Comment Beta Updates (Score 1) 168
Didn't Microsoft say recently-ish that clicking "Check for Updates" means you want to be in the beta channel and get beta versions of updates? Or did they reverse that decision?
Comment This isn't anything new (Score 1) 95
Not sure why this is making headlines, Microsoft has been doing this for years.
New WoW Patch Brings Cross-Server Instances 342
ajs writes "World of Warcraft's Wrath of the Lich King expansion was staggered into 4 phases. The fourth and final phase, patch 3.3, was released on Tuesday. This patch is significant in that it will be the first introduction of one of the most anticipated new features in the game since PvP arenas: the cross-realm random dungeon, as well as the release of new end-game dungeons for 5, 10 and 25-player groups. The patch notes have been posted, and so has a trailer. The ultimate fight against the expansion's antagonist, the Lich King a.k.a. Arthas, will be gated as each of the four wings of the final dungeon are opened in turn — a process that may take several months. The next major patch after 3.3 (presumably 4.0) will be the release of Cataclysm, the next expansion."
Sharp Rise In Jailing of Online Journalists; Iran May Just Kill Them 233
bckspc writes "The Committee to Protect Journalists has published their annual census of journalists in prison. Of the 136 reporters in prison around the world on December 1, 'At least 68 bloggers, Web-based reporters, and online editors are imprisoned, constituting half of all journalists now in jail.' Print was next with 51 cases. Also, 'Freelancers now make up nearly 45 percent of all journalists jailed worldwide, a dramatic recent increase that reflects the evolution of the global news business.' China, Iran, Cuba, Eritrea, and Burma were the top 5 jailers of journalists."
rmdstudio writes, too, with word that after the last few days' protest there, largely organized online, the government of Iran is considering the death penalty for bloggers and webmasters whose reports offend it.
US Air Force Buying Another 2,200 PS3s 144
bleedingpegasus sends word that the US Air Force will be grabbing up 2,200 new PlayStation 3 consoles for research into supercomputing. They already have a cluster made from 336 of the old-style (non-Slim) consoles, which they've used for a variety of purposes, including "processing multiple radar images into higher resolution composite images (known as synthetic aperture radar image formation), high-def video processing, and 'neuromorphic computing.'" According to the Justification Review Document (DOC), "Once the hardware configuration is implemented, software code will be developed in-house for cluster implementation utilizing a Linux-based operating software."
The Nickel & Dime Generation 358
Phaethon360 sends in a piece that looks at how quickly game costs can add up these days, now that DLC, microtransactions and standalone expansions are commonplace, writing, "If you were trying to the think of the most expensive games to play, Rock Band or a monthly-fee MMORPG would come to mind. But Halo 3 is right up there, too." It's reminiscent of a recent post at IncGamers where the author tallied up how much he'd spent on World of Warcraft over the past several years, and was astonished to realize it numbered in the thousands of dollars.
Comment They saved how much? (Score 1) 725
Is it just me or does the math not work? They spent £24.5 million and will save taxpayers £22 million over 10 years. So why didn't they just not spend the excess £2.5 million?
And that folks is why you don't let the government spend money.
Comment Have you ever tried (Score 1) 278
To submit a bug report to Microsoft? It's impossible. Here's my story:
Comment it's far beyond hate (Score 1) 1540
I don't hate "Microsoft", I hate ideology of Microsoft. This article is the capstone for me http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/ 27/2232244 ..on to the question at hand...
Being a Sr. Software Architect I have a professional understanding for what people want in a final product; MS doesn't deliver it. I dislike that they want to "best guess" what I want and how I want it done. I have a strong dislike that I can't kill process whenever I want. I dislike that I can't control what is and is not started at boot time. I find it frustrating that if WinAmp crashes..so does IE or Word or 19 other products that don't have anything related to them. I disagree with how MS treats the "lesser" entities. The small people that just want to get something out and make some money and roll in the great American concept of Capitalism...they can't becuase MS owns the patent on Capitalism.
If I were to continue..I'd lose what dignity I have with the ./ community :) so I'm going to leave on that note.
[yes, I did overuse the word dislike .. but it's late and I'm sssleeppy]
io
Journal Journal: First and Last Journal Posting
Just 'cause it's here and begging for me to write in it.
There, that's done. Now head over to my home at http://greeneggpage.com/
That's http://greeneggpage.com/. Head over there now or I'll club this baby seal!
