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Comment PFSense (Score 1) 319

If you are willing to replace your router, I highly reccomend the FreeBSD-based router software "PFSense". It runs on any X86 hardware, and combines the ease of use of a commercial router, with the highly advanced networking features of expensive routers, while running on any hardware you have (so if it breaks, you can just move your config files to another machine, boot it up, and begin running again). I am so confident in it, I deployed it at my workplace, a multi-million dollar business with about 75 users, and several WAN Connections. Recommending it because it includes a bandwidth meter, is like recommending an airplane because it has a reading light; That is only one of its many features and uses. http://www.pfsense.org/

Submission + - LifeSize Extends Video Calling to Skype Users (lifesize.com)

An anonymous reader writes: For those of you who have been waiting for a way to talk to Skype users via your HD videoconferencing equipment, LifeSize just announced that it is extending video calling to Skype users Worldwide. LifeSize is the first company to deliver a room-based video conferencing solution with Skype. I, for one, am excited!

Comment Nokia N900 (Score 1) 274

Yes, I have an N900. Unlocked from the factory. It's like the PS3: Amazing hardware, Abysmal software/support. Unlike the PS3, however, I don't have to fight for root access. I would rather have a phone that worked better, than a phone with a nice spec-sheet.

Comment It was decent (Score 2, Interesting) 90

I played the game before it shut down. Imagine GTA Multiplayer, (much better than MTA). The only problems with it were the massive amounts of hackers and a broken Matchmaking system (which was easily fixable, it matched players up by "threat level" which could be manipulated by actions, rather than a players "rating" which determined progress in the game (unlocked vehicles, weapons, clothes, etc). The gameplay was extremely fun when you weren't matched up against a hacker, or somebody 10 times your rating. I would play it again if they bring it back, and do something about the hacking and matchmaking. There were no real "levels" in the game like a traditional MMO. Someone fresh into the game could make kills on veterans, and win missions, if they were skilled enough (although that didn't happen often, it was do-able).

Comment I think you all missed something (Score 1) 446

While it is a bit funny, Don't forget chemical Hazards. Cadmium, Lead, Mercury, etc. Especially if any of the materials come from China, You should test their chemical composition. China Hasn't yet gotten the Memo, that we don't like Toxic Cadmium in our McDonalds happy meal toys (Age 4+).

Comment Who's at fault then? (Score 1) 238

Maybe if Slashdot Editors weren't trolling around the internet LOOKING for just such scathing material, we wouldn't have this problem. It's turning into DIGG, in a bad way. I hate seeing articles titled "Bill gates kills 1,000,000 cute puppies"! only to have the actual article be about some random 10 year old workstation that blue-screened at a stuffed animal factory. I find that CMDTaco is usually the one with the most Torch-and-Pitchfork attitude in writing, usually trying to paint something in a bad light. My impression of him, is that if Ghandi was discovered to have used a Sony product, we'd see an article the next day "Ghandi supported evil capitalist empire" (Regardless of how Evil Sony is, the articles always seemed to have a slant to them)
NASA

The Sun Unleashes Coronal Mass Ejection At Earth 220

astroengine writes "Yesterday morning, at 08:55 UT, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory detected a C3-class flare erupt inside a sunspot cluster. 100,000 kilometers away, deep within the solar atmosphere (the corona), an extended magnetic field filled with cool plasma forming a dark ribbon across the face of the sun (a feature known as a 'filament') erupted at the exact same time. It seems very likely that both eruptions were connected after a powerful shock wave produced by the flare destabilized the filament, causing the eruption. A second solar observatory, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, then spotted a huge coronal mass ejection blast into space, straight in the direction of Earth. Solar physicists have calculated that this magnetic bubble filled with energetic particles should hit Earth on August 3, so look out for some intense aurorae — a solar storm is coming."

Comment Don't forget about performance... (Score 1) 165

I would look more to the issue of drive performance as the main cause of this. What happens to a spinning platter hard drive, when it has to read data from half-way in the disc, rather than from the outside? Performance drops anywhere from 45 to 70% once you have your hard drives filled half-way. Naturally, in order to keep high performance on real-time critical data, you have to get higher density platters, and only use the outside of them. Unfortunate as it is, I think this is more of a cause for un-used storage space than under-prescribing.

Comment Too Little? (Score 1) 362

I think multiplayer modes are often overlooked, and thrown in as an afterthought with most developers, But I think attention to them should be increased, not eliminated. I have never had a game where I said "Darn, there is multiplayer". It's true that many games just aren't suited to multiplayer, like story-heavy RPG's (Except Diablo) and Civilization multiplayers (Besides people who have a few days to finish a game). But, Multiplayer is like the un-programmable level. Once you have mastered the single-player aspect of a game, what is there left? It is a great boon to the re-playability of a game to be able to go on and face human opponents. It almost seems like a necessity on some games, so much so that the fans go on to write it themselves (Such as the case with multi-theft auto for GTA3, Vice City, And San Andreas). I don't think there has been any significant percentage of games with a properly implemented multiplayer system that went mostly un-used.

Comment Just tilt it down. (Score 1) 646

I used to have a laptop with a glossy screen, and used it outside frequently. These screens change the amount of reflection into an all-or-nothing case, rather than mostly washed out, or just slightly washed out of normal LCD's. A few tips to make it slightly less annoying: -Don't sit with anythign brightly colored, reflective and/or sunlit behind you (Bright green grass, bright white sheets, the sun, etc -Tilt it down, It's similar to a one-way-mirror. Reflections will angle down, but the backlight will still pass through normally. Glossy screens aren't really better or worse at managing reflections, they just reflect it all in one direction, rather than diffusing it everywhere. I'm no scientist, so I couldn't tell you the math behind it, but all of the above has worked for me in real-world scenarios.

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