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This is my experience too...my 2007 MacBook Pro seldom had (past tense, it finally died last year) issues with any Wifi points. My 2011 MacBook Air though, seems to have issues every time the OSX updates to a newer point release. Mountain Lion was the worst of these upgrades--the Air wouldn't stay connected to my home router (WRT54G) reliably at all. I ended up replacing that router with a Netgear 300N and the connection improved greatly until Mavericks came along and it started all over again. Interestingly, my 2012 iMac has never had any issues with either router or any OSX updates...

I've got a 2013 i7 iMac and have for the last two months been running it with Windows 8.1 via Bootcamp to play some games I was given for my birthday. I spent an afternoon (2-3 hoursish) installing Windows, an IRC client, a Torrent client, and a pair of web browsers--guess what? All the same versions I have on the OSX side. I prefer OSX's look and polish--especially the fonts; and PuTTY isn't as nice as having the native terminal It speaks the the hardware that either OS works "enough."

Riight, because math > reality. Bitcoin is a ponzi scheme on a global scale,and the GP got it 100% correct. How do I know? Ugh, see my username--bitcoin hates me.

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).

iPad, iPod, 2x iPhones, Xbox One, PS3, LG SmartTV, iMac, MacMini, Windows Desktop, Bitcoin Mining Computer, that about covers it...

Might I recommend this one instead: http://www.devtome.com/doku.php?id=scrypt_altcoin_cloning_guide Written by yours truly back in May. Source is no longer on line for the examples (foocoin) but there's so many clones out there, one can use any of them.

I completely agree. I am using a late 2012 iMac with a WheelMouse Optical USB I bought in 2000 because to me, its a MUCH better input device than the "Magic Mouse."

*Perhaps* *Should*

You're both fucking morons.

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.

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.

Wow and I thought I was pretty 1337 for having my PRO-100 connected to my iMac for listening to my local Sheriff's dispatch. Good points on both sides if you ask me...

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...

...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.

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.

I will second Zebra's line, suprised to have read down this far to find someone recommending them. I personally like the Telescopic, but the Sarasa's are insanely nice with their gel-ink.