Favorite Files

No favorite files added yet

Recent Posts

1. Comment - AnyDVD claims it defeats protection on latest BD+ discs

   (Jan 4, 2009 - 1:22 PM)

   Of course you should have to buy a new one! Your kid damaged it. End of story.
   
   Would you go and photocopy every single page of a book in case your kid ripped one of the pages?
   
   Why do people take the position that if something can be duplicated, then it should be? If your kid broke your TV, then you'd have to go and buy a new one. Exactly the same as a DVD - the only difference is that you can make a copy of the DVD.
   
   If you look at a DVD as a physical object rather than a logical collection of ones and zeroes, your argument doesn't make sense.
   
   Some people might say "you're paying for the movie - not the disk". But really, they should be considered one and the same in this sense. With a TV - you probably think you're paying to be able to watch TV shows, not just to have an ornament sitting in the corner of the room. But you'd happily buy a replacement without any arguing if you had to.

2. Comment - Windows Live rollout sketchy, team apologizes

   (Dec 8, 2008 - 9:41 AM)

   I agree that one person's opinion is as valid as the next, I was just asking whether or not you'd actually used it. Many, many people say rediculous things about it without ever having used it, just because that seems to be the cool thing to do at the moment (my own boss comes to mind here - he hated Vista... until he actually used it - it's now his primary OS and he loves it).
   
   I suppose in a strictly business sense, Windows 2000 does provide a semi-modern operating system that does run lightning fast... now. But I would expect nothing less of an 8 year old operating system running on current hardware. You may remember when it was released that it had awful performance, and was highly criticised for it - as was XP, and now Vista. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed finding a Windows release that didn't come under fire during its release, but which is now considered to be "light-weight" and "bloat-free" compared to newer offerings.
   
   I remember reading an interesting quote recently (paraphrased, not sure of the source) - even MS-DOS 6 was considered slow bloatware when it came out, but now it would be considered the exact opposite.
   
   I think for Vista on current hardware, the x64 versions are a good choice, particularly considering driver compatibility has increased dramatically, and there are a few kernel changes that make it much more stable (having it pre-loaded on a brand name machine usually guarantees a problem-free installation). For older machines, I'd stick with x86 purely for the wider driver support (and you really only need the x64 versions if you have 3GB of RAM or more).
   
   My old Vista machine only had 512MB RAM and a very old GeFore 5200 - but it did actually run well enough for everyday use - even with DWM enabled. And I never had any compatibility issues with it.
   
   Maybe I'm just one of the lucky ones ;-)

3. Comment - Windows Live rollout sketchy, team apologizes

   (Dec 5, 2008 - 1:41 PM)

   Hmmm... Microsoft Bob being a mistake, I can agree with you on that. But Passport and MSN?
   
   I still use my Hotmail account from 2001, which evolved into a Passport account, which has since evolved into a Windows Live ID. So Passport as a name may be dead, but all Passport accounts are now Windows Live ID's... And are far from dead.
   
   And MSN? Well... Like I said, I still use my Hotmail account from 2001, which just happens to be an @msn.com account. So it's been going strong for 7 years for me without any hiccups (not sure exactly when MSN started without looking it up).
   
   And like you said - one of the benefits of having "insanely deep pockets" is that you can try these things out, and if they work... great! If not, move on to the next thing.
   
   Side note: you don't actually believe that Windows 2000 is as good as (let alone better) than Windows Vista, do you? Are you one of these people who's never actually used it, but just like to talk s*** about it because it's trendy?
   
   I have personally seen Vista running flawlessly on at least 10 computers (desktop and laptop), both old and new. The only issue I've ever come across is a few programs that wouldn't run. And - get this - they were DOS programs, and it was the x64 version of Vista. Big deal.

4. Comment - Google admits that its iPhone voice search breaks Apple's rules

   (Nov 29, 2008 - 12:50 PM)

   That is one of the dumbest comments I've ever read.
   
   First time I've ever heard of Microsoft changing code in XP that killed printer drivers (and, given the rediculous amount of work that Microsoft puts into Windows to maintain backwards compatibility, in spite of large system changes, seems unlikely). But if that's true, it was obviously something that could be worked around... Otherwise, nobody using XP would have been able to print for the last seven years.
   
   Apple hasn't changed anything that broke existing software. They just prohibited you from using certain features right from the beginning. Unless they like you, in which case it's OK.
   
   Speaking of fanboys... You can always tell an Apple fanboy in a crowd.
   
   Rather than giving legitimate examples of good things that Apple's products do, or constructively arguing against criticism, they point out any of Microsoft's flaws, as if that magically makes Apple 100% perfect. It doesn't.
   
   Last point: Windows Vista (32-bit) is still capable of running 16-bit software from Windows 2.x without modification (64-bit editions can't, because the 16-bit subsystem was removed... instead, they can *only* [sarcasm] run 32-bit software from Windows 95 or higher, or Windows NT 3.1 or higher). It can also run Windows 1.x apps with some modification (embedded resources need some fix-ups). Apple regularly breaks applications with each new "version" of Mac OS X.

5. Comment - Mac users flaming over FireWire; Jobs shrugs

   (Oct 18, 2008 - 1:14 PM)

   This all just seems very typical of Apple and of Steve Jobs. Nothing new here - different day, same old story.
   
   But for those of you who are comparing this to the removal of serial and parallel ports on non-Apple compuiters, there is a very big difference.
   
   By the time most non-Apple desktop and laptop machines had serial and parallel ports removed, USB had already been out for a long time, and the vast majority of new peripherals had already moved to USB, so there really was no big loss.
   
   Remember - the same thing happened when everybody was using an AT keyboard, and PS/2 along came... And then PS/2 died out and was replaced by USB.
   
   The difference with this situation is that most consumer-level FireWire devices (external hard drives, video cameras etc.) also support USB, so removing FireWire as an option doesn't mean the device ends up in the bin.
   
   Oh, and to the complete genius (note: sarcasm) that posted this:
   
   "Oh, and if you think FW is a crisis, then please tell us about the PC dropping the Parallel and serial ports from Laptops?
   
   The implications which literally dwarf the FW issue!
   
   As that world is dominated by Windows, who do you want to blame there?"
   
   As I mentioned - the implications were minimal at best, and have long been forgotten.
   
   And you think Windows is to blame for their demise? What are you smoking?!?
   
   Windows STILL SUPPORTS SERIAL AND PARALLEL PORTS if you have them. It's completely up to the DEVICE MANUFACTURERS whether or not they choose to include them.