I got this MVIX box off e-bay. My model is the 760 HD, I paid under $50, but most auctions seem to go for under $100. It will look for open SMB shares, wired or wirelessly. If you get one with a hard drive, you can also use it as an external hard drive, but one's not required. They have newer versions also. The interface is basically a file browser, and I've only had a few poorly ripped movies not play with all the codex loaded on this thing. Makes about as much noise as an external hard drive, when you have a hard drive in it, otherwise, everything is in the solid state memory. I guess the downside is that it is JUST a media player, and doesn't surf the internet or anything like that.

Amen to that. When I worked 3rd shift at a hotel while going to college, the pay was crap. I got a "raise" of 10 cents above minimum, then minimum wage went up 15 cents, and they called it another raise. 23 years old, and the only employee on site in charge of a multi-million dollar property and hundreds of lives, getting paid minimum wage. I was never tempted to steal, but I was often tempted to walk out.

When I get a site phishing for my info, I fill in the forms with words that very graphically describe what I think of them.

At our shop, we started recommend MSE after seeing some independent and objective testing done with it as well as about a dozen other solutions. MSE tested as good as (or better than) most free or subscription services. We have only seen one computer infected with a virus with MSE installed, and after reviewing his history, he deserved a virus for the sites he was visiting. I also find it to be rather non-invasive and not bloated, like so much other AV software is becoming. Although my personal preference is still Ubuntu.

The author assumes that advertisements are a good thing, and implies they are necessary. Ads may be necessary to his business model, just like prostitutes are necessary to a pimp's business model. I do not see how this shotgun effect of advertisements can continue to be effective. It seems that most sites that sell advertising space try to make up for decreasing revenue from ads by adding more ads. They aren't getting the reality that people don't like advertisements, don't click on advertisements, and those that do are idiots that are likely to fight any charges they may incur by inadvertently clicking on something. How about a totally different concept: sell a service that people want, and charge a reasonable price for it. If your idea is a good one, people will pay. If it's not a good idea, if your pricing is too high, it will fail. Don't try to subsidize your possibly good venture with advertisements. Thank you for letting me know about a service I won't be using. If you're determined to use advertisements, I'd try to do it like sites where it's more successful, like Google. I can tell you if Slashdot had pop-ups and ads screaming in my face, I would not be using it either.