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Comment Re:Easy Solution (Score 1) 266

Of course, debt collectors never go after the wrong people and they never make mistakes. Wait until you get harassed by a debt collection agency for a debt you don't owe then let's see if you spew out the same 'advice.' And yes, it's happened to me. I eventually cleared my name but it was a pain in the ass.

Comment Re:The trend on Nintendo Consoles (Score 1) 249

But the shovelware titles are the best-selling. According to VGChartz.com, Imagine: Babyz and Imagine: Fashion Designer have each sold nearly 3 million copies each. Compare that to the sales of some of the highest-rated DS games:

Fire Emblem - Shadow Dragon: 480,000
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 - Grimoire of the Rift: 640,000
Castlevania - Dawn of Sorrow: 340,000

Store shelves are stocked with shovelware for one reason: they sell. Heck, for years people were whining about the lack of 'adult' games for the DS, then Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (excellent game, BTW) was finally released. The game sold so poorly it's been ported to the iPhone and PSP to help recoup development costs.

The Final Fantasy IV DS remake only sold 1.04 million copies. If more people actually bought the quality DS titles, we would see more of them. Vote with your wallet!

Comment Re:DS Improvements a good thing (Score 1) 187

Agreed. I own a DS Lite as well as a 'slim' PSP, but despite it's inferior specs, I enjoy the DS more. The problem is, many people think the DS has nothing more than My Little Pony and Dora the Explorer games, but if you dig past the kiddy games and shovelware, the system has a fantastic library. You have the excellent 2D games (Mega Man ZX, New Super Mario Bros, the 3 Castlevanias and Contra 4), old-school RPGs (Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Dark Spire, Ys, Black Sigil, the upcoming new Golden Sun), puzzlers (Professor Layton), and so on.
Communications

Submission + - Junk Faxes

olddoc writes: I am having a growing problem with junk faxes. Unlike email, it costs me money when I get a fax so junk faxes really tick me off. A while ago, I gave my number to a removal number and now I am getting more junk faxes than ever! Does anyone know how to make them pay? What devious methods can I use to get even? Can I sign up for a phone number that will drive up their costs when I call the toll free removal number? What have other readers done?
Windows

Submission + - What's missing from Vista's "official apps"

PetManimal writes: "Microsoft has just released a list of 800 applications it says are "officially supported" on Windows Vista. What's special about this list, however, are the programs that are not included:

Popular Windows software that is conspicuously missing from Microsoft's list includes Adobe Systems Inc.'s entire line of graphics and multimedia software, Symantec Corp.'s security products, as well as the Mozilla Foundation's open-source Firefox Web browser, Skype Ltd.'s free voice-over-IP software and the OpenOffice.org alternative to Microsoft Office
Another area in which Vista has found to be lacking is gaming, as discussed earlier on Slashdot."
Announcements

Submission + - Dinosaur extinction - meteor not to blame?

The Fun Guy writes: "Recent microfossil evidence casts fresh doubt as to whether an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. Prof. Gerta Keller of Princeton University: "We now have evidence that the Chicxulub impact occurred about 300,000 years before the end of the Cretaceous and thus didn't cause the mass extinction and, in fact, didn't cause any species to go extinct." These findings were presented during the October 2006 meeting of the Geological Society of America."
Education

Submission + - Is a CS degree any good for an old guy?

mbuckingham writes: I'm 39 and have been programming for 20 years. By "programming", I'm talking about the usual business applications type of stuff. Easy stuff really. I went to college for a while, but never got my degree. It bugs me that I've never completed my degree, but since I've always had decent jobs, it hasn't really mattered too much. I'm really bored with what I do every day though. Anyway, I'm thinking about going back, getting the degree, because I think it will make it possible to move towards doing some more advanced system-level type stuff. Does this make sense? Would a CS degree or a Computer Engineering degree be better? I know I don't want a MIS degree, because that would be rehashing everything I'm already bored with.
Linux Business

Submission + - How do you advocate Linux in 5 mintues?

xtracto writes: I just returned from buying certain Linux magazine. While looking at the "Computing" stand in the library and right after I grabbed a copy of the Linux magazine a guy asked me if I used Linux, after that, the made told me he had tried to use Linux but that he found it difficult. I told him the first things that came to my mind, this is, that it depended on the distribution (to what answered that he tried using Kubuntu). I recommended him to look for a Linux User Group near his hometown (he told me he was not from nearby). What would you tell this kind of people?, Not so long ago a relative who is completely computer illiterate started talking about Linux (to my surprise) but the general thought is that "it is harder than Windows". What do you people say to advocate Linux, in very few words, considering people that tried to use it before or people that has never used it?
Businesses

Journal Journal: Ford Working on Feasible Electric Car 202

While GM wants to simply offer cosmetic changes to automobiles interiors and exteriors, Ford has finally gotten the message about electric autos. They have introduced the Ford Airstream, a plug-in hybrid which gets gasoline equivalent fuel economy rating of 41 mpg, but uses hydrogen fuel cells that can keep the auto going up to 280 miles range. From a styling POV, it is not a te
Music

Submission + - The RIAA's worst nightmare or just some wannabes?

nagora writes: The BBC is reporting that next week's UK music chart may have the first sign of the end of the recording industry as we know it. From this week (7th Jan, 2006), all downloaded music sales are counted in the official UK chart, not just tracks which have had a physical media release. Now, a group of unsigned kids is poised to enter the top 40 without any old-world recording, distribution, or production deals. Koopa have their own web site, and of course their own My Space home.

But they're not acting on principle; band member Joe Murphy says "If someone comes along and gives us an offer, we'll talk to them." before continuing on to add the words the recording industry has been having nightmares about since the introduction of the mp3 format: "If we can get enough exposure and get in the top 40 by the end of the week, do we necessarily need a large label? Probably nowadays, no you don't." Is this finally the crack in the dam we've all been waiting for to wash away the entrenched monopolies of 20th century music production? Or just a sell-out waiting to happen?

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