Comment Re:How it works. (Score 1) 229
Seems pretty traceable then. Look for a specific account being queried or debited and credited in rapid succession.
Comment Re:Why aren't more roads concrete? (Score 1) 717
Concrete is significantly more upfront cost. Why worry about TCO when you can focus on this years budget.
Comment Fear Not (Score 1) 515
The future operating systems will ensure that the average joe needs the latest and greatest so that the Geek Squad will support their PC.
Comment Re:I dunno.. (Score 2, Informative) 359
I had the same problem. So I installed a patch (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=330909) from Microsoft.
Essentially it's looking for a continuous free area on your HD to save your RAM to. I believe the fix is to disable this "feature".
Rare Tour of Sun Microsystems' "Wonderland" 83
Surinder Kahai writes "Last week I had the rare opportunity to see an emerging virtual world called Wonderland, the product of an open source project, Project Wonderland, sponsored by Sun Microsystems. The tour was given by Nicole Yankelovich, Principal Investigator of the Collaborative Environments Project at Sun Microsystems. Some of the key aspects of this dynamic virtual world are voice communication with distance attenuation, the ability to join a Wonderland meeting through a regular phone if a computer is not handy, and the sharing of applications such as Open Office. Wonderland is currently being used by educational facilities and can be used by other organizations for virtual collaboration. Since the project is an Open Source project, users can tweak the tools available to suit their particular purpose."
Feed Engadget: White space tests fail again -- next up, conquering windmills (engadget.com)
Filed under: Wireless
At this point all the snazzy new websites and re-focused marketing efforts in the world aren't going to get Google, Microsoft, and the other members of the White Spaces Coalition anywhere if they don't actually demonstrate the broadband-in-between-TV-signals tech in action -- and it looks like that's proving to be harder than expected. For the second time in seven months, a prototype device has failed testing at the hands of the FCC, although this time it wasn't because it was interfering with TV signals -- it just wouldn't stay powered on. Microsoft says the power issue is "unrelated to the technology points we're trying to prove," but as usual, those prickly pears at the NAB aren't being shy about this latest setback, calling it proof that white space broadcasts are "risky technology that has proven to be unworkable." At this point we're honestly torn -- we hate to side with the NAB and we had high hopes for the white spaces concept, but it just doesn't look like it's panning out. Maybe it's time to move on to bigger and better things, eh?Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Submission + - Torvalds pans Apple with 'utter crap' putdown
An anonymous reader writes: From The Age:
Apple's much-touted new operating system, OS X Leopard, is in some ways worse than Windows Vista, says the founder of the Linux open source project, Linus Torvalds.
Torvalds was in Melbourne last week for the linux.conf.au conference and was invited to pass judgement on OS X versus Windows Vista in a wide-ranging interview.
"I don't think they're equally flawed — I think Leopard is a much better system," he said. "(But) OS X in some ways is actually worse than Windows to program for. Their file system is complete and utter crap, which is scary."
Torvalds was in Melbourne last week for the linux.conf.au conference and was invited to pass judgement on OS X versus Windows Vista in a wide-ranging interview.
"I don't think they're equally flawed — I think Leopard is a much better system," he said. "(But) OS X in some ways is actually worse than Windows to program for. Their file system is complete and utter crap, which is scary."
Submission + - OS X Leopard now can natively load Windows Files.
Steven Edwards writes: "PE Files were rejected on Tiger but now can be loaded natively on Leopard, which is interesting to me because I don't think that this is just a hold over from EFI support because the behavior is new. I think it may be a sign of future addition of a Win32 subsystem to OS X. Check the following URLs for the detailed technical information.
http://www.winehq.org/pipermail/wine-devel/2007-November/060846.html
http://www.winehq.org/pipermail/wine-devel/2007-November/060851.html
I think this behavior may be a sign of a future addition of a Win32 subsystem to OS X. I think the powers that be at apple have decided that they are missing the pie that Parallels, VMware and CodeWeavers are getting. If you combine the value of all three products, I expect its adding up to a good chunk of change they view as "lost" every month. Having a system like Wine that runs in a clunky Classic like mode would mean better user tie-in than having to reboot with BootCamp."
http://www.winehq.org/pipermail/wine-devel/2007-November/060846.html
http://www.winehq.org/pipermail/wine-devel/2007-November/060851.html
I think this behavior may be a sign of a future addition of a Win32 subsystem to OS X. I think the powers that be at apple have decided that they are missing the pie that Parallels, VMware and CodeWeavers are getting. If you combine the value of all three products, I expect its adding up to a good chunk of change they view as "lost" every month. Having a system like Wine that runs in a clunky Classic like mode would mean better user tie-in than having to reboot with BootCamp."
Submission + - Earth's Evil Twin (esa.int)
Riding with Robots writes: "For the past two years, Europe's Venus Express orbiter has been studying Earth's planetary neighbor up close. Today, mission scientists have released a new collection of findings and amazing images. They include evidence of lightning and other results that flesh out a portrait of a planet that is in many ways like ours, and in many ways hellishly different, such as surface temperatures over 400C and air pressure a hundred times that on Earth."
Submission + - Major iPod and iPhone changes (gizmodo.com)
Defector!!! writes: "Steve Jobs today announced a major price drop in the Apple iPhone: $399 for the 8 GB model! Also announced was the cessation of the 4 GB model, a new 160 GB iPod, new interfaces for the 80 and 160 GB iPods, and much more. The news is up here at Live Gizmo."
Submission + - Microsoft Ties Windows Live Services to OS
narramissic writes: "Microsoft is tying its Windows Live services directly to Vista — a move that should sound vaguely familiar, as it is precisely what the company did to make IE ubiquitous among Internet users:
"A new unified installer for Windows Live services will help users download Wednesday's updates of photo-sharing, mail, instant messaging, online safety and other services, the company said on its Windows Live Wire blog. The new installer also will automatically update those services on Windows Vista and XP going forward.
Submission + - Is "borrowing" Wi-Fi ethical? (bbc.co.uk)
Submission + - Microsoft's DRM (Xbox 360) [revised] (live.com) 1
JayFNG writes: "I'm a proud owner of a 60" 1080p high-def TV and an Xbox 360; however, my TV only accepts a 1080p signal via one of the 3 HDMI ports. When I learned that my Premium Xbox 360 would never see an adaptor that would allow for HDMI output I was ecstatic when I heard about the Xbox 360 Elite having one built-in; I was the first person in line to purchase an Elite on April 29th. On the 30th I printed and filled out the free Migration Kit form from Xbox.com and waited patiently for it to arrive from Microsoft. When it finally arrived, and all of my data was "migrated" from my previous Xbox 360's 20 GIG hard drive to the 120 GIG drive of my Elite, everything was working perfectly... That is, until my wife tried to play Jewel Quest.
(NOTE: I don't want my 9-year-old son using my profile due to Xbox Live, and my wife enjoys earning her own achievements and having her own friends list.)
When my wife and son used their own profiles, they could no longer play any of the 40 Xbox Live Arcade titles that I had purchased; not even when the Elite was connected to Xbox Live! Personally, I had no problem playing games or content until recently. While playing the Live Arcade game Castlevania SOTN, during a fairly bad storm here in Florida, my internet connection was lost. The game instantly went into 'demo mode' and would no longer allow me to save my game progress.
The following day I called 1-800-4-MY-XBOX and was told to download the content again and that would solve my problem. Since I had no way to connect to Xbox Live I took my Xbox 360 somewhere with an internet connection and downloaded all 40 Xbox Live Arcade titles as instructed. Upon returning home that evening, I learned that this did NOT solve the problem. (My wife, son, and I could not play any of the XBLA games.)
Later that evening I called Xbox support again and spoke with a different support team member. This time I was told that my original console profile IDs were tied to each game and that I'd have to purchase all 40 games a second time. First of all, the Xbox Live Marketplace doesn't allow you to purchase content twice. Second, why should I have to pay another $300+ for content I already purchased? The call was escalated, but even the supervisor explained to me that due to the digital rights management of content purchased through the Xbox Live Marketplace, I'd need to purchase all 40 games a second time with the profile of either my wife or my son.
I completely understand why Microsoft has this kind of security in place; however, I feel that this method is absolutely unacceptable. When I purchase music through iTunes it's tied to my account and PC, however I'm able to authorize and deauthorize up to 5 different PC's; why can't something similar be done with my XBLA games and content?
I look at it this way; if I purchased a movie on DVD then decided to upgrade to a new 1080p upscaling DVD player with an HDMI output a few months later, that movie should play just fine for everyone in my household; regardless of whether or not I'm connected to the internet or the only person watching it. If I wanted to watch the same movie on another DVD player in my house, I wouldn't have to purchase the movie a second time. This is EXACTLY what Microsoft is doing with downloadable content from the Xbox Live Marketplace, and nobody seems to be addressing the issue.
Is Microsoft working on a solution to this problem? Will everyone who upgraded to an Elite, or customers who receive replacement consoles (after a case of the Red Ring of Death) suffer the same fate? I feel that spending $399.99 on an Xbox 360, spending $300+ on content through the Live Marketplace (not-to-mention thousands of dollars worth of games), and then dropping an additional $479.99 for an HDMI enabled version should entitle the customer to a proper solution.... Solutions such as spending several hundred dollars more on content that were already paid for and disconnecting / reconnecting an old console just to use previously purchased content is absurd... Please help me find some answers.
I've contacted numerous news websites, Magazines, etc... Nobody seems to have any info, nor do they care to help... I suppose the next step is to contact the Better Business Bureau :("
(NOTE: I don't want my 9-year-old son using my profile due to Xbox Live, and my wife enjoys earning her own achievements and having her own friends list.)
When my wife and son used their own profiles, they could no longer play any of the 40 Xbox Live Arcade titles that I had purchased; not even when the Elite was connected to Xbox Live! Personally, I had no problem playing games or content until recently. While playing the Live Arcade game Castlevania SOTN, during a fairly bad storm here in Florida, my internet connection was lost. The game instantly went into 'demo mode' and would no longer allow me to save my game progress.
The following day I called 1-800-4-MY-XBOX and was told to download the content again and that would solve my problem. Since I had no way to connect to Xbox Live I took my Xbox 360 somewhere with an internet connection and downloaded all 40 Xbox Live Arcade titles as instructed. Upon returning home that evening, I learned that this did NOT solve the problem. (My wife, son, and I could not play any of the XBLA games.)
Later that evening I called Xbox support again and spoke with a different support team member. This time I was told that my original console profile IDs were tied to each game and that I'd have to purchase all 40 games a second time. First of all, the Xbox Live Marketplace doesn't allow you to purchase content twice. Second, why should I have to pay another $300+ for content I already purchased? The call was escalated, but even the supervisor explained to me that due to the digital rights management of content purchased through the Xbox Live Marketplace, I'd need to purchase all 40 games a second time with the profile of either my wife or my son.
I completely understand why Microsoft has this kind of security in place; however, I feel that this method is absolutely unacceptable. When I purchase music through iTunes it's tied to my account and PC, however I'm able to authorize and deauthorize up to 5 different PC's; why can't something similar be done with my XBLA games and content?
I look at it this way; if I purchased a movie on DVD then decided to upgrade to a new 1080p upscaling DVD player with an HDMI output a few months later, that movie should play just fine for everyone in my household; regardless of whether or not I'm connected to the internet or the only person watching it. If I wanted to watch the same movie on another DVD player in my house, I wouldn't have to purchase the movie a second time. This is EXACTLY what Microsoft is doing with downloadable content from the Xbox Live Marketplace, and nobody seems to be addressing the issue.
Is Microsoft working on a solution to this problem? Will everyone who upgraded to an Elite, or customers who receive replacement consoles (after a case of the Red Ring of Death) suffer the same fate? I feel that spending $399.99 on an Xbox 360, spending $300+ on content through the Live Marketplace (not-to-mention thousands of dollars worth of games), and then dropping an additional $479.99 for an HDMI enabled version should entitle the customer to a proper solution.... Solutions such as spending several hundred dollars more on content that were already paid for and disconnecting / reconnecting an old console just to use previously purchased content is absurd... Please help me find some answers.
I've contacted numerous news websites, Magazines, etc... Nobody seems to have any info, nor do they care to help... I suppose the next step is to contact the Better Business Bureau
Submission + - Lawyers Teach Companies How to Hire Immigrants (youtube.com)
David7 writes: The Programmer's Guild has posted a YouTube video (direct link) of a lawyer teaching a course on how to hire immigrants while passing over qualified U.S. candidates. He describes the basics of the process, including what to put in a classified ad and what kind of publication to place it in. He also describes the methods used to interview qualified U.S. candidates but avoid actually hiring them so that a job can be passed along to an immigrant.
Submission + - Apple laptops drive 'transformation' in PC sales
healwhans writes: New research indicates that Apple laptop sales have soared to new highs on the back of a new halo effect for the company's products generated by clamour surrounding iPhone.
http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?RSS
