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Slashback: Bits, Bytes, Words 56

Posted by timothy from the nothing-new-under-the-sun- dept.
Do you want an i-Opener, and for how much? Are space-vehicle rescues "your thing"? Does your cute iMac suffer from a video-game-violence deficiency? Do your Web habits stray to courtroom and crime-scene voyeurism? Do you think that online privacy agreements must of needs outlive the dot-com-ephemera which offer them? If Yes to any or all, you've come to the right place.

Money changes everything. After numerous writeups about the hacking potential of their iOpener device, Netpliance changed their service model and even the design of the product itself. Sounds like that wasn't enough: Cy Guy writes: "Netpliance has announced that they are raising the price of the i-Opener from the introductory price of $99 to $399 (neither price reflects the $21.95/month cost of Netpliance's Internet service which must be used with the device.) In a c|net interview Netpliance president Kent Savage dismissed hacker modifications to the device as a factor in the price increase." As Ioldanach puts it, "Think its 'cause they finally realised it was cheaper to raise prices then 'hack-proof' their product?"

What I'd like to see is Netpliance package the LCD and CPU of the i-Opener and sell those packages to OEMs, so they could create custom housings, new uses, etc -- after all, lots of people would like a small LCD X-terminal.

MacGuyver, The A-Team, NASA ... Grave writes: "Looks like NASA got DS1 functioning again. A probe that was almost entirely made up of experimental technologies can be salvaged, yet two hopefully-soon-to-be-routine flights to Mars can't be. Ah, well, at least we know that Ion Engines are workable. Bring on the TIEs!"

TRUSTe dusts off the white hat for a bit? Last week, a story appeared which noted the alarming news that failed web-merchant Toysmart planned to sell its customer information in an effort to recover some money. According to this Standard story, "The nonprofit organization TRUSTe announced Friday it is planning to file a brief in bankruptcy court that will decide whether Toysmart.com can sell its customer lists." Jamie raises two points to consider:

  1. Time will tell what effect (if any) TRUSTe's planned brief will have on the Toysmart bankruptcy proceedings.
  2. The company that bought Boo.com insists they will continue to honor the old privacy policy for old customers.

Maybe we could combine this with 'Survivor'? jgalvin222 writes "APB Online, Inc. has filed for bankruptcy. This web site is known for offering in-depth breaking news, tons of information on ongoing investigations, and you can listen to live police scanners. This web site will surely be missed, and if you read the article, you can see that some of their techs have volunteered to post crime and safety articles over the next couple of weeks - without pay. If anything, you should peruse their video library, some of the clips are both amusing and interesting."

The Devil will find work for idle hands to do. Ryan writes: "Here is something to keep us Mac fans happy. Go2Mac reports that Diablo II has gone gold for Mac version, making this one of the quickest PC to Mac conversions ever." Here is the official announcement from Blizzard.
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Slashback: bits, bytes, words More

Slashback: bits, bytes, words

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  • Having a defense system would piss china and russia, but throwing enough nukes to blow another country across the globe wouldn't?

    Last thing; With as few as 10 medium sized a-bombs, you could make all the West coast inhabitable, and that would be worse(from the economical point of wiew) than destroying it completely, because you would have to relocate millions of people

  • Why would Blizzard want to make a Linux version of Diablo II? In order to make the mac version, a company went to Blizzard, handed them some cash, and a portion of profits from the sales of the mac version of Diablo II. How many copies of Diablo II could a linux version sell? Most of the people who would buy a Linux version of Diablo II will have already bought a Windows version. A mac version however targets an entirely different market. For the most part, the Linux market is a subgroup of the Windows market.
  • Its going to take a year or two for the value of the MCSE to return. MS is effectively bitch slapping the paper MCSE's with 2k recertification. I know it will be tougher, but given that I have worked with NT for over 3 years now, I'll be ready for whenever I get around to taking the 2k exams.

    matt
  • Bankruptcy is often the end of a business, but as with individuals, it's mainly a way to force creditors to renegotiate terms. APBNews.com is posting current content, though with staff cut by about 90%, it won't be as much or as good as it used to be.

    Hopefully they can eke out a living long enough for a guardian angel to appear, though with the tech stock market in the tank that possibility is slimmer by far than it used to be. Still, news operations like UPI have hung on by a thread for sometimes decades! There's a lot of worthwhile content there, and even in the worst case perhaps another news site will acquire it.

    Though the prognosis is not robust, I still wish APBnews.com a long and happy life.
    ----
  • How many copies of Diablo II could a linux version sell? Most of the people who would buy a Linux version of Diablo II will have already bought a Windows version.

    That's what I'm trying to say. We need to pressure companies into finding out that Linux is a good enough platform for games and that they should announce to the public there is one in development. I wouldn't mind paying a few extra dollars for it in the begining. I believe Taco is setting a bad example. He is running a great website dedicated to Linux and the rest of the open source community (among other topics) and he persues to buy windows games the moment they are released.

    Your right the Linux market is a subgroup of the Windows Market to a point, but I tihnk it's time we STOP being labeled as these people and break out of it. OH well... we can all dream and bitch can't we? :)

  • Blizzard has said openly in the past that they have no interest in porting any of their games to any platform that isn't made by Microsoft or Apple.

    Part of it, I think, is Blizzard's commitment that "if it isn't a blockbuster, it's not Blizzard." Witness WarCraft: Lord of the Clans, a canceled Blizzard game that didn't look very promising. Early on in Diablo II development, they weren't even sure if there would be a Mac port!
  • I have never met an MCSE who actually knew what he was doing. At the moment, my neighbor (who is 55), has NEVER touched a computer in his entire life, took the MCSE training, got his cert, and is now looking for a high paying job. HE doesnt know a DAMN thing. I had him come over to our office and install NT on a server for us for $25 an hour (this was a test)....8 friggin hours later, the server had NOTHING on it..it wouldnt even friggin boot. (Missing OS) The CD is SELF booting! A moron can install NT! (well, i guess not)..what do these certification courses teach people anyway? Oh, BTW, he's a "master" at Frontpage! ;) Oh no! He's extremely marketable now!
  • Like it helped the Newton programmers and users eh?

  • I wouldn't Mind paying $399 at all. The argument in a previous post about iOpener being forced into taking this hard stance argued opposite. If they sold the damn thing for a price they could profit from, they could encourage the hacking. Honestly, if the modified and set it to boot from an eprom they could market it as an X terminal. They should also try the linux in the Bios thing. Network booting without dealing with Eproms at all.
  • At $100, I'd get this or something similar for my father-in-law for Christmas, and not feel bad about the extra $2/month he'd be paying (compared to other providers). At $400, a used computer fits the bill much better . . .
  • If it just broke, that would be different, but from what the previous user is typing, it looks like it was designed broken which is not acceptable. Let's say you buy a automobile, and there is a recall because upon a small collision the gas tank explodes, do you want to have to pay for their design flaw? No.


    He who knows not, and knows he knows not is a wise man
  • I don't think you can deny Marathon as one of the best original games in the history of general computing, not just Macs. Granted a lot of games come as ports, but the Mac isn't as much a gamer's platform...as I learned growing up with friends who had PCs. Regardless, uniqueness of products doesn't make a platform. The games that people want already are being made for PCs not because they are easier to work with, but because of the market share. It's a question of profitability. Also, if I remember correctly, wasn't Myst a Mac original? Or am I just on crack?
  • If you are going to miss apbnews.com, check out crime.com [crime.com]. They have many of the same features and a strong video library.
  • I'd say a number of the items mentioned are pretty extensive - making Marathon a lot different than Doom (and IMHO superior).

    As for not seeing anything 'original', you aren't really seeing that on ANY platform. Rehashing old themes is pretty common.

    On the plus side, the Mac spawned SimCity, and for that I am grateful.

    - Jeff A. Campbell
    - VelociNews (http://www.velocinews.com [velocinews.com])
  • I just looked that the NIC FAQ [thinknic.com], and I got a chuckle where it says that the video system supports, and I quote:
    What resolutions does the video support? The NIC displays at 800 x 600 resolution with 65,536 million colors.
    Sixty-five thousand five-hundred thirty six MILLION colors! Shouldn't that have been easier to say as "more than sixty-five BILLION colors?" (At least here in the 'States, where 1 billion== 1000 million)

    Jeff

  • So, in conclusion, it sucks that your IMac doesn't work this way for you and yes, it's due to some crappy design flaws. However, the IMac is made for your average faux-bohemian in a loft who cares more about coffee shops than computers or your average suburban mom/dad who feel the same way. If you want performance, flexibility, and, heck, a better computer, get a G4 (if you want to stay with Mac, that is). Just my opinion.)

    I think way too many people have this attitude. It's simply not acceptible. Consumer or not, the stuff should work. If it's not targeted to professionals, great - don't put in the kinds of features that consumers don't need. Just because it's consumer-oriented doesn't mean it doesn't have to work as well as it claims to.

    --

  • Two reasons. I am going to take it into a repair shop, but I have to find some way of getting it there first. I'm a student, so I don't have a car, and carrying the 40 pound iMac (handle or no) the mile to the bus stop isn't easy. I'm hoping to find a friend with a car who can drive me.

    The other reason is I don't want to have to pay $200 to get a new AV board. If it just broke, yeah, my tough luck, should have bought the extended warranty. It didn't just break, though. It was designed incorrectly. I'd be willing to bet they're either using substandard components, or pusing components beyond what they're rated for. It wouldn't be the first time Apple has done something like that.

    I don't think I should have to pay for someone else's design flaw.

    What would be nice is if Apple would just ship me a new AV board, along with a box to return my broken one (which they would hopefully study to figure out how to prevent this in the future). Instead, I have to lug the whole goddamn computer into a dealer before they'll even tell me whether they'll cover it. It's obviously a known issue, they're just trying to shove it under the rug.

    I had to go through the same crap when my CD-ROM drive died, and the idiot tech at the closest dealer wanted to reformat my hard drive to see if that was the problem. (No, I'm not taking it back to that place). Fortunately, it was on warranty then, so I didn't have to deal with too much crap.

    I suppose this is what I deserve for buying an iMac.
  • Damn....my account isn't working... I can speak from experience on this. ... I am a MCSE.
    What account? Your I-opener account? Your slashdot account? What would some Microsoft qualification have to do with either of those?

  • Netpliance is NOT a hardware company! (Score:5)

    by Doogman ( 30146 ) on Saturday July 08, 2000 @07:50AM (#949203)
    For the last time, Netpliance is a internet provider, not a hardware company!

    I've seen many people expressing an opinion that Netpliance should manufacture "special" I-Openers for thin X-Window clients, etc. and tap into an emerging market. The problem is that Netpliance doesn't manufactuer the Iopener, and is losing money from every hardware sale.

    What they really want to sell is the internet service; the hardware is purely secondary. I believe Quanta is the sub-contractor for the Iopener, these are the people you should approach for hardware.
  • The problem is that there are A LOT of "paper MCSE's", people who have just crammed and crammed to get the piece of paper and who forget everything in a matter of weeks. MCP/MCSE Are becoming less and less 'prestigious' and more 'laughable'.

    You have a great point. I'm also a MCSE and I've seen many companies just throw away resumes with "MCSE" on the paper. I'm very fluant in many various UNIXes, and many other Networking technologies and topoligies. It's quite shitty to be shunned just becasue I got a FREE scholarship for MCSE training. The school payed for my complete MCSE course with tests. While I didn't need to purchase any of these tests or training, I shouldn't be penalized.

    oh welps.

  • There's a StaffMart Training Center in town that guarantess a $30,000+/yr to all graduates of their 8 month MSCE program. I know of a couple of HS grads that did it and had a choice of jobs. It may be a good time for MSCEs now but for how much longer?

  • i-opener price (Score:5)

    by banadushi_ ( 168358 ) on Saturday July 08, 2000 @08:34AM (#949206)
    ok here's the deal with the price going back up, i used to work for tech support so i had billions of these questions when they first dropped the price. The original price of the iopener was $399 in November of 99, then they dropped the price to $299 for the X-mas holidays. Then they had a Super bowl comercial that advertised a $199 so the price dropped again, they started selling so they dropped the price to $99 around late feb to try to flood the market before the other i-appliances got in. After Fathers day the pric whent back up to 299, and i guess now there is a such a demand for the POS that they are going back to the orig 399 sticker price, they are still loosing mony on it since its about 600 to make. Oh yea by the way, i tallked to a few of the hardware guys over there before i quit, seems that they are starting to think there are some seriour hardware design defects with thte modem, go figure, about 80% of my calls were i can't connect Issues.
  • I am a senior in high school and have my CNA and am working on A+ and beginning cisco.... i have seen a lot of high school students cram for 4 hours before the CNA test pass then do nothing with it, it kind of upsets me to see my hard work for a full year look like nothing.i do get satifaction from knowing that it will be I who in 10 years will know how to use ZENworks.
  • I purchased one of the "Model A" iopeners back in march and just this week unlazied myself to order the cables necessary to make the iopener function as a normal computer .. after installing Linux on it .... it's amazing! Netpliance can do more with this ..and they are, even though they are not a "hardware company" .. it would be great if NPLI could someday offer up the plans to the unit so that others could manufacture these nifty devices!
  • I don't think you can deny Marathon as one of the best original games in the history of general computing, not just Macs.

    No offense intended, but Marathon was DOOM for the Mac. It had a good story, yes, but the game itself was a DOOM mimic. Had Marathon been released first for the PC, instead of for a platform that hadn't received a DOOM port yet, Marathon would have been lumped in with all the other attempts to tack plots and stories onto DOOM (and, yes, there were many for the PC).
  • I'm sitting here at the kitchen table eating a bowl of Cheerios, catching up on news using my first-generation I-Opener and here's this post. Last night at about 3am I finished squeezing a hard drive and CPU fan into my I-Opener and installing Windows 98 on it for my sister to use as her normal machine. (She mostly does web browsing and online chat type stuff) It works suprisingly well, I just need to find a 64MB SODIMM somewhere to make it work a little better. I might go the Linux or *BSD route, but with all the wierd plugins that my sister likes to run, I have to stick with Windows 98 for now...
  • whatever, I know people making $50K for desktop support that don't have a degree let alone certification. MCSE is a joke.

  • Netpliance Is Doomed (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Netpliance just isn't going to make it in the long run. Not because of the hackers, although their initial response to them was telling. They're just too far behind where the market's going.

    Even the clueless can look at an ad and get a better, more powerful machine for $399 and then have something better that can work with multiple providers at afr less than $22/month. I had planned to get a couple of I-Openers to set up some non-computer-literate relatives of mine with Internet and e-mail. Even had an order in before they changed the terms and cancelled the order as soon as I saw their unethical moves. I hadn't planned on hacking the box but these boxes will be as useless as DIVX once Netpliance croaks.

  • Re:Mac has gone gold.. (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Bah! We've already got NetHack [nethack.org], dammit!

    Why do we need a cheap knock-off like D2?

  • If it's a well-known defect that they refuse to repair, maybe you should get a lawyer and file a class action suit. For inspiration, check out this link from a previous SlashBack:

    http://www.cdrecorderclassnotice.com/ [cdrecorder...notice.com]

    This'll get you $200 if you owned an HP 4020 or similar CDR, and disposed of it. Due to a manufacturing defect that they refused to acknowledge/fix! Of course, the lawyers and plaintiff get a $million+...

  • NO WAY, DUDE! Marathon was so far ahead of Doom - Marathon had LOOK UP/DOWN... Marathon had TEAM PLAY. Marathon had MULTI-LEVEL ENVIRONMENTS, RAMPS and STAIRS. It even had Network Voice Taunting (or maybe that was M2) DOOM had none of this.
  • I discovered what I call The CD-ROM Cable Of Death. The origional iMac's CD-ROM can rev itself up to the point where it feels and sounds like it is going to take off out of your computer and fly into the upper atmosphere.

    If this isn't bad enough, the cable that connects to the drive is incredibly loose by its very nature, compunding this is the fact it is not clamped to the drive or any part of the chassis nearby which leads to unexplaned CD-ROM failures caused by the cable shaking itself off.

    At least a dozen people disovered this in a single week in April, then MacNN posted a comment about it and retracted it the same day without explination.
  • We are Microsoft, you will be assimilated, resistance is futile.
    The iOpener presents an open threat to the collective. Its technology will be very useful. All drones will be equiped with one.

  • Sure it was a doom knock-off - what FPS isn't to some degree, including those put out by Id Software? Still, these "details" are the differences between doom and quake! I don't know if marathon was actually 3D or not (doom wasn't), but if it actually was it would be vastly superior technologically to doom, even on the PC.

    Don't brand support good game on a platform you don't use/like as fanaticism just because you don't care about the differences. I've played with the doom source code and I've been working with the quake source every day since 22 December 1999. The difference in technologies is phenomenal.

    (I don't have a mac and have never played marathon, I'm just taking the portion quoted in your message at face value - just as you did..)

  • If only I could play Diablo II on my iMac... Unfortunately, my revision A iMac suffers from the infamous "Green Light Of Death" syndrome (GLOD). Moderators, yes, this is an off-topic rant, but I'm trying to help and warn others.

    I don't want to take away from what you're saying, because it is only right and proper to get steamed up about stupid design flaws in Macs. I've used Macs a lot and get called by "friends" quite often to, most often, help them with problems with their Performas, mostly made during that period from 1995-1998 when Apple really made shit computers.

    Having said that, it's important to remember that the IMac and IBook are meant as consumer machines. While one might argue that you or I is a consumer, if you take a longer look at Apple's strategy, we're not the consumer being targeted.

    The consumer being targeted is the basic computer user, who needs Office, Quicken, email, and web. Games are limited to chess, solitaire, and maybe Civilization, but we're not talking a lot of high-end here. Maybe with IMovie, we're talking some more high-end resolution stuff, but that's why they came out with the DV.

    Before I was hired at my current job as the Mac specialist, someone convinced IT that they should buy some IBooks with Airport Cards so they could roam the building and be able to get into and all over our NT-Network. Fine, you might think, but basically the IBook definitely, and the MacOS generally, just wasn't up for it, for a variety of reasons I won't go into now. This is because the IBook is a consumer machine, not meant for high-end or business use.

    So, in conclusion, it sucks that your IMac doesn't work this way for you and yes, it's due to some crappy design flaws. However, the IMac is made for your average faux-bohemian in a loft who cares more about coffee shops than computers or your average suburban mom/dad who feel the same way. If you want performance, flexibility, and, heck, a better computer, get a G4 (if you want to stay with Mac, that is). Just my opinion.
  • NO WAY, DUDE! Marathon was so far ahead of Doom - Marathon had LOOK UP/DOWN... Marathon had TEAM PLAY. Marathon had MULTI-LEVEL ENVIRONMENTS, RAMPS and STAIRS. It even had Network Voice Taunting (or maybe that was M2) DOOM had none of this.

    This is such classic Mac fanaticism it kills me. You're quibbling over details. It's like saying "Maelstrom has nothing at all to do with Asteroids, because it has rendered rocks."
  • I have an iMac DV 400mHz, blueberry, a gift from a very kind aunt. I've never had this problem--resolutions have never had a hitch. May I ask what model you own, and if you recall right off hand what other models have had this problem?

    ...
    To remain slightly on-topic, I want to play violent games on my Macs as well. I have never seen Half-Life for the Mac...:( It probably doesn't exist.

    Oh well. Cheers. I have four Macintoshes, and they make me angry sometimes.

  • Why don't you take it into the repair shop and get it fixed instead of bitching about it?

    Computers break, even expensive ones. That is why there are warranties and service contracts.

  • i doubt it.like everyone else has said netpliance is not a hardware company and were losing tons of money selling at $99.although i can't see anyone paying $399 for something like this....and are you sure about earthlink having problems for free computer deals...msn yes,compuserve yes ,but i never remember earthlink being involved in any of these deals but i might've missed it.
  • I think way too many people have this attitude. It's simply not acceptible. Consumer or not, the stuff should work. If it's not targeted to professionals, great - don't put in the kinds of features that consumers don't need. Just because it's consumer-oriented doesn't mean it doesn't have to work as well as it claims to.

    I agree totally, and that's why I said to the original author that he was right to rant. My comments were aimed at what one should really do concerning Apple products. Basically, despite Apple's press, don't use the IMac and the IBook for heavy work.
  • The biggest deal about Marathon is the fan community that it spawned, want more, check out the Aleph One movement to work on the Source Code that Bungie released. The plotline in the Marathon series is so deep that people are still exploring it, check out Hamish Sinclair's Marathon Story Page [bungie.org] I personally think you're lacking when you compare it to doom, a mindless shoot-em-up with no brain power required.
  • Loki Games president said in a recent interview, IIRC, that Loki has begged Blizzard to allow them to port Diablo to Linux. They always said no, even though there was zero risk to Blizzard.
    Perhaps they are doing an in-house port, or perhaps they have no interest. Time will tell...
  • Always buy the extended warranty if you have to buy a Mac

    There can be no reason compelling enough when a company decides short term profit is worth more than a long term association with the customer. When that happens you have to start wondering whether they have long term plans at all...
  • On the plus side, the Mac spawned SimCity, and for that I am grateful.

    Not true. It was originally developed on a Commodore 64 (no joke!), then re-worked and released first for the PC.
  • Don't brand support good game on a platform you don't use/like as fanaticism just because you don't care about the differences.

    Sigh. I've *owned* a Mac for quite some time. Marathon was obviously written by someone who saw DOOM and said "Wow! I've gotta do that!" I think this has been generally admitted. The differences were that Marathon had some trivial extra tech (but so did every doomalike), DOOM had much better art direction, and Marathon had a sideline plot that you could follow if you wanted to. The plot is the biggie here, but it was just icing, and not something that really took the game beyond DOOM. If you sit both games side by side, and roll your mind back to 1994, then you'd say, "Well, these games came from the same loaf of bread." The sticking point is that DOOM was released for the PC in 1993 and Marathon a year later for the Mac. There was a lot of raving at the time, because most Mac owners had never played DOOM, so Marathon was their first exposure to it. Then when DOOM was finally ported, it was substandard in some ways (resolution, speed) so the "Marathon is Superior" legend grew. Marathon was also released for the PC, and it tanked in a horrendous way. It looked just like so many other DOOM wannabees that also included plots and the ability to look up and down. Most of those have been forgotten. Marathon would have been forgotten too, had it not been released first for the Mac.

  • iOpener price change (Score:3)

    by the_demiurge ( 26115 ) on Saturday July 08, 2000 @07:32AM (#949230) Homepage
    The raising of the price was in their plans all along, even before people started hacking on them. They were lost money selling the actual hardware and made money on the internet service. After the initial publicity push with the $99 dollar, and realising that they weren't turning the profits they liked, raising the price was necessary. The hardware hackers were just an extra annoyance.

    -- demiurge
    You find a file that appears important and obliterate it from memory!!!
    Score one for the downtrodden hacker!

  • Re:Helping Organizations and Individuals (Score:2)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Damn....my account isn't working... I can speak from experience on this, despite it being GROSSLY off-topic. I am a MCSE...I would like to think I actually know NT and such...The problem is that there are A LOT of "paper MCSE's", people who have just crammed and crammed to get the piece of paper and who forget everything in a matter of weeks. MCP/MCSE Are becoming less and less 'prestigious' and more 'laughable'. That sad part is...your comment(ad) seems to encourage people to do just that....:( Ryan Pomaski, A+, MCP, MCSE
  • Deus Ex has also gone Gold, and you can preorder it directly from Aspyr [aspyr.com]

    Pope

    Freedom is Slavery! Ignorance is Strength! Monopolies offer Choice!
  • While I am happy they decided to sell it outright rather than impose restrictions on what can and cannot be done with it, I feel that the $399 price is a bit high, with things like that NIC [thinknic.com] available.

    Perhaps I'm wrong, but wasn't the reason the first run of those successful that they were around $100? Anyway, hopefully they will go on sale; I wouldn't mind picking one up for the kitchen....mmmm recipes online...

  • I'm waiting for my preordered copy of Deus Ex [aspyr.com] to ship. Should be out by MacWorld Expo (about 2 weeks). Sweeeeeet.

  • NIC is a bust, didn't you miss the moniyor sell separately bit? The says on the main page total including shipping 379. Yeah right, I pay 200 for a webtv. You can get a real webtv (classic) for 70 buck for crying out loud. It only say 10/100, I didn't see regular ISP on the faq.

    A flat screen for 400 is.. ok. It's a winner for 300. I'm sure those taiwan manu. has figured out a way to do it.

    CY




    /_____\
    vvvvvvv../|__/|
    ...I../O,O....|
    ...I./. .......|
    ..J|/^.^.^ \..|.._//|
    ...|^.^.^.^.|W|./oo.|

  • Mac has gone gold.. (Score:3)

    by Jon Shaft ( 208648 ) on Saturday July 08, 2000 @07:46AM (#949236) Homepage Journal
    The MAC version of Diablo 2 has gone gold? That's great... how about everyone pressuring Blizzard about a Linux version?

    Linux needs to gain more coverage and aquire more games. This will increase the userbase, hardware coverage, and make many of us who use Linux now much more happy having games for Linux.

    People fight and say the companies will still make games for Windows because they know Linux users will dualboot.. While this is true, don't you think that us Linux users would BUY MORE games if they were ALL for Linux?

    Just some food for thought.. heh.

  • Your point is, is preferable to have a big hole in your country and a completely obliterated enemy, than having no holes at all in home??

  • If only I could play it... (Score:5)

    by tbo ( 35008 ) on Saturday July 08, 2000 @07:46AM (#949238) Journal
    If only I could play Diablo II on my iMac... Unfortunately, my revision A iMac suffers from the infamous "Green Light Of Death" syndrome (GLOD). Moderators, yes, this is an off-topic rant, but I'm trying to help and warn others.

    GLOD is due to problems with the analog video board (inside the monitor part of the iMac enclosure) that can make it impossible to switch monitor resolutions, use the monitor energy saver, or to reboot the iMac without unplugging it. In severe cases, it can make the computer unusable. A search for GLOD on the iMac discussion board in Apple's Tech Exchange uncovers dozens of posts in the past 60 days alone, yet somehow Apple Tech Support denies all knowledge of the problem.

    If it was just me, it would have been a random hardware failure, and my tough luck since I'm off warranty. With the volume of complaints about it (and the articles on MacFixit), it's obvious it's a design flaw. It apparently also affects some of their monitors and other models of iMacs. I'm currently getting the run-around and the usual denials from Apple Customer Service. Either they're totally ignorant and don't read their discussion boards, or they're in denial mode so they don't have to recall a million iMacs...

    Apple used to build really solid hardware. I've seen 128K Macs (the originals!) survive over 16 years. It's sad that my iMac has suffered two hardware problems in 16 months.

    The moral of the story? Always buy the extended warranty if you have to buy a Mac... At least I can gut my iMac and turn it into a nice LinuxPPC box...

    -YADMU (Yet Another Disgruntled Mac User).
  • Deus Ex has also gone Gold, and you can preorder it directly...

    There's still, unfortunately, nothing to make the Mac game market unique. You get PC games anywhere from a week to two years later, but not much original stuff. This is surprising for a computer originally billed as being for creative types. Note: Remakes of twenty year old arcade games don't count as original, as much as some people want to deny it.
  • Hey, everyone remember the big fluff when Earthlink and MSN started having trouble, and remember how the FTC started cracking down on "free" computers?

    Do you think that might have figured in to Netpliance's decision, too?

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