You're drinking the apple koolaid. I'm looking at the Apple store right now, they charge $2500 for the cheapest Mac Pro. Here's a breakdown of the specs with the equivalent prices on newegg:
One 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor - $235 on newegg 6GB DDR3 ECC (3X2GB) - $47 on newegg 1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive - $100 on newgg ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB - (so old that newegg doesnt even sell them anymore, though they do have one for $100) One 18x SuperDrive - $20 on newegg Apple Magic Mouse - generic cheapo mouse, $10 on newegg Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (English) & User's Guide - generic cheapo keyboard, $20 on newegg Case + Motherboard + Power Supply (not mentioned in the Mac Pro specs): $200 for a high end motherboard, $100 for a high end case, $150 for a high end power supply.
Total Newegg price: $982 Total Apple price: $2500
That's a difference of $1518. Why does their workstation cost so much? Does it cost $1500 for them to assemble the parts off the shelf and install a copy of OSX?
I agree. Diablo3 would've been much better with randomized maps + free roam, not the story mode restriction that they force on you. The story mode really ruined multiplayer aswell, it's one of the main reasons why no one plays d3 multiplayer.
Diablo 3 got it wrong in every department, and Torchlight 2 got it right. Torchlight 2 has randomized maps, free roam, and a multiplayer lobby system with named games! Pretty much everything that Diablo 2 had that Diablo3 should've had...
I played the demo of Torchlight 2 and while it's fun, the intensity of the battles is no match for what you find on Diablo 3.
Are you serious? The boss fights in Diablo 3 were a joke. The only one that was half decent was Belial. The boss fights in TL2 are far more intricate, and if you play on Veteran or Elite difficulty the bosses are extremely challenging.
I started with Slackware, moved on to Mandrake a few years later, then Ubuntu for a few years, now I use Debian.
My very first experience with linux was around 1995 or 1996. It was somewhat comical as I ended up getting hacked within minutes of installing Slackware for the first time. Back then Slackware had a boot disk and a root disk that were used to install it. I assumed that the root disk was related to the root account. I thought it was some type of security measure, like a hardware dongle, where you had to have the root disk inserted in the machine in order to login as root.
Back then Slackware had telnet enabled by default, and they didn't prompt you to enter a root password during or after installation. I made the mistake of logging on IRC thinking I was okay (I had the root disk inserted after all!). Next thing I know my console is getting flooded with hard drive errors. It turns out someone telneted into my password-less root account and did a "rm -rf".
I was 13 at the time but it was a good learning experience. After that initial mistake I learned to disable telnet and setup a root password.
As the Alibaba/Aliyun saga attests, Google's happy to shut down competing products that rely on their infrastructure if they aren't strategic, or as Google puts it, "compatible."
I don't think it had anything to do with Google trying to prevent competition. Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble have competing versions of Android, but neither of those companies are members of the OHA and they don't have to play by the same rules that Acer does. Acer is free to leave the OHA and create their own fork of Android if they don't want to follow the rules.
Yes ABP is great for blocking ads, but Ghostery will block the tracking cookies ABP doesn't care about.. A plus for Ghostery is it remove all of the +1, Facebook, and Twitter links from around the web that I could care less about.
ABP can do that aswell if you subscribe to the Anti-Social filter. Scroll to the very bottom of this page: http://adblockplus.org/en/subscriptions. It's under Miscellaneous.
I played SWTOR at launch and it was extremely fun. It had one of the best/most enjoyable leveling experiences that I've seen in an MMO. The graphics, story and combat were all well done. Unfortunately the end game was completely lacking. Too bad, it could have been an amazing MMO.
Guild Wars 2 is pretty much identical to SWTOR in that the leveling experience is extremely good, but the end game is non-existent. There's lots of good quests and places to explore and it's all very new and exciting. But once you hit 80 that excitement dries up, there's nothing to do but PvP and grind dynamic events.
I had a similar experience. On the first night my friend and I could play with each other just fine, but then the next day we couldn't connect to each other. Nothing seemed to fix it (firewall, dmz, port forwarding, etc..). Finally we both restarted steam and it magically worked again...
I love Slashdot, but all the comments below are pretty standard bashing we've come to expect.
Have you even used uTorrent recently? 5 years ago you didn't even need to install uTorrent, the executable was the entire program. It was extremely lightweight and fast. Now they display ads everywhere, you have to uncheck multiple toolbars and crapware in the installer, and its bloated (I don't need a media player built into my torrent client).
This could actually provide more legitimacy to the protocol.
How does putting toolbars in the installer and displaying ads all over your product provide legitimacy? It's just developers trying to cash in.
It's Winamp all over again. The developers made a product that people liked, got bought out, and the new overlords monetised it and ruined it.
US Patent No. 5,946,647 - this patent was filed in 1996 (issued 1999) and covers detecting data, such as a phone number, in an email or web page, creating a link to that data, and initiating an action like calling the phone number when the user selects the link. The data could also include addresses, dates, etc.
US Patent No. 8,086,604 - this patent claims priority back to 2000 (issued Dec. 2011) and covers searching multiple sources of information (on device and elsewhere) through a single search interface, such as Siri. Apple specifically touts Siri in its injunction request, but also argues that a unified text search is covered by the patent as well.
US Patent No. 8,046,721 - this patent claims priority back to 2005 (issued Oct. 2011) and covers Apple's signature slide-to-unlock feature. While Apple already has patent coverage on an image unlock feature, this newest patent is obviously intended to be a bit broader — likely addressing potential workarounds implemented by Google and OEMs over the last couple of years.
US Patent No. 8,074,172 - this patent was filed in 2007 (issued Dec. 2011) and covers providing word suggestions while the user types on a touchscreen keyboard, where the suggestions can be accepted or rejected by the user.
Unlike your Android phone (leap of faith there), Windows Phones do not yet need a dual core processor
I stopped reading right here. Dual core processors are *NOT* a requirement for Android phones. My 1.5 year old Nexus S has a single core 1Ghz processor with 512MB ram, and it's still extremely fast and responsive. I also recently upgraded from 2.3.6 to 4.0.3 and it's even faster than before. Dual cores are a luxury, not a requirement.
Torchlight definitely wasn't as good as Diablo 1 or 2, but for their budget I think Runic Games did a good job. One big thing that I really enjoyed with Torchlight was the modding (something that Blizzard will never allow with Diablo 3). With Torchlight you could download new heroes, pets, items, quests and countless other enhancements. Torchlight 2 will also have mod support and you can use those mods in online co-op games (as long as everyone is using the same mods).
Slashdot Mirror
Not to defend Apple, but wifi, sound, and hardware acceleration are hard to get working right in Linux no matter who makes the hardware.
You're drinking the apple koolaid. I'm looking at the Apple store right now, they charge $2500 for the cheapest Mac Pro. Here's a breakdown of the specs with the equivalent prices on newegg:
One 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor - $235 on newegg
6GB DDR3 ECC (3X2GB) - $47 on newegg
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive - $100 on newgg
ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB - (so old that newegg doesnt even sell them anymore, though they do have one for $100)
One 18x SuperDrive - $20 on newegg
Apple Magic Mouse - generic cheapo mouse, $10 on newegg
Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (English) & User's Guide - generic cheapo keyboard, $20 on newegg
Case + Motherboard + Power Supply (not mentioned in the Mac Pro specs): $200 for a high end motherboard, $100 for a high end case, $150 for a high end power supply.
Total Newegg price: $982
Total Apple price: $2500
That's a difference of $1518. Why does their workstation cost so much? Does it cost $1500 for them to assemble the parts off the shelf and install a copy of OSX?
I agree. Diablo3 would've been much better with randomized maps + free roam, not the story mode restriction that they force on you. The story mode really ruined multiplayer aswell, it's one of the main reasons why no one plays d3 multiplayer.
Diablo 3 got it wrong in every department, and Torchlight 2 got it right. Torchlight 2 has randomized maps, free roam, and a multiplayer lobby system with named games! Pretty much everything that Diablo 2 had that Diablo3 should've had...
Are you serious? The boss fights in Diablo 3 were a joke. The only one that was half decent was Belial. The boss fights in TL2 are far more intricate, and if you play on Veteran or Elite difficulty the bosses are extremely challenging.
His name is Matt Uelman. He also did the music for Starcraft 1 and Broodwar. Who can ever forget that class Terran theme? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V9wMRuJuYw
I started with Slackware, moved on to Mandrake a few years later, then Ubuntu for a few years, now I use Debian.
My very first experience with linux was around 1995 or 1996. It was somewhat comical as I ended up getting hacked within minutes of installing Slackware for the first time. Back then Slackware had a boot disk and a root disk that were used to install it. I assumed that the root disk was related to the root account. I thought it was some type of security measure, like a hardware dongle, where you had to have the root disk inserted in the machine in order to login as root.
Back then Slackware had telnet enabled by default, and they didn't prompt you to enter a root password during or after installation. I made the mistake of logging on IRC thinking I was okay (I had the root disk inserted after all!). Next thing I know my console is getting flooded with hard drive errors. It turns out someone telneted into my password-less root account and did a "rm -rf".
I was 13 at the time but it was a good learning experience. After that initial mistake I learned to disable telnet and setup a root password.
I mentioned this in another post, but the exploit was already patched a few weeks ago. Source.
Most Galaxy S III Devices Are Not Vulnerable To USSD Wiping Exploit: It Was Already Fixed In An Update
As the Alibaba/Aliyun saga attests, Google's happy to shut down competing products that rely on their infrastructure if they aren't strategic, or as Google puts it, "compatible."
I don't think it had anything to do with Google trying to prevent competition. Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble have competing versions of Android, but neither of those companies are members of the OHA and they don't have to play by the same rules that Acer does. Acer is free to leave the OHA and create their own fork of Android if they don't want to follow the rules.
ABP can do that aswell if you subscribe to the Anti-Social filter. Scroll to the very bottom of this page: http://adblockplus.org/en/subscriptions. It's under Miscellaneous.
I played SWTOR at launch and it was extremely fun. It had one of the best/most enjoyable leveling experiences that I've seen in an MMO. The graphics, story and combat were all well done. Unfortunately the end game was completely lacking. Too bad, it could have been an amazing MMO.
Guild Wars 2 is pretty much identical to SWTOR in that the leveling experience is extremely good, but the end game is non-existent. There's lots of good quests and places to explore and it's all very new and exciting. But once you hit 80 that excitement dries up, there's nothing to do but PvP and grind dynamic events.
Don't forget about Distinctive Software Inc (DSI). They made three of the best car racing games of all time: Stunts, Test Drive, and Need for Speed.
I had a similar experience. On the first night my friend and I could play with each other just fine, but then the next day we couldn't connect to each other. Nothing seemed to fix it (firewall, dmz, port forwarding, etc..). Finally we both restarted steam and it magically worked again...
Maybe your product and/or website is US centric? You do know that there are other markets outside the States?
Oh thats right, you've been on a choo choo train, clearly Apple dominates every market with evidence like that!
Have you even used uTorrent recently? 5 years ago you didn't even need to install uTorrent, the executable was the entire program. It was extremely lightweight and fast.
Now they display ads everywhere, you have to uncheck multiple toolbars and crapware in the installer, and its bloated (I don't need a media player built into my torrent client).
How does putting toolbars in the installer and displaying ads all over your product provide legitimacy? It's just developers trying to cash in.
It's Winamp all over again. The developers made a product that people liked, got bought out, and the new overlords monetised it and ruined it.
I switched to qBittorrent. It's open source, uses Qt4, and it looks similar to older versions of uTorrent.
See that url? politics.slashdot.org
If you don't like political news, disable the politics section in your account settings.
Google doesn't make any hardware. HTC manufactured the Nexus One. Samsung manufactered the Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus. Asus manufactered the Nexus 7.
You can disable NFC in the android settings.
System Settings -> More... -> NFC (uncheck it).
Here's a better article: http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/11/2791830/apple-seeks-ban-on-Samsung-Galaxy-Nexus
and initiating an action like calling the phone number when the user selects the link. The data could also include addresses, dates, etc.
a single search interface, such as Siri. Apple specifically touts Siri in its injunction request, but also argues that a unified text search is covered by the patent as well.
on an image unlock feature, this newest patent is obviously intended to be a bit broader — likely addressing potential workarounds implemented by Google and OEMs over the last couple of years.
suggestions can be accepted or rejected by the user.
There are better sources at BBC News or Bloomberg.
Steam has monthly hardware surveys if that's what you're referring to, and they're completely optional (opt-in, not opt-out).
I've been using the same addons since Firefox 3.x and they all still work in Firefox 11. Which addons are you using that break with every new release?
I stopped reading right here. Dual core processors are *NOT* a requirement for Android phones. My 1.5 year old Nexus S has a single core 1Ghz processor with 512MB ram, and it's still extremely fast and responsive. I also recently upgraded from 2.3.6 to 4.0.3 and it's even faster than before. Dual cores are a luxury, not a requirement.
Torchlight definitely wasn't as good as Diablo 1 or 2, but for their budget I think Runic Games did a good job. One big thing that I really enjoyed with Torchlight was the modding (something that Blizzard will never allow with Diablo 3). With Torchlight you could download new heroes, pets, items, quests and countless other enhancements. Torchlight 2 will also have mod support and you can use those mods in online co-op games (as long as everyone is using the same mods).
Also, the guys at Runic Games are pretty awesome. They're against DRM and don't care about piracy. I'll gladly support them in the future.