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Comment Re:Users are branching out - game companies are no (Score 1) 417

by mad_clown (#26237765) Attached to: Is the Gaming PC Dead?

I just don't see it, man.

I've got a Powerbook G4 that I love. Best laptop I've ever had, and I got it from a chum for $50 when he upgraded to a snazzy new Macbook Pro. Leaps and bounds nicer than the Inspiron 8200 I used to have. My home machine is running Ubuntu, and has been for a couple of years now. Never had any stability issues until lately, and that's 100% the fault of failing hardware. My work machine, which I'm on right now, is running Windows XP. This machine hasn't been turned off or rebooted for... I dunno. Maybe 2 or 3 months? Perfectly stable.

Out of the three, I'd have to say that Ubuntu's UI (I use GNOME over KDE, but let's not get into that debate right now) "gets in the way" more than any of them. I've spent more time trying to get stupid video drivers to work after an automatic upgrade than I care to discuss. I just don't get the "OS getting in the way" thing with Windows that much these days (granted, I haven't really used Vista much). I honestly don't even remember the last time I saw a blue screen.

Windows was truly bad back in the 95/98 days, but I personally have had very few issues with XP that weren't hardware/driver related, and Linux is often far worse in that regard.

The security/spyware issue is my biggest complaint with Windows from a user-support standpoint. I've never picked up any malware or virus, though I've spent hours upon hours helping people who have.

They all have their ups and downs, I guess, and I enjoy the fact that I have the opportunity to play around with all three.
Windows

Windows Vista SP1 Meeting Sour Reception In Places 501

Posted by Zonk from the just-a-bit-more-testing dept.
Stony Stevenson writes "A day after it was released for public download, Windows Vista SP1 is drawing barbs from some computer users who say the software wrecked their systems. 'I downloaded it via Windows Update, and got a bluescreen on the third part of the update,' wrote 'Iggy33' in a comment posted Wednesday on Microsoft's Vista team blog. Iggy33 was just one of dozens of posters complaining about Vista Service Pack 1's effect on their PCs. Other troubles reported by Vista SP1 users ranged from a simple inability to download the software from Microsoft's Windows Update site to sudden spikes in memory usage. To top it all off, the service pack will not install on computers that use peripheral device drivers that Microsoft has deemed incompatible."

New Futurama Movie Coming in June 126

Posted by Zonk from the good-news-everyone dept.
walterbyrd writes "Bender's Big Score is just getting set to air on Comedy Central, but already Fox has announced that the next straight-to-DVD Futurama film/series is coming in June. The title? 'The Beast with a Billion Backs.' 'In what Fox is calling the most tentacle-packed Futurama epic, space itself rips open, revealing a gateway to another universe. What lies beyond is a mix of horror and love as the Planet Express crew encounters a repulsive, planet-sized monster with romantic intentions. The second feature-length Futurama film will be followed by at least two more movies from series creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen. The show's entire voice cast and most of its main writers have returned to help revive the series, which FOX cancelled in 2003.'"
Music

Apple Mulls Flat-Rate "Unlimited Music" Option 355

Posted by Zonk from the sounds-delicious dept.
Mike writes "Apple is in discussions with the big music companies about an 'all you can eat' model for buying music that would give customers free access to its entire iTunes music library in exchange for paying a premium for its iPod and iPhone devices. Finally, it looks like the industry (or at least Apple) is 'getting it'. The real question is not whether the big music companies will go for it, but rather, who will be the first one to get smart and agree to offer it?"
Privacy

Submission + - Two PATRIOT Act provisions ruled unconstitutional

Submitted by frdmfghtr
frdmfghtr writes: CNN is reporting that an Oregon judge has ruled two provisions of the Patriot Act unconstitutional. FTA:

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, set up to review wiretap applications in intelligence cases under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA [as amended by the Patriot Act, stated later in the article], "holds that the Constitution need not control the conduct of criminal surveillance in the United States," Aiken wrote.

"In place of the Fourth Amendment, the people are expected to defer to the executive branch and its representation that it will authorize such surveillance only when appropriate."

The government "is asking this court to, in essence, amend the Bill of Rights, by giving it an interpretation that would deprive it of any real meaning. The court declines to do so," [Judge Ann]Aiken said.
Democrats

Submission + - Jack Hansen and Politicization of Science

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: When Jack Hansen bashed the Bush administration over the politicization of science and being censored, perhaps he wasn't the unbiased scientist he presented himself to be. At a blog of the Daily Tech, Michael Asher points out that Open Society Institute, a George Soros supported organization, secretly funded Hansen's media campaign bashing Bush and NASA to the tune of $720,000. Jack Hansen also received a $250,000 from the Heinz Foundation (run by Kerry's wife), after which Hansen endorsed Kerry for President.
Security

Submission + - Hackers Cause Generator to Self-Destruct

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: It has been revealed that in a U.S. Department of Homeland Security exercise codenamed "Aurora" conducted in March of this year, researchers were able to cause a power generator to self destruct remotely via a "cyber attack" which changed the operating cycle of the generator. "Government sources said changes are being made to both computer software and physical hardware to protect power generating equipment."

Full Story

The Gimp

Submission + - How to view PowerPoint on iPod (ppt-to-video.com)

Submitted by
alexbear88
alexbear88 writes: "iPod is a brand of portable media players designed and marketed by Apple and launched in October 2001. Devices in the iPod range are primarily digital audio players, designed around a central click wheel — with the exception of the iPod shuffle, which uses buttons because of its small size. As of September 2006, the line-up consists of the video-capable fifth generation iPod, the smaller second generation iPod nano, and the display-less second generation iPod shuffle. The iPod line used to contain the iPod mini, until being discontinued for the introduction of the iPod nano. The full-sized model stores media on an internal hard drive, while the iPod nano and iPod shuffle use flash memory due to their smaller size. Like many digital music players, iPods can also serve as external data storage devices. It must be very cool to view PowerPoint on iPod , but how should we do?"

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