throatmonster - Slashdot User

Comment I'm the parent, and I'll decide... (Score 1) 220

by throatmonster on Tuesday September 16, 2008 @09:17PM (#25033555) Attached to: Study Finds Video Games Are Not Bad for Kids

You got that right. I think Roblox has helped my son (poor social skills, just like me) learn a little bit about conflict resolution. It's almost funny to watch: the first thing any of them do to anyone else new is frag them. Then comes the "you @#$#@ n00b" phase. After awhile they realize there's no winning, so they find some common ground, make up, and invite each other to be friends.

Dealing with my workplace IT staff is just like this, BTW: the first time I deal with someone I don't already know, I get the buzz-saw treatment. Then comes the short word war, and finally we figure out how to deal with each other and can work together after that.

EBay Abandons Plans For PayPal Monopoly 277

Posted by timothy on Thursday July 03, 2008 @10:24PM from the single-source-is-always-risky dept.

An anonymous reader writes "eBay's has lost its fight to ban all payment methods except PayPal. When Paypal originally announced the scheme it was to be global, but they began with a dry run in Australia to test the reaction of government and consumer authorities. In the public slanging match that followed between eBay and the regulatory ACCC, eBay spammed users claiming it was fighting for 'safety benefits for consumers.' Fortunately the consumers won. Conceded eBay vice president Simon Smith, 'While we disagree with the ACCC's draft notice, we have decided to withdraw the notification to stop any further confusion and disruption among the eBay community.' Nevertheless eBay insists PayPal is now always offered as a payment option. Have big corporations finally learned that they can go too far? More chillingly, if eBay had launched the scheme in America would they have gotten away with it?"

Russian Police Seize Kasparov 495

Posted by CmdrTaco on Saturday November 24, 2007 @10:41AM from the only-a-matter-of-time dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Russian police seized Garry Kasparov, the Russian chess champion, for staging a political rally against Vladimir Putin. IBM's Deep Blue computer was the first to beat a world champion when it defeated Kasparov, who is one of the strongest players in history." He's also been a giant critic of the Russian administration which is increasingly restricting free speech.

Apple Ships 8-Core MacPro 628

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday April 04, 2007 @09:52AM from the way-more-cores-than-the-earth dept.

ivan1024 writes "The Apple website is announcing the availability of an 8-core Mac Pro. The machine will ship with two 3.0 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5300 processors. Older models with the Dual-Core chips remain available. Base model with two 3.0 GHz Quad-Core Xeon processors start at $3997, (albeit with unacceptably minimal RAM or HD space; fully spec'd with dual 30" monitors and tons o' RAM/HD still over $10K... bummer)"

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