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19 ottobre Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Pryor - your having a....We had out 20 week Ultrasound yesterday. Pop on over to http://digitalleon.com/blog/ for the exciting news. 14 agosto Blog updates - Babies and Bioshock OH MYBlog updates on http://digitalleon.comGetting back to BloggingYour fig-sized baby is now fully formed — measuring 1 1/2 inches long and weighing in at a quarter of an ounce. His skin is still transparent, allowing many of his blood. Getting Back to BloggingBioshockI’m pretty cheap when it comes to video games lately. They are far too expensive and I generaly don’t have the time to play them like I used to. (Even when I worked on games for a living.) I did however take the time to download the Bioshock demo on Xbox live. Bioshock15 giugno Bye bye SpacesWe're moving - I finally got a new blog setup at www.digitalleon.com.
Spaces while quick and easy is pretty limited and frustrating - so I'm moving to a place where I have more control.
I also promise to update the new blog quite frequently. 21 novembre Playstation 3 - what a piece of #$%#I've been down on the playstation 3 for sometime - however most of my issues revolved around Sony gouging their customers on price. This weekend I had the opportunity to sit down and play with a PS/3. And have to say I was completely correct. The PS/3 quite frankly doesn't hold a candle up to the Xbox 360 or even the Nintendo Wii. Here's why.
Game quality -
The first game I checked out was Resistance Fall of Man - This has been billed as the marquee title for the system. Graphically this game is embarressing. Compared to games like Gears of War on the 360 or even the 360 launch titles from 12 months ago - this game looks terrible. The textures are at an extremely low resolution and have very little detail, there's no anti aliasing to speaking of which means there are jagged lines everywhere. And we won't even get into normal mapping or specular lighting effects. Simply put this game looks like a slightly better PS2 game. So much for playing beyond.
Beyond the technology the art direction is equally terrible. You are mostly attacked by giant soccor balls and humainoid aliens that look like soldiers from the british book of smiles. What really drives me up the wall is the fact that the characters don't have hit animations. This makes it difficult to determine if you've actually struck your target. For the record Doom and Wolfenstein had hit animations in the early 90's so there is simply no excuse. Since the game has a post apocolyptic look, the comparison between it and Gears or War has to be made. And that comparison is embaressing for sony.
Additionally because the device doesn't have hardware scaling - older (ie 1 year) HDTV's will render the game at an extemely low resolution.
At 480p the game is running at the same level of detail as the original Xbox.
In the games defense it does offer multiplayer games of up to 30 people - and the graphics engine keeps up a good frame rate even with 30+ players on the screen. However that's not hard to do when your graphics bar is so low.
The next game was Call of Duty 3. This is a game on 360 so we set our television up for split screen and compared the games side by side. The 360 version runs along splendidly at 60 frames per second (fps) while the playstation struggles to maintain 30 fps. The PS3 version constantly drops frames as well in intense situation.
Controller
The controller feels cheap in your hands. The lack of a force feedback feature really takes a lot of the impact out of the games. The controller features a PS/3 button that's similar to the Xbox 360 button. However unlike the 360 version it doesn't work inside of the games.
Additionally the PS/3 controllers come completely discharged; which means that you have to charge them via the 2 foot USB cable that they included.(you will be playing close to the television it seems) Contrasted with the 360 where you are given 2 fresh batteries that you can use to play the game. Additionally the PS3 will only charge the controllers while the system is on. Contrasted with an Xbox where the controllers will continue to charge even when the system is turned off.
Oh and one more point - if you buy an extra controller they don't include another charging cable. Which means you need to buy an extra cable or only charge one controller at a time.
Cables and unpacking
I hope you picked up a high definition cable when you bought your PS3 because they don't include one in the box. $600 for a system and they don't even give you a wire..... Contrasted with the Xbox were you are givin component and composite video cables. Otherwise hooking the system up was relatively simple.
However if you bought the fancy digital HDMI cable so you can watch blue ray movies - I hope you have more than one HDMI port on your television. Sony's HDMI implementation won't work with switch boxes or receivers. Meaning the PS3 is the only digital video devices you can have on your system. So throw out that comcast DVR or personal computer. The reason is Sony has included quite a bit of copy protection that prevents you from hooking up multiple devices.
The device itself is huge and reminds me of a george foreman grill. (can't take credit for that one) It cracks me up that the japanese initally rejected the Xbox because it was "too big for japanese homes". And now Sony, a japanese company, releases a device that's much bigger than the original xbox. I wish the japanese would just come out and say - "we don't like western products."
Playing Media files
Sony's proud of the fact that you can use the PS3 to play media files from a portable device. However you can only play those files in their dashboard application. (not in games) Contrasted with the 360 where not only can I play media files from my device (including the ipod) but I can also play music from a windows machine on my network. I can also play the music inside of my games as well.
Online network
First off I will say that you can play games on Sony's network for Free. Microsoft charges $50/year to use xbox live. However Sony hasn't reached feature parity with Xbox live by any stretch of the imagination. Unified friends lists, easy voice chat, persistant presence across games, seemless integration of online features are all things that are absent from Sony's implementation.
Also since Sony doesn't include a headset with their systems - most people don't have a headset for voice chat. Contrasted with Xbox live where most people have them.
Blue Ray support
Assuming you purchased the expensive HDMI cable you can enjoy blue ray movies out of the box. They even included one at launch. This is something that you need to purchase an add on for 360. Personally I don't care but a lot of people do. And the PS3 is the cheapest blue ray player that you can buy right now.
General Polish
We decided it was time to put down resistance and check out ridge racer. Now on the 360 placing a new DVD in the system causes it to stop what it's doing and load the new title. However on the PS/3 the system continued to run resistance. Out of curiosity we decided to keep playing resistance to see what would happen when it ran out of content. In the best of cases it would have asked for the user to re-insert the dvd. However as expected the machine crashed. Again play beyond my ass.
Price
After the system, accessories, cables, 1 game, and sales tax - expect to spend about $1000 at retail if you can find a system. Sony only has about 400,000 in circulation right now. Honestly you're better off buying an xbox 360 and a Nintendo Wii at that price and you will have a much better experience.
There's my assesment of the ps3. I'm not impressed. Sony indicated that they would build a machine that was better than the xbox in every way...and that's clearly not the case. They haven't even reached feature parity with the xbox. Tech spec wise the boxes are very close. Some camps feel the playstation has more potential, other camps point to the xbox. As far as I'm considered it's a dead heat.
The difference is on the software side. The xbox is a much better system from a developers perspective, it's going to take Sony developers much longer to figure out how to fully utilize the system. Additionally everything that sony has done feels thrown together by different areas of the company. There's no unifying vision to the product. This is something that the 360 completely nails.
Do youself a favor - save your money - buy a 360 and Gears of War instead. Don't bother playing beyond and just jump in baby.
17 novembre A sad day for MichiganToday the world of college football has suffered a great lost. Legendary Michigan coach Bo Schembechler pass away this morning at the age of 77. Ironically Bo passed away the day before rivals Michgan and Ohio State face off. This is a rivalry that goes back over 100 years. The games coached by Bo and his Ohio State rival the late Woody Hayes are often considered some of the greats games in the series. I like to think that they both will be sitting together watching the game tomorrow.
In many respects this years season reads like a screenplay.
I'm not a Michigan player but I have still been affected by Bo's death. To me tomorrow's game has transformed into a tribute for Bo. And I know that the Wolverines won't disssapoint me. I can't help thinking of the famous "Win one for the Gipper" saying going into this game. Although its win one for Bo. Go Blue. 16 novembre osu HumorSince the big Ohio State game is this weekend I thought I would share some little jokes at the expensive of our southeasten friends. GO BLUE!
A first-grade teacher tells her class that she is an Ohio State fan. She asks the students to raise their hands if they are Ohio State fans too. Not really knowing what an Ohio State fan is, but wanting to be liked by their teacher, all the students put their hands in the air -- with one exception. The teacher looks at the little girl who did not raise her hand and asks her why she's decided to be different. "Because I'm a Michigan fan," the girl said. The teacher, a little perturbed, asks why. "Because my mom and dad are Wolverine fans, so I'm a Wolverine fan, too." The teacher, angry, says, "That's no reason. What if your mom and you dad were idiots?" The little girl smiles and says, "Then I'd be an Ohio State fan." A young man hired by a supermarket reports for his first day of work. The manager greets him with a warm handshake and smile, gives him a broom and says: "Your first job will be to sweep the store." The young man is indignant. "But I'm an Ohio State graduate! I even played football there!" "Oh, I'm sorry," replies the manager. "Give me the broom and I'll show you how." Two Ohio State football players are partying on campus when a bartender asks what they're celebrating. The smart one says that they had just finished a jigsaw puzzle and it only took them two months. "Two months?!" exclaims the bartender. The Buckeye proudly replies: "Yeah! The box said 4-6 years!" A guy in a bar leans over to the guy next to him and says, "Hey, want to hear an Ohio State joke?" The man replies, "Well, before you tell that joke, you should know something. I am six feet tall, 200 pounds and a OSU graduate. The guy sitting next to me is 6-2, 225 pounds and a OSU graduate. The guy sitting next to him is 6-5, 250 pounds and is also a OSU graduate. You still want to tell that joke?" The first guy responds: "Nah. Not if I'm going to have to explain it three times." After former Ohio State coach Woody Hayes passes away and enters Heaven, God takes him on a tour. He shows Woody a little two-bedroom house with a faded Ohio State University banner hanging from the front porch. "This is your home now, coach. Most people don't get their own house around here!" God exclaims. Woody looks at the house then turns around and sees the one sitting on the top of a nearby hill. It's a huge two-story mansion with white marble columns and little patios under all the windows. Michigan flags line both sides of the sidewalk with a huge maize and blue banner hanging between the marble columns. Woody says, "Thanks for the new home, God, but let me ask you a question: Why do I get this little two-bedroom house with a faded Ohio State banner while Bo Schembechler gets a mansion with new banners and flags?" God looks at him seriously for a moment, then replies: "That's not Bo's house. That's mine!" Four college alumni were climbing a mountain: An Ohio State grad, a Michigan grad, a Penn State grad and a Notre Dame grad. Each claimed to be the most loyal to their alma mater. As they climbed higher, they argued about who was the most loyal of all. When they reached the top, the Notre Dame grad suddenly hurled himself off the mountain, shouting: "This is for the Fighting Irish!" Not to be outdone, the Penn State grad threw himself over the edge, shouting: "This is for the Nittany Lions!" Seeing this, the Michigan grad walked over and shouted "This is for the Wolverines!" and pushed the Ohio State fan off the mountain. Did you hear that a semi-truck carrying pigs that flipped over on the Ohio State campus? Officials had to check IDs before letting anyone back on board. A little boy and his mother were walking through the cemetery when they spotted a headstone that read "Here lies an Ohio State graduate and a good man." The little boy turned to his mother and asked, "Mommy, why did they bury two people in there?" Q: Why do Ohio State University fans keep their diplomas on their dashboards? Q: What do you call a good looking girl on the Ohio State campus? Q: What's the only sign of intelligent life in Columbus? Q: What are the three longest years of an Ohio State football player's life? Q: Why should Ohio State change its color from red to orange? What did the Ohio State fan say to the Michigan Fan? Welcome to McDonalds. May I take your order? An Michigan fan amused himself by scaring Ohio State fans on the side of the road. He would swerve as if to hit them, and then swerve back just in time. One day, he saw a priest. He thought he would do a good deed and pulled over. He asked "Can I give you a lift?" "God bless you my son" replied the priest. They continued down the road and the driver saw a Buckeye fan up ahead, instinctively, he swerved, narrowly missing the guy, but he still heard a loud "THUD." Not understanding where the noise came from, he remembered the priest. He turned and said "I'm sorry, Father. I almost hit that Ohio State fan." "That's OK" replied the priest. "I got him with the door." Practice was halted today for the Ohio State football team. Players found a white substance on the football field. After an intensive investigation by local and federal agents it was determined to be the goal line. Practice resumed investigators had no fear of the team being contaminated by the goal line. An Ohio State fan is driving home from a game. When he turns a corner, much to his horror, he sees a pine tree in the middle of the road. He swerves to avoid it and then sees another tree in front of him. He swerves again, but no matter what he does, he sees a tree in front of him. Then he hears a police siren and stops the car. The officer comes up to the car and asks the Ohio State fan why he was weaving all over the road. When the man starts describing the trees in the road, the officer stops him and says, "Sir, it's just your air freshener!" Q. How do you get an Ohio State graduate off your front porch? 08 ottobre Michigan goes 6-0!Michigan State was creamed this weekend and Michigan goes 6-0. We also slide up to the #4 position in the rankings. Next week we have Penn State. So far it's been a pretty exciting season - however the team that really worries me is Iowa. Right now the Wolverines hold their destiny in their own hands. And the way things are going the November game against Ohio State could be more exciting than any Bowl game in January. I haven't had a such a good feeling about the team since the 1997 national championship. Go Blue! #4 Michigan at Penn State Saturday, Oct. 14 • 8:00 p.m. Beaver Stadium • State College, Pa. ABC Television 03 ottobre Lloyd Carr wins a reprieve for now....A few months back I joined in the voices saying that the University of Michigan's head coach should be fired. To recap quickly Michigan had several really bad seasons, in fact last years record of 7-5 was absolutely terrible. We lost to Ohio State (again) and Minnesota reclaimed the Little Brown Jug - college footballs oldest trophy. There was simply no reason for this lack of performance. Michigan always has excellent talent so it was my belief that the problem was with the coach. I had two specific issues with the coach. 1. His play calling was too conservative an unimaginative. Case in point - if you have 3 of the best wide receivers in College football perhaps you should throw them the ball downfield. Unfortunately Lloyd prefers smash mouth football. Because he refuses to pass the other teams would have their defensive backs play the line of scrimmage effectively shutting down the run. 2. His choice in quaterbacks. Lloyd consistently gets tall quaterbacks that have no running ability what so ever. Would someone please show this man a video of Michael Vick.... While I certainly don't advocate QBs scrambling as often as Vick does, it is however advantageous to have a QB that can run when the play gets ugly. That said Lloyd has addressed my first issue this year. He replaced both his offensive and defensive coordinators and the difference is dramatic this year. The team looks fantastic and has the record to match. He hasn't addresses my second point but it doesn't matter since the offensive line is so tough this year our QB doesn't need to scramble. So far the team looks great - Notre Dame was embarrassed, The little brown jug was reclaimed - Wisconsin was destroyed. The next big challenge is going to be Iowa - a school that's never a push over. In fact this could be a year where Michigan and Ohio state are both undefeated in November which will make for one hell of a game. So for now I'm willing to back off of Lloyd. He's made some serious adjustments to the team and it shows. But ultimately his future rides on his ability to win the big game. If he can't win at Ohio State this year he's in big trouble. \/ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15081237/ 01 ottobre One twisted videoI came across this computer animation on Digg.com this evening. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/189181/baginski_fallen_art/ It's truly twisted but funny and very well done. 28 settembre Stop and look at the neighorhoodA couple of days ago I was doing a photo shoot through downtown Kirkland. The person I was with mentioned that she drives through Kirkland often but she rarely stops to enjoy it. The Waterfront area is a really interesting place with lots of cool shops and restaurants. This is something that I have a personal experience with. 2 years ago we had house guests in the fall. One of our guests decided to go for a walk to check out the neighborhood. When he returned he said: "Did you guys know your stream is full of salmon?" We looked at him like he was crazy. It turns out he was right! The stream by our house was packed with salmon - Some of them quite large (nearing 2 feet long). We had lived in this location for years and never bothered to notice it. Owning a dog has given me an opportunity to do a lot of walking and I've discovered many interesting restaurants and stores all within a few miles of our home. I've been so focused on going somewhere else that I've been missing out on the things in my own backyard. So what are you missing? Take the time to walk out of the house and enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful trees. 11 settembre Remembering September 11thMy father always talked about remembering exactly where he was when the Japanese bombed pearl harbor. And how that event certainly changed the world. Some day I will tell my children about how I remember where I was on September 11th. I was getting a late start that morning when I got a frantic call from my mother saying that my sister and uncle were ok. She didn't have time to elaborate and hung up shortly after. I was confused and turned on the television to see the first tower burning. I couldn't believe an accident like that had actually occurred. My wife echoed my sentiments. Shortly after I watched the second tower get hit and I developed a huge knot in my stomach. This was deliberate and the world would never be the same. Years later we find ourselves locked in an ideological war with people that have no fear of killing themselves. They think that murdering civilians will get them into heaven where an army of virgins await them. This is an enemy who exploits our civil liberties to kill us. We have spent billions of dollars on two invasions and our own home land security. And while we've made a lot of improvements to the system there are still so many obvious holes in it that I am very concerned. What galls me about the current state of affairs are the silly things. Why is the Mexican border is basically wide open? Why does freight still goes mostly unscreened as it enters the united states? And the the transportation security administration(TSA) isn't much better then the airline funded security screeners of the pre-911 days. Our security and military forces have done great work in stopping terrorist threats since 9-11. These people have worked tirelessly to insure our safety. Unfortunately the enemy only has to get lucky once. The next terrorist event is unfortunately a matter of "when" and not "if". If/when that occurs I believe we will see more of our civil liberties eroded. I think we are going to see things get a lot worse before they get better. But there isn't much that I can do about it. I have decided that today I will focus on a few things:
07 settembre New website is up and running!After many sleepless nights I've gotten my new photography website up and running. Pop over and take a look - PryorStudios.com. 05 luglio The devil was pretty good!This weekend I decided to go to the movies. My first choice was the superman movie; however it was being shown at a time that was inconvienient. Instead we elected to see The Devil Wears Prada. Normally I wouldn't want to go see a movie like this, but I was intrigued by the commercials.
I must say I absolutely loved the movie. Meryl Streep has an incredible performance. Her portrayal of "The Devil" was deliciously evil. I think she may very well get an academy award for her amazing performance. I never read the book so I have no idea how it compares to the original material. I will say that I was completely entertained and highly recommend the movie to anyone that's interested.
DigitalLeon gives "The Devil wears Prada" 4 star. 27 giugno Bite me Sony! (Why the PS/3 will fail)The next generation console wars are heating up with the impending launches of the Playstation 3 and Nintendo revolution. Microsoft is off to an early start with the Xbox 360 and despite some supply chain setbacks at launch, the system has been doing really well.
Sony is the only company that's won 2 console wars in a row with the Playstation and Playstation 2 respectively. And one would assume that they are in a great position to do well in a 3rd battle. However in my opinion this is not the case. The problem is that Sony has decided to link adoption of Blue-Ray (their high definition DVD format) to the playstation. Which increases the price of the system. How much you ask? - The base Playstation 3 will cost 500 and the advanced version will costs $600. I should also not that the $500 version is crippled and can't be upgraded so it's not worth your money. Now let's do a little math:
Base System: $600
1 Launch Game $60
Various accessories $40
Sales tax $70(10% in Washington)
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Total: $770
Simply put - Sony will price themselves out of the market with the Playstation 3(PS/3). I am an early adopter of technology and an avid gamer. I have puchased ever single gaming console on launch day for the past 10 years. And I will not buy a PS/3 at this price.
Sony as a company is too fixated on defending their Video and Music business. Blue-Ray isn't just a High Def technology - it's also riddled with Digital Rights Management software to protect content from being illegally copied. They seem to be willing to sabotage their most profitable business(games) for the movie studios!
Additionally most people are just starting to upgrade their televisions and many people have the cheaper Enhanced definition of ED sets. (which can't take advantage of blue ray) If you just got your first HDTV - standard DVDs look pretty good. - That said if you have the hardware blue ray stands to look 2x as good but you will also need a pretty large television (55in+) to really see the difference.
There's nothing novel about the format. Audio CDs and DVD represented a profound leap above magnetic tapes. Better quality, random access, and smaller media all made those upgrades a no brainer for consumers. This isn't the case for Blue Ray - it's simply not compelling.
The Games - Simply put there was only one game at the Electronic Entertainment Expo that I found super compelling on the PS/3. (Heavenly Sword) Otherwise I wasn't impressed. Some of the titles did in fact look fantastic (high definition Grand Turismo for example) But it's a general rule of thumb that most launch titles are incredibly bad.
Overall I think Microsoft has the edge in the next generation console war. The 360 has great momentum and more importantly Microsft has done something that no console maker has ever been able to pull off. They have had a steady stream of great titles ever 1-2 months since launch. And this momentum looks to continue through next year. Microsoft will also be deploying some monster games in the playstation time frame - Gears of War, Mass Effect, and Halo 3 are all awesome looking titles.
So for the first time in almost 10 years there won't be a playstation in the Pryor household.
Here is an article on the PS/3 and pricing.
17 aprile Almost time to get off of MSN Spaces!Leaving MSN Spaces soon
I will be moving my blog off of MSN spaces soon. While I like the fact that this blog is easy to setup, and the notification my friends get with MSN messenger – I find MSN Spaces just too limiting. (not to mention the legal documents that basically claim ownership of all of my entries)
Stay tuned for information on my blogs new location! Apple bootcampIt’s been a long time so I decided to write a small entry!
Apple’s Bootcamp!
Recently Apple announced boot camp – a utility that allows you to boot to windows on an Intel based Macintosh computer. I had the opportunity to look at a coworkers machine and I must say that for now I am only buying computers from Apple. I realize that these machines are more expensive than boxes I could build on my own or get from Dell.
My brother recently commented that my interest in apple products is ironic. And I will say that in my case the IPOD was a catalyst in exploring Apple’s other products. But I honestly must say that they have some really strong products in the marketplace and it’s certainly worth your time.
Some people argue that it’s not a good idea to get your hardware and software from the same company. This was certainly my perspective years ago. But as I get older my tolerance for incompatibilities is rapidly dropping. I want my technology to work and I’m willing to pay a premium for that functionality. This makes Apple’s solutions attractive to me. It’s not without a price though – recently I purchased a lightscribe DVD burner for my G5. I really only had a single choice in terms of hardware manufacturers. Whereas for the PC I had 3-4 options. Additionally I paid about $20 more for the MAC compatible version of the Drive. The drive did run flawlessly once installed in my system though. 19 febbraio Software activation sucks.Recently I had a pretty horrible experience with Macromedia.
I made the decision to move all of my photography work to a Macintosh G5. The problem is that most of my software was on the PC. For the most part this transition wasn’t too bad. I was able to pick up Microsoft Office for the Mac for almost nothing. Many of the products I needed for the machine was a free download available on both platforms – Itunes, MSN messenger, Firefox, etc.
But there are a small number of applications that I need to do my photography work that are very expensive. Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, and Macromedia Studio. Adobe has a program that allows you to exchange one copy of Photoshop for another. Corel Painter XI and Macromedia Studio both shipped with the Macintosh and Windows versions on the same disk so I was covered there. Or so I thought.
Macromedia Studio uses aggressive product activation. However they do allow you to “release” the activation on your computer. Deactivating macromedia studio on my pc was an easy step. I located the original media – and installed it on my Macintosh with 0 problems – until I got to the product activation step. After attempting to activate the product I got an error saying the code was invalid. I of course double checked the code and realized there was a problem. So I picked up the phone and gave Macromedia a call.
<sarcasm> After 35 minutes of voice navigation and hold times I finally reached the finest tech support that Bangladesh has to offer.<sarcasm>
I explained my problems to the tech support person and they informed me that switching platforms isn’t allowed per page 6457 of the end user licensing agreement. They also informed me that they would be glad to sell me an upgrade version of Macromedia studio for a 20% discount. I need to clearly state why this is broken.
* The macromedia CD and packaging clearly states windows/mac. * The EULA is displayed inside of the product so one could argue that this is false advertisement or minimally a bait and switch. * Macromedia’s parent company – Adobe allows platform switches. Essentially Macromedia was holding me hostage – the only way to use their product was to pay them an extortion fee of $200 to use a product that I already own. The customer support person even threatened me with legal action! She said that by trying to install the product on a Macintosh I was violating the license agreement. At that point I was done dealing with her and asked to speak to a manager in the United States. The only thing Macromedia was doing was insuring that I never do business with them again. Eventually I hung up in disgust.
I understand why we have product activation – it’s a method that allows companies to keep people relatively honest. However it means that I’m not free to use the software that I purchase the way I want. Ultimately despite the high cost of this software (in the case of Photoshop and Macromedia Studio we are talking $400-500) I don’t actually own it. If Macromedia goes belly up tomorrow and shuts down their servers – I no longer will have the ability to use this software. Years ago you’d have to attach a hardware dongle to your PC to make expensive software run – however in those cases you were in possession of the dongle so even that was preferable to the status quo. I am not comfortable with this arrangement. Imagine paying $40,000 for a BMW in your hometown. Imagine moving to another city only to learn that your car won’t start in that city. You take the car in for service and BMW tells you that you have to pay them an additional $10,000 to drive it in the new location. That’s the reality of software activation.
This doesn’t bother me for subscription based services – because in those cases I’m paying a relatively small monthly fee and I’m usually connecting to some type of online component. That’s a lot different from paying a truckload of money upfront. As a consumer I’m sick and tired of legally paying for software and being forced to jump through a variety of hoops. If I buy a new machine I have to ask permission to install my software on it. If I want to play a game I have to locate the CD despite the fact that the game is completely installed on my hard drive. If I had pirated the software I wouldn’t have to deal with these problems; because the pirates usually circumvent the copy protection. These issue certainly makes open source software seem appealing. 09 febbraio Finally I get to add my gamertag!They finally added the ability to add your gametag information to your MSN space. Check out the icons on the right side of my blog. You can see the games that I have been playing and my current "Gamer Score". 24 gennaio Talking about FDA panel approves over-the-counter diet pill - Diet & Fitness - MSNBC.comSo the FDA approved an over the counter diet pill that works by blocking the fat absorbed into the bloodstream. People are worried because of the pills potential for abuse.
These side effects are not surprising if you think about what the drug does. It prevents 25-30% of the fat you ingest from being absorbed into the bloodstream. This means that the raw unprocessed animal fat literally slides out of your backside. - I personally find this thought disgusting. I'd rather just avoid eating the fatty foods in the first place. It's not to say that this drug isn't w/o it's merits. For the morbidly obease this might be an alternative to invasive dangerous gastro-intestinal bypass surgery. But for the guy just trying to loose a few pounds - I think the old fashion way is the best - eat right and excercise. But most importantly - stop looking for a crash diet or a mirale cure - to be truly healthy one must make a lifestyle change. If your interested I would go check out the Body for Life program. (http://www.bodyforlife.com/)
Quote FDA panel approves over-the-counter diet pill - Diet & Fitness - MSNBC.com |
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