I for one welcome our new passport data sniffing RFID overlords, and proudly wear my tin-foil passport envelope so they can't steal my data unless they want to.
By the numbers, out of the entire package the only good parts are:
Nintendo Wii Console (includes 1 remote controller, 1 nunchuck, cables, sensor bar, console stand, and Wii Sports game) - which I already have an EBX preorder for at $250 (paid $50 upfront)
Wii Memory SD 1GB - this is good
Additional Wii Remote Controller - this is good
6 Games:
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - good
Trauma Center: Second Opinion - ok, would get it if it was a package
Red Steel - good, but was going to wait
Marvel Ultimate Alliance - boring
Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz - boring
Madden NFL 2007 - boring 12 Month Product Replacement Plan - total ripoff Game Informer Gift Subscription - total ripoff
I think I'll just pick up the memory, the extra controller, Zelda and Rayman Raving Rabbits, and get the rest much much later, thanks!
That is, if I ever get a WinVista box. I'm probably saying sayonara to Windows after sticking with them since MS-DOS (think it was either 1.0 or 2.0, not sure which) for my base home machine (now a laptop). With Open Office and all the other web-based things, I just don't care anymore, and I've mostly switched to console gaming for the most part. Can always hold out six months till they release it for the Mac and use my son's Mac Mini if need be.
Outsourcing forced US students to avoid IT like the plague, since they knew they could be outsourced in a minute, and most of those smart people went into microbiology, medicine, medical genetics, molecular biology, economics, and other fields.
What's amusing is the whining by those who promote outsourcing, and the ever expanding pool of H1B and other visas (L1, L2, etc), instead of the normal response of immigration quotas for people with a first world Ph.D. in the needed fields, as other countries do.
It's why our illegal immigration system is increasing, too. The market cares nothing for your politics, and tends to perfer Democrats (just look at actual investor returns and share price growth as two of many indicators) over the outsourcing Republicans.
DailyKos today is really pushing today for a mail-in system like Oregon apparently has available. That would be good, but still a voter doesn't see the ballot going into the box that is counted, and that's where the voting machines and mail-in both fail.
No, in Oregon (and soon in all of Washington state), you can take your mail-in ballot to special Election boxes (like mailboxes) at the post offices and at major intersections at cities if you don't trust the mail.
They give us pencils up here in Canada. We don't punch holes, we place an "X" in the box for the candidate that we choose.
The nice thing about voting absentee in WA state (2/3 of us), and the same in OR (all mail-in), is that you just fill in the circle with a pencil or pen.
It's that simple. No punching. No chads. No arrows.
And, like Canada's 99.99 percent accuracy (ours is much lower in the USA), it works.
The only people that need electronic voting are those who are disabled - physical, visual, motor (shake too much), or whatever.
This guy worked on the 3DO and the Dreamcast! This means that the PS/3 will be the best console of the generation and still die a marketing driven death! He also worked for Martha Stewart and KMart. So that means their is a good chance that this will end in bankruptcy or jail time.
Don't forget, he also spun the Heidi Fleiss defense in the media. I guess that means they'll be hanging out in Vegas jails after the PS3 fails.
Braking system? I... I... I just want a flying car. They said I could have a flying car. Where's my flying car? That sinking prototype on Ebay wasn't even "sky-legal."
I wanna flying car! Sniffle.:(
Just stay in your lane, and don't hog the road from those of us with jetpacks, sonny.
I've had a home PC that runs Windows - started with DOS, then Windows, now WinXP - since I started gaming.
When I read thru the list of requirements for WinVista, I decided enough of this. I'll be switching to console gaming and using Linux for my next laptop when MSFT kills off my WinXP one.
I've got a GameCube, xBox, and PS2, and a preorder in for a Wii. My son has a Mac Mini. Between those, I should be able to play most of the games I care about - but I've had it with the WinVista requirements.
My TV is bigger than 20 or 27 inches. No reason to replace a functional TV just because I can. I'll wait until I can get them for $300 for a better HDTV. Thus, the Wii works fine for me now and for the next few years.
In actual practice, according to the Wall Street Journal, homeowners spend about as much on audio component systems at the same time or shortly after purchasing an HDTV. This could be due to them being early adopters of course.
However, a good rule of thumb is that prices for electronics equipment rapidly drop in a curve after introduction, with the highest ROI point for a consumer about 3 years after full introduction.
As 2009 is the cut-off date for analog signals, we can use that as a benchmark for 50 percent usage, since HDTV is only in 1 out of 6 US households at this time. Therefore, my comments that the best price point for purchasing a non-buggy HDTV for around $300 that would actually replace/improve my current set with a 1080p HDTV set, gives me an approximate time to buy of around 2009, possibly early 2008 around February/March. At this time we should also see price drops for PS3 units and all first introduction bugs will have been addressed as well.
Of course, in 2009 we should expect the introduction of the replacement next-gen systems to replace the xBox360, PS3 and Wii consoles. So maybe I'll shoot for 2008.
Slashdot Mirror
I for one welcome our new passport data sniffing RFID overlords, and proudly wear my tin-foil passport envelope so they can't steal my data unless they want to.
I agree, but I'll probably shell out the $20 for the extra memory. Not as a package, though.
By the numbers, out of the entire package the only good parts are:
Nintendo Wii Console (includes 1 remote controller, 1 nunchuck, cables, sensor bar, console stand, and Wii Sports game)
- which I already have an EBX preorder for at $250 (paid $50 upfront)
Wii Memory SD 1GB - this is good
Additional Wii Remote Controller - this is good
6 Games:
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - good
Trauma Center: Second Opinion - ok, would get it if it was a package
Red Steel - good, but was going to wait
Marvel Ultimate Alliance - boring
Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz - boring
Madden NFL 2007 - boring
12 Month Product Replacement Plan - total ripoff
Game Informer Gift Subscription - total ripoff
I think I'll just pick up the memory, the extra controller, Zelda and Rayman Raving Rabbits, and get the rest much much later, thanks!
$694.88 plus tax and handling
Plus, the motion sensor comes in handy during certain "deleted" scenes ...
My Wii is only costing me $250 (of which I've already paid $200), plus maybe another $65 for another controller and Rayman's Raving Rabbits!
I'll bet you can get the same "bundle" for $400 at Costco a week later.
and wish they'd port GTA to the Wii as well.
Good thing I have a PS2, though!
and I live in Seattle. My next laptop is going Linux - I've had it.
Assuming a uniform probability distribution on parties, they will cancel each other out.
However, national census and election data indicates GOP voters at 22 percent, Dems at 28 percent, and the rest (larger than both) Independent.
Therefore, you are incorrectly using statistics.
That is, if I ever get a WinVista box. I'm probably saying sayonara to Windows after sticking with them since MS-DOS (think it was either 1.0 or 2.0, not sure which) for my base home machine (now a laptop). With Open Office and all the other web-based things, I just don't care anymore, and I've mostly switched to console gaming for the most part. Can always hold out six months till they release it for the Mac and use my son's Mac Mini if need be.
Even if you only select choices in a few races.
Outsourcing forced US students to avoid IT like the plague, since they knew they could be outsourced in a minute, and most of those smart people went into microbiology, medicine, medical genetics, molecular biology, economics, and other fields.
What's amusing is the whining by those who promote outsourcing, and the ever expanding pool of H1B and other visas (L1, L2, etc), instead of the normal response of immigration quotas for people with a first world Ph.D. in the needed fields, as other countries do.
It's why our illegal immigration system is increasing, too. The market cares nothing for your politics, and tends to perfer Democrats (just look at actual investor returns and share price growth as two of many indicators) over the outsourcing Republicans.
DailyKos today is really pushing today for a mail-in system like Oregon apparently has available. That would be good, but still a voter doesn't see the ballot going into the box that is counted, and that's where the voting machines and mail-in both fail.
No, in Oregon (and soon in all of Washington state), you can take your mail-in ballot to special Election boxes (like mailboxes) at the post offices and at major intersections at cities if you don't trust the mail.
I trust the USPS a lot more than I trust Diebold.
They give us pencils up here in Canada. We don't punch holes, we place an "X" in the box for the candidate that we choose.
The nice thing about voting absentee in WA state (2/3 of us), and the same in OR (all mail-in), is that you just fill in the circle with a pencil or pen.
It's that simple. No punching. No chads. No arrows.
And, like Canada's 99.99 percent accuracy (ours is much lower in the USA), it works.
The only people that need electronic voting are those who are disabled - physical, visual, motor (shake too much), or whatever.
Let's get REAL, people!
It's just posturing really.
But hey, I live in WA. So you believe anything you want.
No, as anyone who served in the Armed Forces knows, it's quite a few weeks sooner.
Was before I was born too.
Technically, the polls are open on the day you mention, but the day it's recorded is a few weeks later, when it's certified.
You can robocall WA, OR, and CA all you want, we voted a long time ago.
Don't you wish you had mail-in elections too?
of scientific articles.
Until that happens, and none of the global warming deniers has passed that stage, it's just opinion pretending to be science.
Plus blind stupidity, IMHO.
because all the robocalls to Montana are flooding the phone lines.
And I've been getting emails from relatives in Vermont that the illegal robocalls are happening a lot in the Northeast.
Main thing is simple: make sure everyone you know votes. Then the results are what they are.
Realize that those who lack morals will use dirty tricks to try to stop you from doing what you were going to do, and do it anyway.
This guy worked on the 3DO and the Dreamcast! This means that the PS/3 will be the best console of the generation and still die a marketing driven death!
He also worked for Martha Stewart and KMart. So that means their is a good chance that this will end in bankruptcy or jail time.
Don't forget, he also spun the Heidi Fleiss defense in the media. I guess that means they'll be hanging out in Vegas jails after the PS3 fails.
the PS3 lights itself on fire and the DRM-enhanced Blu-Ray laser goes on a rampage to kill all humans in the vicinity.
...
I'm sure it will work.
Or you could realize the well is poisoned quite deeply, and that trying to spin things will make the fire grow that much higher
Braking system? I... I... I just want a flying car. They said I could have a flying car. Where's my flying car? That sinking prototype on Ebay wasn't even "sky-legal."
:(
I wanna flying car! Sniffle.
Just stay in your lane, and don't hog the road from those of us with jetpacks, sonny.
We have rights too!
I've had a home PC that runs Windows - started with DOS, then Windows, now WinXP - since I started gaming.
When I read thru the list of requirements for WinVista, I decided enough of this. I'll be switching to console gaming and using Linux for my next laptop when MSFT kills off my WinXP one.
I've got a GameCube, xBox, and PS2, and a preorder in for a Wii. My son has a Mac Mini. Between those, I should be able to play most of the games I care about - but I've had it with the WinVista requirements.
Sadly this means no wide screen.
I so wanted to play Zelda in widescreen. I'm not quite as excited about the WII anymore.
Can I have yours?
My TV is bigger than 20 or 27 inches. No reason to replace a functional TV just because I can. I'll wait until I can get them for $300 for a better HDTV. Thus, the Wii works fine for me now and for the next few years.
In actual practice, according to the Wall Street Journal, homeowners spend about as much on audio component systems at the same time or shortly after purchasing an HDTV. This could be due to them being early adopters of course.
However, a good rule of thumb is that prices for electronics equipment rapidly drop in a curve after introduction, with the highest ROI point for a consumer about 3 years after full introduction.
As 2009 is the cut-off date for analog signals, we can use that as a benchmark for 50 percent usage, since HDTV is only in 1 out of 6 US households at this time. Therefore, my comments that the best price point for purchasing a non-buggy HDTV for around $300 that would actually replace/improve my current set with a 1080p HDTV set, gives me an approximate time to buy of around 2009, possibly early 2008 around February/March. At this time we should also see price drops for PS3 units and all first introduction bugs will have been addressed as well.
Of course, in 2009 we should expect the introduction of the replacement next-gen systems to replace the xBox360, PS3 and Wii consoles. So maybe I'll shoot for 2008.