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Comment Re:Not worth the money? (Score 2, Insightful) 253

It's a statistics and probability problem. If a device breaks, what would be the cost to have it repaired without the warranty? and what are the probabilities for the device to break between the end of base warranty and the end of extended warranty?

You don't even need to actually work out the math - it's been done for you (by the people offering the extended warranties).

Comment Re:Math fail. (Score 1) 141

Sorry but your math fails. 1 usd != 1 euro

I'm assuming you don't spend much time in Europe. It is true there is an exchange rate, and one euro can (theoretically) be traded for 1.4 dollars - but that does not hold true for consumer goods. Too much of the time if it costs $100 in the US, it will cost €100 here (although that usually does include the VAT).

As for the "europeans are idiots" bonus (1 dollar = 1 euro) from the Grandparent - that one had me laugh out loud. It is as if businesses were tired of messing with the exchange rate and just said the hell with it..

Cellphones

Submission + - Google Phone for Early 2010 (wired.com)

addsalt writes: Apparently the Google branded cell phone is in the hands of Google employees for testing. The phone is to be manufactured by HTC and sold directly from Google (unlocked). Rumors are that this will be a GSM only phone, so no love for Verizon customers.

Comment Re:If you want privacy then don't use (Score 1) 446

Unless of course you walk around handing out cards to every single person you pass that includes your full name, city, country, gender, picture, a list of all clubs/networks, a list of all your friends and their associated full names, cities, countries, genders, pictures, clubs/networks, etc

That is exactly the difference. Most of the details of our lives are not private, but there is some security through obscurity. Once we aggregate all of the non-private details of our lives, the information begins to describe who we are better and better - which is information many people are less comfortable having no access restriction to. Even though each data point is not private does not mean that the data set cannot be.

Comment Re:This is... (Score 2, Insightful) 236

There is a large effort needed to write quality stories...a lot of calling people, driving around interviewing, checking documents etc.pp

Many people, myself included, won't favor paying for what is passing as news because the stuff above doesn't happen. If there are journalists and writers actually doing in-depth analysis, writing thought provoking stories, with relevant and accurate facts, people will pay for it. Right now, I see more of this is being done in magazines, not newspapers.

Comment Re:Not again (Score 1) 575

Faith is belief without proof.

To interject a little. Often in Christian circles, faith is described at expecting things that have not yet happened (Heb 11:1). If we use this terminology, any belief that something will happen in the future would be classified as faith.

But... if you have proof then you don't need faith. Past personal observation, history, science, math, and orbital mechanics all say that the sun will come up tomorrow. Faith is not needed.

But, it may not. You don't have proof until it happens. I can show that it came up this morning. I cannot show that it is coming up tomorrow. What you are stuck with is a prediction from the hypothesis.

Comment Re:Looks pretty good on features and price (Score 2, Informative) 121

FYI - XBMC now runs very well on the AppleTV (aside from HD support). You can replace your Roku and AppleTV with, well an AppleTV. It removes all the crappy restrictions and provides a beautiful interface my 3 and 4 year olds can use and my wife is happy with. It might be worth a look if you haven't tried it

Comment Re:800 hours ?? (Score 2, Insightful) 167

Yes, but it isn't that sensational to say

  • Listen to a CD : 60 minutes (ave)
  • Watch a movie: 120 minutes (ave)
  • Read a book: 500 minutes (average novel at average reading speeds)
  • Play video game: 600 minutes

In all reality, 5 minutes in any of these mediums will tell you what the rest of the content will be like.

Comment Re:A good combination of a storyline and graphics. (Score 1) 506

I think you have a good point. While the special effects may have been revolutionary for the time, I still sometimes giggle when I watch Star Wars (A New Hope) because some things are obviously miniatures and it brings me out of the movie when I realize what I am watching is not real. There is obvious differences between people (real), the set (semi-real), and miniatures (obviously not real) - and it is apparent that all three things are not the same.

In a game, as long as there is nothing disrupting the "realism", it is still very engaging. If it starts as low-res, it can stay low-res. If you start high-res, even small pixel issues can ruin the entire effect

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