If you played any mmorpg's at all 6 years ago, it would have been very difficult to not hear about Shadowbane or see one of it's adds.

Besides it being a top 5 game in terms of population, there was little competition then, UO, Everquest, heck SWG wasn't even released 6 years ago. Although I never played it for any length of time, Shadowbane reviews, adds, etc were on every gaming site I frequented...not sure how you could have missed them unless you used AOL or something.

That makes no sense. You say it's not reasonable, but then say it may have been necessary to have police involved for a search of a cell phone. You can't have it both ways.

Police do not dispatch units just to find a teenagers cell phone. And the significant portion of parents who have sued school systems into submission, prevent any staff from doing so themselves.

Those that mock this scenario truly do not understand the paradox that public school administrators and staff have been locked in when trying to manage everyone's little angels from heaven.

The saddest part about this is the parents who are so quick to blame everyone but their own little hellions are teaching the next generation how passing the buck can work for you...and you may even get paid from a law suit for it!

You are the reason people have to be absolutely crazy to want to teach in a US public school system now days. They are paid less than most who have equivalent education and have to deal with these little snowflakes everyday, and their parents who immediately go to the school board/governor/court system when you try to instill even the slightest tinge of discipline in them.

And then they get to come home and read on slashdot how they over reacted when "angel" wouldn't put the damn phone away after you've asked her 20 times while disrupting class for everyone for half an hour.

Unbelievable

I disagree that it should be unconstitutional for incentive based investigation/prosecution in all cases. One of the better suggestion on how to restructure the SEC was to give incentives to investigators for each big case they successfully prosecute. Without this, we will never see SEC investigators constantly willing to take down billionaires like Madoff due to the consequences/blacklisting they face from doing so.

But I do agree with prohibiting it in cases like these, or even in most cases. I also agree that these judges should never see the light of day again.

Just turn them off! Tax payer money to install them, tax payer money to remove them.

This will at least make it cheaper when the next mayor/council reverse this decision and want to put them back.

Regardless of the debate about privacy, as soon as a mayor or important rich person in the community is assaulted, in a crash, looses a kid, etc where the cameras would have helped, these will get reinstalled.

Might as well make it easier on the taxpayer!

I'm not a Dem but I agree and support most of our new President's ideas/policies, with two exceptions.

Wars used to be won by the nation with the most powerful Navy. Then Air Superiority became the dominating tactic. Space is the next step and banning these will only put the "honest" nations at a disadvantage here.

The tech may not be here yet to make it apparent just how space will dominate air, sea and land, but it's only a matter of time and hamstringing our military in this area is the last thing we should do.

I'd suggest the most obvious is the ability to disable or even confiscate enemy nation's spy satellites but future tech will increase the importance of orbital superiority.

The other unrelated exception is the stimulus. This money should be used to repair and improve current US infrastructure (bridges, fiber, etc). This approach eventually worked to lift us out of our first depression and I believe is much better than giving it to the CEO's who put us in this position in the first place.

I agree and in addition, this will encourage students to avoid sharing some discoveries in the long term.

Hopefully they (Uni's) will recognize their error and do more to encourage "eureka moments" instead of the opposite due to their own greed.

You'd think they could split rights/royalties with students that develop them. Everyone wins. Too easy?

No, it's actually the opposite.

New server hardware is getting cheaper while refurbished has remained relatively steady by comparison.

This is one of the few articles I feel comfortable commenting on since I've had the good fortune to be able to buy server hardware (reasonably equivalent for the era) every few years for the last 14 years.

It used to be buying refurbished/used would save you more than enough to justify the lack of warranty/inherent risk. For example, you could buy 2-3 used for the price of 1 new, but that is no longer the case in my experience.

For the first time ever, I got more server for less $ buying a NEW PE 2900 just a few months ago. Dell was running a special (buy over 4 grand, get 1200 off - per order) but I noticed this trend in previous years purchases.

My refurb vendors came in close (on similarly configured server), but why pay slightly more for used when you can get brand new w/manufacturer warranty for less?

I even got a "free" 17" LCD monitor that was not included in the refurb vendor quotes. But the price and 3 year warranty are the major factors (vs 30-90 days used).

These aren't top of the line nor are they bare bones, but my purchases/price comparisons have always been on similarly configured hardware.

For the past decade, I've been a buyer of lightly used servers like IBM 44P, Dell PowerEdge, etc purchasing these mainly as redundant hardware for existing servers.

In the last year, I have solicited quotes for used equivalents and the price gap has narrowed to the point where new is as cheap as used.

My last purchase of PowerEdge 2900's was actually cheaper through Dell (brand new, 3 yr warranty, etc) than a stripped down 2900 from refurbished vendors.

It seems it's followed car parts in that in the 70's and 80's you could save a lot buying from a salvage yard, but now days you save little or none vs buying from new car part dealers.

I get quotes from multiple vendors so it's not just one company inflating prices.

Just wanted to add that, in my experience, the trend is the opposite of what the article is suggesting.