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Comment Re:My phone isn't this crippled (Score 3, Insightful) 190

I agree here, the cost of the Chromebook's savings will be negated by the "custom solutions" required to get it to do routine mundane tasks. Get him either a cheap Windows 8 device (HP has a couple in the CB's price range) or if the walled-garden/appstore is more his thing, an iDevice(TM).

Comment Re:why 3gb ram and not 4gb or 8gb++? (Score 1) 159

This is why my wife's MacBook had to go at one point. 32bit EFI hamstring'd the 2.1GHz Core2Duo and not allowing install of 64bit OSX. Its a trivial gripe though as the laptop was still totally usable, alas, it was un-upgradeable. My friend just learned the hardway about this with an iMac. He'd thought he'd found an amazing deal but then got it home and find out it won't let him use Lion/Mt. Lion or upgrade the RAM past 3Gb.

Comment Re:Not really (Score 1) 159

I agree with this; my HTPC is an E6400 with 4Gb of RAM and it saw a HUGE performance boost when I replaced its 5450 with a 6670. Skyrim went from 30s FPS at 1024x768 to 50+ fps at 720p. I realize the jump from XGA to 720p isn't much but the 6670's higher framerates and being able to use anti-aliasing make games much more enjoyable and visual quality is vastly improved.

Comment Re:Knowing more than parents... (Score 5, Interesting) 307

I agree, my kids know a lot about computers because I work on them for a living. They are NOT typical of their friends. Most of their friends know their way about an iDevice or how to check their Gmail or Facebook, but that's the extent of it. My 10 year old could help you mount a heatsink to your Core2Duo and re-install Windows, but that's because he's helped dad do just that on countless computers in his short existence.

This disposable computing age we're entering has its ups and downs...

Comment I too XBMC my media... (Score 5, Informative) 307

...from a NAS device. Like you, I've spent HOURS getting all the TV cataloged, named correctly, and with images. Like you, I have kids I don't want watching certain things and I solve it thusly:

1:Create a share on your NAS which has the items you DON'T want them to watch and make it so that it needs a password or whatever credentials you need to connect to it.

2:Add the share to XBMC, but put it under a Master Profile.

3: Create another Profile for your younglings that can't access the shared files. Double bonus, since you password protected the share, if they do go scanning the network, they'll have to have to know the (hopefully) different password to mount the share with your non-kid content.

4:??? Profit?

Check this out: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=108232 I think it will help you sort your media out with haste.

Comment Lets see... (Score 5, Interesting) 178

I've got a sister who's a MSW, she waits tables at a place called the "Haunted Hamburger."

I've got a sister who's got a BS degree in "Landscape Engineering," she bakes bread for a living.

I've got a sister who's got a BS in Geology and was recently making serious cheddar but the mine closed, so she decided to have a baby and is is out for the duration.

I've got a brother who's a welder, owns some cows, and fancies himself a rancher in progress.

Finally, I've got a brother who thinks that education is something the "man" uses to keep you down.

As for me? Associates degree in business, bachelors degree in general studies in another 18 credits (been doing it in my 'spare' time) and the only one of the lot to have a long-term career, I've been doing computers for 18+ years now. From my experience, the degree doesn't do much but get you in the door for the interview in IT...90% of what I know by heart came from doing it and being a nerd, the other 10% can be determined via Google.

Comment Thanks Codeweavers! (Score 1) 97

I say this is great! As a current paying user of Crossover Linux and Mac, I'll be happy to have a year's extension for free. Crazy that my Lame Duck version of Crossover 7 Linux is now nearly 8 years old--its still in use on a couple older kiosk-style Linux PCs at work in our breakroom to run Word for the interns to make resumes on. I primarily use Office on my Linux version, and my wife plays "Hidden Object Games" in our Mac version!

Comment Re:A Windows PC? (Score 1) 284

I'm running Windows 8 on a Core2Duo as an HTPC, upgraded from Windows 7. All of my games installed via the Games For Windows Store, Steam, and direct installs from DVD (Diablo III, I'm looking at you) work flawlessly. Also, I output via HDMI to a 46" Sony Wega in 720p with no issues aside from once and awhile I have to log out and back in to get the audio to wake up over HDMI (yea, my TV is ancient I'm behind the times).

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