Nearly the same exact thing was done over a year ago for a budget of only $150 by college students from MIT.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/the-150-space-camera-mit-students-beat-nasa-on-beer-money-budget/

There may be games ported to both, but a PC and a video game console are so very different.

Just like the walled-garden that Apple has produced for its iProducts, many people prefer the consoles for their simplicity. With a console game there is no mandatory install. There is no worrying about system specs. There is a significantly smaller chance someone else is [capable of] cheating online.
What does that have to do with gaming performance, then?
People who use Linux are often considered power-users because they know more than the average Windows user. I think this would equate to console-vs-pc gaming. People who play games on their PC (Facebook games do not count) are in my experience more likely to know more about their computer.

Another difference is (obviously) the input device. Some people just like controllers. Controllers, however, aren't mice. They aren't nearly as accurate and they are usually more cumbersome. Personally, though, I like the feel of a joystick over point-and-click. Pulling a trigger on a controller simply feels better to me than does clicking a mouse to fire a gun.

Final note: I have heard that some people testing the new Playstation Move motion controller would pretty much always beat those using controllers because the style of input. Maybe with new motion controls console games can meet up against the PC competitively.

It looks like BP might have used the same people for its image editing needs as Microsoft and Iran

I did mention that the Xbox 360 was one of the first mainstream applications of gaming achievements. I didn't give my original list any chronological preference

That depends on the game. Many times achievements reward different play styles. Did you use a single weapon the whole game through, or did you choose variety? Did you beat it on the hardest difficulty? Did you go find every last hidden treasure? Did you do the optional content? They might not be the most exciting thing, but perfectionists and friends (as well as show-offs) often enjoy the ability to back up their claims of truly completing a game.

Why do people collect stamps? Or coins? Why do people collect anything? Usually because it's simply something they enjoy. Many people enjoy playing video games, but find that the main story in itself ran its course. Just recently I have been binge playing Mass Effect, and after a couple plays though even the brilliant story can lose its luster. I enjoy collecting achievements, and the achievements give me other things to focus on while still being able to enjoy the game play I've come to love.

Achievements are a small time-investment on behalf of the developers to ensure gamers that love their gameplay have more to do when the game is really over.

/. jokingly added achievements during an April fools joke, but really added a full fledged system. World of Warcraft added achievements in their second expansion to the game. Playstation 3 has its trophies, and the XBox 360 has their achievement system too. People love getting rewarded for doing challenging or quirky, fun mini-games. Some people may dislike achievements, but I think they have really come a long way.
One of the first major introductions of mainstream achievements happened with the Xbox 360. For the release titles the developers didn't really know what to do with the achievements, so they were all pretty generic and often gave more points than they would if they were rolled out today.
Flash forward to today's new releases and you get achievements that truly encourage players to try all aspects of the game, and reward them for it. Some people may find it silly to seek out achievements, but many of us gamers do enjoy the excitement of unlocking that really-hard-to-get achievement.

I've been looking at internet rates because I'm planning to move very soon. Where I'm moving (Irvine, CA) there is only ONE internet provider (Cox).
It's $32/mo. for 3 mbps, $47 for 12.5 (10 with a 2.5 boost) or $62 for 25 (20 with a 5 boost)
Compare that to France's 28 mbps for ~$38 US, 50 mpbs for ~$65 or even 2.5 down/1.2 up gbps in Paris for ~$90
or how about Germany: 6 mbps for ~$26 or 32 mbps for ~$38.
Why are we paying nearly double the cost as other countries? Irvine is in Orange Country ("The OC") and is less than an hour from Los Angeles, so there shouldn't be any complaints that it is too rural for fast, affordable internet.

Hey!
Lawyer!
Leave those seeds alone!