Sarah81

Segments on my local news reported that some 360 consoles are also having problems with controllers (not working, i.e. the system isn't registering their existence or some such stupid thing).I still can't believe that EVERY store selling those things in my area was packed with people lining up around the corners to try and get their hands on these things. Personally, I could do without freezing my butt off for a video game console that I *know* is going to have glitches and bugs.But what's really pathetic is that a woman spent just about her entire week's paycheck to get one for her son ... and was promptly ripped off at gunpoint. Yeah. Pretty sad.

1. Each eBay listing indicates whether or not there is a reserve to be met on that particular auction. If a potential bidder can't be bothered to look before he/or she places (and then confirms) a bid, that's his/her problem. 2. The shipping charges are given up front with the rest of the listing. If a bidder doesn't want to pay 30 bucks in shipping charges when the merchandise will really only cost the seller 25 bucks to put into the mail, then I guess that bidder should look at a different listing. 3. PayPal offers buyer protection, as does eBay. PayPal will reverse charges if there's a problem; eBay offers complaint resolution in addition to the feedback thing that you complain about. My point is just that, if a buyer is careful and pays attention to what he or she is doing, then there are some pretty good deals on eBay. Yes, there's a bunch of junk, but you'll find that no matter where you go on OR off-line. And while there are plenty of crooks and con artists using the site, there are also quite a few good or even outstanding sellers and buyers.

All that I can say is "Ouch." - Even if the second part of this stunt was planned and the guy was ready for it.

I couldn't even finish watching part one - this thing is *that* bad. But I'm glad that Seth MacFarlane didn't give up. Family Guy's funny and I'm one of many people who's glad to see it back on the air with new episodes (finally).

You won't be able to determine if these systems are stolen unless you have the serial numbers (and of course that the real owner has actually reported them stolen).These sellers *could* have ripped off these computers, but another (very likely) possbility is that these sellers know that the computer systems are going to have pretty high bids by the time the auctions close. A lot of eBay bids that start at one penny, or even one buck, end up closing for a lot more than that. Especially right now, with people starting the holiday shopping. If you *do* buy any of these systems, or anything else that you find on eBay, be sure that you use PayPal to make your payment. PayPal's buyer protection is usually said to be outstanding, and you have solid records to support your position if something goes wrong.

Oh, definitely. I don't know why more people don't look there before they forward me the stupid e-mails that they think are totally true.

Okay - this is for anyone who might have studied Latin for whatever reason.I'm taking Latin to fulfill my foreign language requirements so that I can get my degree three semesters from now and get out of here ("here" being university).The reason I got suckered into taking this stupid language is that this university offers it as an intensive course. I take two semesters' worth of Latin in one semester. I'm in Latin 1-2 right now, almost done with it, and am going sincerely crazy because I. Don't. Get. It.Anyway...my question for y'all is: what helped you absorb all of the things that you just *have* to know if you want to actually translate anything (like, say, the final exam)? So far, here's what I've been doing. I'm hoping that there are some other, more effective ways to help me retain this stuff so I don't flunk out.-Flashcards (somewhat helpful for vocabulary)\-Repeated writing and saying aloud (to help memorize declension endings, conjugation endings, etc.)-Translating the sentences in my textbooks (which the teacher gives for homework) but then going and doing the extra practice sentences in the back of the book to help solidify the stuff that I allegedly know.We *had* a study group, but it fell through so we've called the stupid thing off for the rest of this semester (a couple more weeks).

I keep meaning to get back into photography. I had to take photography for two semesters at community college - or just long enough to really spark my interest. Ah, well. If I ever get some free cash, I'll probably invest it in a decent camera.

Good thing I'm too lazy to update to any version of iTunes 6 then, I guess *grins*

I've seen this guy's baseball Etch-A-Sketches before. I was *very* impressed then (a few years ago, I guess it was) and I'm still amazed today. It makes my childhood Etch-A-Sketch skyscrapers pitiful by comparison *Grins*

Nope - when I left home for college last year, my brothers and sister let me take the SNES system that we'd had in the house since the Christmas after it was released. It's the latest system that I have, unless my computer counts. I don't play new systems much, mainly because they make me nauseous (all the graphics and other high-end stuff, I guess - don't know, but don't like it). SNES was really the last system that didn't make me want to hurl, so I guess I've just stuck with it. And Mortal Kombat 3 is still one of the coolest fighting games ever. As for Sega: they had a great building-block/strategy type game called Klax, which I miss. I never owned a Sega, but my cousin did, so I played it when I went to her house. It ruled.

You're right - there's more to it than just pro- or anti-gun. Personally, I think the waiting period should apply to all types of firearms, no matter where they're sold. I shouldn't be able to walk into a pawn shop here in Texas, give the guy 200 bucks, and walk out just a few minutes later with a shotgun. That's stupid. Make everyone wait for any type of firearm, instead of just saying, "Okay well, if you want a handgun you have to wait a few days, but there's a nice rack of shotguns you can check out in the meantime." But getting rid of guns won't actually make them go away. There will be plenty of illegal firearms all over the country, and more imported illegally (just like during Prohibition with liquor). It seems like we're focusing on trying to get rid of one symptom of the overall problem, instead of looking for the actual problem and doing something to change things.

Thanks, m^e! I'll keep this one in mind if I have a problem and can't find any of you *grins*

I've used download.com for years. I stopped for a while because some of their downloads contained adware (they used to let us download KaZaA, for example) but went back when I got this system a few months ago and found that they're advertising themselves as adware-free. This is nice. Considering that they have a massive selection of anti-spyware/adware programs for download *grins* Download.com is basically the first place I go to look for freeware (though they also have lots of share/trialware). Even if I know what I want to try (specific program) I usually go here because at least I can look at other users' reviews and opinoins before I actually grab and install the programs.

Google's not desperate - they kick major butt in the search engine wars, so they're trying to expand and see what else they can do. They're growing, is all. It might seem a little messy right now, but that's how things usually go when any corporation is trying to spread out and see what else it can do in the field.The big difference is that Google wasn't forced to diversify. Which, as you recall, is how the XBox came into existence *smirks*

Wired magazine did an article about this site. They explain how all the companies involved actually make quite a killing through it - even if they *are* giving away merchandise that's worth a couple of hundred bucks a pop. Basically, the "get really great free stuff just for completing a few offers and making your friends/family do the same thing through your referral link" is an effective mass-marketing technique. The article explains it fairly well - better than I can, at least.

As of right now ... zero votes for Netscape. Do you all remember when that was actually a decent browser - or at least highly preferable to IE? *grins* Wow, that was awhile back.

Except for the fact that I picked a college an hour and a half away from my redneck, white-trash community in order to get away from the idiots I was forced to endure in high school, I would say that facebook is a good idea. As for making new friends at school ... if I actually want to talk to people, I usually find that walking up and saying, "Hey, what's going on?" is less time-consuming than creating an online profile and then weeding out all of the "Want 2 cyber?" private messages/e-mails/whatever.

Yuck. I'm only interested in a couple of the titles on that list - and only because I've played earlier versions on current-gen. consoles. (Tony Hawk on GameCube, for example.) It's not worth buying a new system to get the next release ... especially when the game prices seem to be about 10 bucks higher each than the last generation's new titles when they were first released.I'm thinking that this new line of consoles is going to be a major rip-off.

I'm going to have to go with the laptop. This is just what works for me, of course. I've always had desktop computers before this notebook (which I got in August). Now that I've had a few months to get used to the portability and other advantages, I can definitely say that this is a better option for me. I'm in college, so I move around a lot. I go home (less than an hour and a half from my school) about once a month. I go back home for breaks between semesters and summer vacation. My laptop lets me take my work home with me and actually be able to do something with it while I'm at home. Before, when I had a desktop, I stored my papers or whatever on a flash drive - convenient and inexpensive, but very annoying when I got home. It was hard to get into the line for the computer (several other people use my Mom's desktop), even when I was *very* adamant about stating that I had a 10-page research paper due just a few days later and therefore should have taken priority over my brother's all-night Yahoo! Messenger chats *smirks*My desk is fairly small, and usually covered with books and other things, so having a very small computer (compared to a desktop, anyway) really helps free up some space. Then again, some of that "free space" has been eaten up by the external keyboard, which I bought because I don't like laptop keyboards. (First of all, the keys are cramped together more than on many external keyboards. And I'm using an ergonomic/natural keyboard, which is more comfortable for me considering that I type for a few hours every day.)

PC forever! *grins* I'm using a Compaq M2105. The best thing about this, other than the fact that I have a notebook I can take with me anywhere? The AMD Sempron processor, of course. (I'll take AMD over Intel any day, really.) I would go on about the other specs, but anyone who really wants to know can look at this eerily similar model. If you go to HP's site and look at that, they'll claim that the wireless card enables you to maintain a connection "up to 50% further" away than before. To this, I say, "Yeah, right." Or maybe my school's wireless connection just reeks. That's probably what it is, actually.

I like old-school more than anything else - mainly because, when N64 was first released and I started playing Doom 64, I realized that the graphics made me throw up. (The same story for all the other games I played on that system ... and Dreamcast games ... as well as GameCube and, well, pretty much every system that's come out since SNES/Sega Genesis). Anyway ... for old-school fighting games, I like: Mortal Kombat for SNES. My mom threw a huge fit when she bought it for us the Christmas that it came out because there was blood and other gore in it and Nintendo had before that claimed to be more "family oriented" - haha. That's actually my favorite. But we also had Street Fighter 2 for SNES - got it that same Christmas, if I remember correctly. That was a really sweet fighting game too.

Hmm ... I'm not the world's biggest movie fan, but I have a few faves anyway. In no particular order: 8 Mile The Boon Dock Saints (it's the overwhelming Irish background in me, I think -hehe) Most Quentin Tarantino films (including Kill Bill obviously) Fried Green Tomatoes Those are just a few of my favorites, of course.

Nice to see you new guys around here. I like this forum mainly because the mods don't let any stupid stuff (i.e. spam/dumb ad posts/etc.) stick around. And earning ad-free Web space just for participating in a GOOD forum is just great.

I haven't used Dogpile in months and months ... probably because I'm yet another lazy Google user *grins* I'm glad that Dogpile's still expanding, though.