-quality and high-quality versions (both in Quicktime format).
Just my $.02...
The Spike TV VGA nominees came out less than a month ago. Of those nominees, several of them had not been released yet. Cut to the actual awards show, and three games that won awards (Aeon Flux, True Crime: New York City, and 50 Cent Bulletproof) only came out this past week. Another (King Kong) won't be out for another few days. For that matter, when was the voting closed and the votes tallied? Were the previously mentioned games even out when the voting was closed?
How am I supposed to believe these awards are in any way legitimate if at least one of the winning games wasn't out when the votes were tallied? It would be like an unreleased movie being nominated for the Oscars. Sure, the Academy voters might see it, but what about the general public? For all we know, these wins were bought and paid for. (Granted, this is possible even with the Oscars, but then at least they wait a few months for the year to be over before announcing nominees...)
The saddest thing about this whole fiasco is that a lot of people will watch the broadcast when it comes out in December and probably won't realize it's pre-recorded... and won't realize that unlike at the time they're watching the awards, some of the winning games hadn't been out for more than a week...
Just my $.02...
Where have I heard that joke before? Oh, right...
:p
http://www.bash.org/?16760
Try and give credit next time.
Please note an easier and more acceptable solution requires cooperation from Apple, who we have already reached out to in hopes of addressing this issue. To help speed this effort, we ask that you use the following link to contact Apple and ask them to provide a solution that would easily allow you to move content from protected CDs into iTunes or onto your iPod rather than having to go through the additional steps above:
On the other hand, the easiest and most acceptable solution doesn't require cooperation from Apple:
DON'T PUT COPY-PROTECTION ON THE BLOODY CDs!
Normally, a mediocre game release isn't a big deal, except that, because of EA's negotiated exclusivity deal with the NFL, this is the only NFL title you'll get to play this year. So, what are the players to do?
:-)
How about go for a football game WITHOUT the NFL license? Midway's making one that should be out in a couple of months called Blitz: The League , and because they don't have the NFL license anymore they're free to put in stuff the NFL wouldn't allow before. I was at a Midway event earlier this month, and listening to people talk afterwards it seemed like they were impressed by what they saw.
As a side note, I have a friend who's the biggest sports nut I know, and he's actually looking forward to the new Blitz game more than he was Madden.
Just my $.02...
Dupes.
Maybe he means Batman: Mask of the Phantasm?
Granted, it wasn't live-action, but it was a theatrical release, and it came out between Batman Returns and Batman Forever. It uses the Animated Series/Gotham Knights/Justice League continuity and was done by the TAS team.
Frankly, I consider it better than the other live-action films, with the possible exception of the 1989 Batman.
Just my $.02...
Heh, in my particular case, I actually bought a DVD BECAUSE of DVD Decrypter...
I happen to be a big Doctor Who fan. A relative from Great Britain was coming to visit a few weeks ago, so I asked her if she could bring me the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie on DVD. When she brought it, I immediately used DVD Decrypter to make a region-free DVD-R copy. I now keep it in the same DVD case as the original, and use that whenever I want to watch it. The movie's not available in the States, so without DVD Decrypter I probably would not have bought the Doctor Who DVD.
On a related note, I also used DVD Decrypter to rip the first CD of my original Battlestar Galactica DVD box set; not because I wanted to distribute copies, but to see if it could work around a flaw in the disc that crashed every player I put it in at one specific point. It took numerous tries to read that one sector, but it finally did. I ended up with a DVD-R copy that actually could play in my DVD player. It now sits in the BSG box with the original flawed disc.
I wonder how many other people out there are in the same boat I am: not using DVD Decrypter so much to pirate or make copies to distribute, but to watch discs they would never have been able to otherwise....
Just my $.02...
(And yes, there probably is a way to make my DVD player region-free. It was just easier to make a disc that was region-free so I could take it whereever I go.)
Well, you're in luck. Mac OS X (as of 10.2) came with an upgrade option called "Archive and Install". Basically, what it does is it takes your old system files, puts them in a special folder called "Previous System", and then loads a clean copy of the new OS. During this install you're given the option of saving all of your old settings.
That's actually the method I used to upgrade my Powerbook from Jaguar to Panther, and it worked almost flawlessly. (The only issue was that my Palm HotSync Manager stopped working, but a reinstall of the Palm software fixed that.) I'd personally say it's the best way to cleanly upgrade your system and maintain your current settings.
If you want more info on Archive and Install (as of Panther), just click here.
Just my $.02...
Does anyone else think that this could be the scariest thing ever? Especially if they make a clown version?
Yes, and you don't need the clown version. You should see Akira sometime...
Just a quick nitpick...
People seem to forget that, even when "purchasing" music, even at $0.99/song, you don't really "own" the music, just the right to play it on a portable device, burn it onto a CD or two, and play it on a few machines that you own... and a significantly "upgraded" machine is considered a new machine. Upgrade enough times and, with most of the DRM software out there, you can't have your music any more.
Actually, that's not exactly true. There is an option in iTunes that will allow you to deauthorize your computer, so that if a machine is going to be reloaded, serviced, what-have-you, it's not going to take up one of your five allotments anymore. If you forget to deauthorize a machine and have already wiped it, they even provide a web-based form which allows you to deauthorize it without being on the machine.
There's an Apple knowledge base article which explains it more here.
Just my $.02...