Red Flayer is certainly correct when he says it is a free (as in beer) short-term loan. I pay every bill with my one credit card. automatically. In 2 years I have actively paid 24 bills - rent each month. At the end of the 20 days free loan, my bank pays the credit card back. automatically. plus miles and stuff that other people have been saying really do mean i make a killing off my credit card (just used close to 260,000 American Airlines miles last year = free first class tickets to wherever the hell me and my girlfriend want to go)
For the credit-afraid people of the world, here is something else which might blow your mind - with good credit, you can borrow or transfer balances for _long term_ benefits:
1 - I am out somewhat recently out of college. Twice now I have had a high limit one year 0% interest balance transfer credit card. Paid one off the last month possible, doing the same now in October with another large chunk of school loans. Overall interest savings = $1,200.
2 - Have a credit card that has 3.9% interest for the LIFE of the balance transfer. I defy you to find better loan rate from a bank.
I have a decent amount of school debt because I come from a poor family, but having good credit has saved me a provable $1,200 in cash, and a free 1 week vacation (which would have cost around $2,000).
People with hacked Xbox 360s still need to buy a new system in order to play online. So it's really not all that bad for Microsoft. When they defeat _this_ hack, then all people with those hacked boxes would have to buy yet another Xbox.
What would really screw up Microsoft's banning efforts is if people managed to change their console IDs. Then banning a console ID would put a regular Xbox 360 out of commission, and the banned one would just change to a different good ID again.
He says: "I realized that the Wii isn't asking me to simulate a realistic swing. There's no reason to assume a batter's stance, and no reason to bother swinging the controller fast or following through--flicking the controller like a pingpong paddle works just as well. This is the Wii's biggest letdown--you don't need to stand up, leap around, or otherwise leave the warm embrace of your couch. The console senses motion, but compared with the full-body workout of a game like Dance Dance Revolution, you're not getting any kind of exercise at all."
I say: He doesn't appear to understand a certain type of fun that videogames can provide. You _can_ decide to play it like Cartman playing WoW, or you could have fun. Your choice. He chooses to be a f***ing toolbox.
I'm not a Wii fanboy, but I have to say that article is pretty terrible.
On your arrogance comment.
I was on the IT side of things for around 8 years in 4 different places (including a university) where I was, or was a part of the IT department. We all did things that we would have reimaged a user's computer for. On a daily basis. With one of my co-workers at the univ., I legitimately reimaged (it had died from misuse) more times than any user. wow.
Now I'm IT Audit at a big 4 firm... and I see that the IT departments I worked at were actually good. I hear a lot of the arrogance of which you speak. Not to brag or anything, but even the newbies over here are incredibly intelligent and, generally speaking, know more than the senior vps, cios, it directors, etc combined. I think the arrogance is a defense mechanism in most cases for having, in ascending order:
a) a crappy job
i) crappy mgmt
ii) crappy IT security policies
b) crappy attitude
c) lack of knowledge
that's my $.02
But most IT people are better, now that I deal with almost exclusively Fortune 500 people. Which, should be the opposite if arrogance is a result of actual knowledge or success as many people think.
btw, I think all the big-4 have enough expertise and experience to audit all your systems, but I may be wrong.
----
my username has a long history, don't asque
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Red Flayer is certainly correct when he says it is a free (as in beer) short-term loan. I pay every bill with my one credit card. automatically. In 2 years I have actively paid 24 bills - rent each month. At the end of the 20 days free loan, my bank pays the credit card back. automatically. plus miles and stuff that other people have been saying really do mean i make a killing off my credit card (just used close to 260,000 American Airlines miles last year = free first class tickets to wherever the hell me and my girlfriend want to go)
For the credit-afraid people of the world, here is something else which might blow your mind - with good credit, you can borrow or transfer balances for _long term_ benefits:
1 - I am out somewhat recently out of college. Twice now I have had a high limit one year 0% interest balance transfer credit card. Paid one off the last month possible, doing the same now in October with another large chunk of school loans. Overall interest savings = $1,200.
2 - Have a credit card that has 3.9% interest for the LIFE of the balance transfer. I defy you to find better loan rate from a bank.
I have a decent amount of school debt because I come from a poor family, but having good credit has saved me a provable $1,200 in cash, and a free 1 week vacation (which would have cost around $2,000).
People with hacked Xbox 360s still need to buy a new system in order to play online. So it's really not all that bad for Microsoft. When they defeat _this_ hack, then all people with those hacked boxes would have to buy yet another Xbox. What would really screw up Microsoft's banning efforts is if people managed to change their console IDs. Then banning a console ID would put a regular Xbox 360 out of commission, and the banned one would just change to a different good ID again.
Boy, did they hit the head on the nail:
He says:
"I realized that the Wii isn't asking me to simulate a realistic swing. There's no reason to assume a batter's stance, and no reason to bother swinging the controller fast or following through--flicking the controller like a pingpong paddle works just as well. This is the Wii's biggest letdown--you don't need to stand up, leap around, or otherwise leave the warm embrace of your couch. The console senses motion, but compared with the full-body workout of a game like Dance Dance Revolution, you're not getting any kind of exercise at all."
PA says:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/11/13
I say:
He doesn't appear to understand a certain type of fun that videogames can provide. You _can_ decide to play it like Cartman playing WoW, or you could have fun. Your choice. He chooses to be a f***ing toolbox.
I'm not a Wii fanboy, but I have to say that article is pretty terrible.
On your arrogance comment. I was on the IT side of things for around 8 years in 4 different places (including a university) where I was, or was a part of the IT department. We all did things that we would have reimaged a user's computer for. On a daily basis. With one of my co-workers at the univ., I legitimately reimaged (it had died from misuse) more times than any user. wow. Now I'm IT Audit at a big 4 firm... and I see that the IT departments I worked at were actually good. I hear a lot of the arrogance of which you speak. Not to brag or anything, but even the newbies over here are incredibly intelligent and, generally speaking, know more than the senior vps, cios, it directors, etc combined. I think the arrogance is a defense mechanism in most cases for having, in ascending order: a) a crappy job i) crappy mgmt ii) crappy IT security policies b) crappy attitude c) lack of knowledge that's my $.02 But most IT people are better, now that I deal with almost exclusively Fortune 500 people. Which, should be the opposite if arrogance is a result of actual knowledge or success as many people think. btw, I think all the big-4 have enough expertise and experience to audit all your systems, but I may be wrong. ---- my username has a long history, don't asque