* Posts by Josh Hamilton

13 publicly visible posts • joined 31 May 2007

EA: No DRM for Sims 3

Josh Hamilton
Pirate

But Spore didn't require the disc!

I know people compained a lot about Spore, but I bought a copy on US launch day, installed it and it never asked me for the disc again, the game runs perfectly on both my laptop and desktop on two different profiles. It even updates! I don't see this as a problem and I have no idea why people were complaining that they could only install it 3 times. EA upped this install limit to 5 and even released a de-auth tool for systems no longer in use. This means that you can play one game on 5 machines at the same time on the same or diferent user profiles and still receive online content- with no disc required.

I fail to see why people were 'up in arms' over this 'protection' method. The only people who would care are the pirates and since they had cracked the proteciton anyway, I cannot see why anyone complained at all.

You really need an EEE PC Girl icon!

Google faces post-Fleetwood Mac comedown

Josh Hamilton
Alien

Much like Vogon Poetry...

I quite enjoyed it.

Old Greeny because Google's continued success (amongst a history of giving away all their apps for free and not actually building anythign consumable) must surely be a premonition to our forthcoming alien overlords.

Sprint axes 4,000 jobs, closes 125 stores

Josh Hamilton
Flame

Sean has it exactly right

I was a customer for 6.5 years, never had a problem with the phone not working or the people in customer service... once Nextel came onboad, the store was useless and the phones stopped working in my house and the chaps on the phone were downright rude.

Once, I went into the store to try to get a new handset, after 6 years of being a customer, they wouldn't discount one, but new customers could sign up for a 2-year contract and get a discount. I asked how come I couldn't sign up for a new contract and get the same deal- the guy flat out told me that I was screwed, since I was already under contract with them, so I had no bargaining power.

I just waited 5 months until my contract was up and told them to get F'd.

Screw Sprint, right in the ear! They made their bed, now they can sleep in it!

US woman launches 'Taserware' parties

Josh Hamilton
Alert

hmmm....

I got my girlfriend one of these when they first came out (and I live Arizona too). She's been with me to the shooting range and knows how to shoot, but she isn't strong enough to rack the slide on any gun she's ever held and isn't ready to wield one.

I got her the taser because she was hearing a lot of 'bumps in the night' and sleeps safer having the thing. Yes, it is a limited-range weapon 15' (however many furghlongs that is...) and it's a single-shot, but it is the *thought* of it that provides comfort. She *could* miss or it *could* get taken away, but the fact that it is significantly less likely to kill than a gun, I suppose there is a feeling that she wouldn't have to kill someone and that it she got zapped, there is much less likely a chance that she would get killed. If somone is going to kill you, they are going to set your house on fire and stand outside with a rifle, waiting for you to come running out, not sneak in with a knife- especially with a laser sight on their chest!

Of note, the packaging, backround check, instuction manual and DVD all make it VERY, VERY clear that yes, this thing can kill you. It is purely a psychological benefit as compared to a gun. Maybe you live in a country where people don't have them and they are not needed- that would be great! Unfortunately, that is not where I live... meth and other drugs make people do stupid things and guns are too easy to get here. I'd love to throw them all out, but we can't, so I have to level the playing field.

Of course, now that we subsequently live together, an intruder will face my Glock 27 (which I train with weekly and have a permit for). They are getting two verbal warnings, one of which I hope the 911 (emergency services) Operator will most likely hear and record, then it's game-over.

Drink-drive chain gang obliged to bury dead alcoholics

Josh Hamilton
Stop

I LIVE in Arizona

and let me tell you, I avoid that county as much as posible!

Seriously, Joe is nuts and exactly the reason I stay the hell out of Phoenix.

So, what's the velocity of a sheep in a vacuum?

Josh Hamilton

Hilarity Ensues

I have asked my employees to start utilizing these measurement standards as part of their daily reporting duties. I downloaded the text of the article and wrote a quick P&P, with proper credit given of course!

Only one of them questioned my motives... so sad, but so funny.

Thank you for making my day MUCH more entertaining.

Xbox 360 Halo 3 kick-ass console priced

Josh Hamilton

But...

Will it Blend?!?!

Water found on extrasolar planet

Josh Hamilton

It's called 'Physics'.

Tim:

""The researchers, led by Dr Tinetti, found that the planet absorbs the starlight in a way that can only be explained if it has water vapour in its atmosphere."

Only be explained with current knowledge, but given we really have no direct observation of all these planets outside our solar system we really are clutching at straws based on the limited things we know about the universe.

Whilst these are the most likely explanations, I'd hardly say it's conclusive.

I'm not totally convinced these planets are actually 100% planets. They're just "probably planets based on what we know"."

One of my best friends worked on this project for years, he moved his wife and infant son to Paris to do so. He turned down lucrative offers domestically to move to a country where he didn't speak the language becuase his Ph.D allowed him to prove exactly this kind of thing.

My point:

We can say absolutely that the planet has water molecules on it due exaclty to DIRECT OBSERVATIONS and this IS conclusive. Based on what YOU know, they might not be planets, based on what SCIENCE knows, they are, peer-reviewed and triple-checked. Physics don't lie, they are the fundamental laws by which we navigate through our lives, on a Newtonian-scale, we understand the Laws of Nature quite well. It is only when things are very large or very small that we have to abstract them in order to begin to understand them.

Sure, I will conceed that the Flying Spaghetti Monster is manipulating our minds into thinking we are seeing water, but to what end? If we don't start cluthcing at straws, what is the point of life anyway? If the Church tells us how to live, where is the Free Will to sin in the first place?

There are many things that I, you and Science do not know. Knowing what we do not know is the difference between crackpot quasi-intellectual statements about Moonbeams and crystals and hard science.

Texas cops taser diabetic seizure man

Josh Hamilton

Cops dumb for a reason?

First off, it wasn't until a few years ago that Officers were required to have a degree (of any sort).

Next, the position tends to attract the Conservative Crusader type...

What do you expect from Police anyway? They don't know if the next little old lady is going to shiv them or not- frankly, they are scared and paranoid (prolly about the Terrorists)...

I agree that if we paid the job more, required a formal education and trained them to handle situations (psy-ops) better, then maybe this type of thing wouldn't happen as often.

Until then, the only protection we have is the Press and the Courts (urhg).

FCC's ban on 'fleeting expletives' ruled unconstitutional

Josh Hamilton

We're not ALL so stuck up, you know...

This is why some of us get a little twitchy now and then; the fear that the Religious Right is on the verge of completely taking over and invoking a purge of non-believers...

Don't fret yet however, the GOP is almost certainly headed out the door in 2008 for a solid 8 years. Maybe then we can get back to enjoying our no longer secretive hedonistic lifestyles.

The FCC can suck it! (just not before 8pm on broadcast TV, apparently)

Sirius and XM's star-crossed merger

Josh Hamilton

Merger, I barely met her...

I must disclose that I own a lifetime suscription to Sirius that was purchased for me as a gift and I enjoy the programming offered.

Sure, if I had my way, I would want to listen to Baseball (only on XM) and I don't care if I get Howard Stern or not.

I've already felt burned by satellite radio, as I used to enjoy high-quality streaming audio via the Web, but a ways back, Sirius cut the quality of the 'free' Web-broadcast to 32kbs, so now, it sounds like it's coming over a poor cell phone reception. WTF? I paid for LIFETIME and they lowered the quality on me. If I want CD quality, I can pay an extra monthly fee for something I had, that was taken away.

I see a merger as doing much more of this, from making me pick a set of 'packages' (or subsets of stations) and basically reverting my service to 'basic cable' from what it once was. Oh and by the way, if I want that one channel that I really like, that's on the Platinum Package which I'll have to pay $50 a month for... oh, and also, I'll have to give up some other channels I like, since there isn't enough bandwidth to get them all.

This seems like a terrible idea if they want to attract more customers or even keep the ones that they have. This is a bailout, pure and simple, for the services to consolodate staff, programming and save on advertising. All the horrors of monopoly are right in front of us and I can only hope and pray that the FCC tells XM and Sirius to fix their own problems or at least die trying.

Apple TV gets 160GB HDD

Josh Hamilton

Why a 160GB HDD?

..cause it's prolly a laptop drive...

Spam King arrested in Seattle

Josh Hamilton

Why don't we treat Spammers like the criminals that they are?

Someone please explain to me why this guy can cost businesses and individuals thousands, if not millions of dollars in hardware, software and lost time/productivity and only get fined. If he had walked into a home or business and pulled cash out of a drawer, he would be doing hard time. Why does white collar crime (of a much larger magnitude) not condone public hanging? Maybe it's not appropriate here, as I do not know all the details of the case, but I would like to see spammers, virus writers and hackers dragged out into the street and shot. I think this would solve a lot of the IT issues that they cause very quickly.