Sadly however, people will read this article and will still freak out about how the LHC is going to doom us all.

For the hard-core gamer I'm sure that this is considered the height of EVIL and is something of a hell-worthy trespass for them.

However for the casual gamer (say someone who doesn't have the time required to develop the "Mad Skillz" needed to play these games) this is a godsend.

There are games out there with very in-depth stories and as the game progresses and gets harder, many find that a particular section is flat-out beyond them and the only way they'll ever get to see the end of the story is to look up cheats, walkthroughs...or now this new system.

There are times when I've asked someone to get me through one little annoying section that I've tried for hours to defeat...at times even WITH the walkthrough. Being told how to do something is not the same as being able to do it with some of the "twitch" games out there where the solution involves precise timing that many hard-core and/or avid gamers develop. I get help with that "one" spot and I'll beat the rest of the game on my own in my own time.

This is a good thing and it gives an option and a choice for the players. They can choose to beat the game on their own, or they can choose to get a little help. Let the game give these options and let the players decide. It's the best way.

Part of me is saying that a mirrored server that is attached to the same gateways as the main server is a bad idea at best.

The other part of me wants this hacker schmuck locked in a small room with a thousand pissed off wolverines.

Hard to call...hard to call

I do that on AT&T with a Sony Ericsson W350i. Now I have the unlimited data option on my account and thus there is no charge for the tethering to my laptop with my USB cable.

It shows up in my statement every time I use the service and every bit that passes gets documented in my bill (it's darn thick).

Thus it beggars the question of why Apple hasn't activated the feature on their phone with the only carrier that is *allowed* (AT&T) to use the phone in the United States, when the carrier in question already allows this function on other phones.

Greed? Stupidity? Both?

Phoenix

"So, no, it doesn't need to be put in future versions of Windows. Instead, Windows users need to start using the features of the current version(s). And, you know, stop using admin accounts when they don't really need them."

Ah, there's the rub. The fact that so many people are asking that this be a feature in future versions when it in fact has as you say been a staple for quite some time... ...indicates that Microsoft has failed the end user by not informing us of that function in a way that doesn't require one to be a dyed-in-the-wool techhead.

Lets not forget the fact of HOW they label the account statuses in windows. Power User and Restricted User. In the buzzword minded generation of computer users, more is better and in their minds Power User sounds better than Restricted User.

After who wants to drop hard earned money on a home computer and only to be restricted?

MS needs co consider going more towards a root/user structure like *nix or at least letting the general public aware of these functions, how to use them, and why it's important not to be on the internet superhighway with your ass hanging out the window.

I never thought of that. Windows is such a pain to use at all without the admin access that most people just shrug, set themselves up as a Power User just so they can use the damn thing.

But when you think about it, in the *nix community running as standard users is a staple...the norm if you will of computer operation. If you're logged on as "Bob" and you need the Admin-level access (install something, access a file that is not owned by your account, etc) you fire up "sudo" or a terminal window and SU it for a while.

If it's a nice graphical interface in either usage or installation...it'll even pop up and say "I'm sorry, you need admin access. Do you have the password?" And if you do then it'll just shrug and bloody well go and do it.

This is something that needs to be put in future versions of Windows. That and stop requiring The Sims 2 to have administrator access just so you can play paper dolls.

Phoenix

Indeed. If no information was given out to state any way in which payment could be rendered, then there is nothing the Germans or the German government can do to require payment.

Just uninstall the program, delete the installer and have done with it.

However...

If the site needs a form of payment to cover it's costs for bandwidth, that's legal and technically not a charge for the software. If that's the case and the "I agree..." button was checked before the download started, then the person needed to do a better job of reading the ToS before doing the download and is responsible for the download fees.

Also, anyone who suggests the software to anyone needs to be mindful of the fact that to be certain of getting it for free is to go to openoffice.org and get it there and nowhere else...unless you're dead certain that it's a legit mirror.

Phoenix

...but odds are that this is not going to fly. I can see in my mind a repeat of Lenny Bruce's bit where he in one of his comedy sets replaced the word "fuck" with "fish" and told his audience that was the plan. He'd make some comments like (while looking at a pretty woman) "Hey Baby, wanna fish?" and other such comments.

It can't go through because as Lenny Bruce proved, you don't have to say the profanity because the person listening will do it for you as long as you put it into context.

Hell! Take a look at British Sci-Fi comedy Red Dwarf. They use "smeg" and you *know* what profanity it's replacing.

"What the Smegging Smeg has he smegging done?" in anyone's mind translates into "What the fucking hell has he fucking done?"

Or "Oh smeg!" is clearly "Oh Hell!"

It's the context. Ban the words and you'll find that the people are putting the profanity in themselves...and you can't legislate thoughts.

As for the SC Government? They can go and smurf themselves for all I care.

Here at the hospital we drag all of the old dead drives over to the MRI suite during a time when they don't have anyone scheduled.

Wave a drive in a 90,000 gauss field for a minute and it's pretty hard to recover. We tested this by sending it off to a data recovery sppecialist company and they told us that it was irrecoverable.

The Government might have better luck...but the average person isn't going to get squat.

Phoenix