Sarah81

Sweet - if you actually get to talk to any troops (entirely possible), tell 'em an Army veteran says that what they do everyday (not just during war) is appreciated.

I have to agree with you there. I know that a lot of people think the military is hiding some supernatural alien spacecraft there, but it makes more sense to me that it's a top-secret testing facility. Which, when you think about it, makes the aliens-have-landed stories a very good cover for the government. They don't want civilians snooping around looking for evidence of new flight technologies, so they don't bother saying much when stories about aliens come out. Let the public believe that if they will, and the advantage is that said public will leave the flight stuff alone, not even thinking about it in most cases, and let NASA/the military work in peace. Besides which, where *else* would NASA/the military be able to test top-secret flight stuff? They'd have to have a pretty large area that's well isolated and highly secure. All of that fits Area 51's description, so ... yeah. For example: they had to test stealth fighter jets *somewhere* - and they certainly didn't do that any place where we regular old civilians could look on.

Wow - I was expecting even the basic package to cost about fifty to a hundred bucks more than that. I mean ... that's still sort of expensive, but at least you're getting a decent start for the price.Maybe this time around Microsoft and video-game developers will focus on creating/licensing more games that aren't boring, idotic piles of junk. A lot of the titles for the first XBox are, well, stupid. I can only see so many inane sports titles coming out of the developers' headquarters before I get sick of the whole thing.But maybe that's just me.

Wow - killer machine.I think it's great that you earned the money for it yourself. I'm at a fairly large university that's filled with kids who act like Mom and Dad *owe* them laptops, musical instruments, tuition and fee money, an allowance (allowance?!), etc. It's nice to see someone else who'll go out of his/her way to work for something.

the hand crank power generator reminds me of something that my mother threatened to do once.she knew that there was a way to hook up a stationary/exercise bicycle so that it would generate energy to power the television set. My brothers would watch TV ALL DAY LONG if they could get away with it especially when we were very young (i.e. grade or middle school). She was dead serious about hooking up the TV set to a bike so that we'd have to pedal our little butts off to generate enough energy to keep the TV on.Looking back ... I think that she probably should have gone ahead and done it. It wouldn't have affected me personally much (I didn't watch the tube often), but all of my brothers would *still* be in incredible shape from all the pedaling they would have done!As for the actual laptop: yeah, MIT's got some really smart people in their system. I'm glad that they're using their knowledge (and technology) to help kids who otherwise probably wouldn't have access to computers. From what you describe, it sounds like they've put some serious thought (and good old common sense) into this laptop. Although I have to wonder about the black and white mode: is it possible to turn it to that when you're indoors? If so, that could be convenient. If a user is just, say typing a paper, he doesn't really need full color, so conserving the energy even though he's inside would still be a good idea - especially with that hand crank!

Which is great for we lazy people who hate waiting 2+ mins. for XP to load. I can't wait to see what this new OS actually delivers (versus the bloated promises Gates & Co. are always making to us). I mean, I love Windows and all, but I can't help but see the differences between "ideal release" and "what we shuttled out of here a few days before the premeire just to shut you all up - oh and we'll de-bug later, so if you're one of the lucky few who got the brand-new OS on the street date, don't be surprised if it crashes a lot."*grins*

Well heya, Norm, and welcome to Xisto. I hope you enjoy hanging out around here.As for music: I've been playing guitar on and off since I was 10 (I'm 23 now) and I still reek like a garbage truck. Hehe. But it's still fun.

It's a great concept in theory. I wouldn't mind being able to run my thumb across the display instead of dragging out my debit card. Then again, I can't think of anybody who would actually *want* to steal my identity (bad credit, no money in the bank to steal, and a massive pile of student-loan debts). Hehe. I actually feel a little sorry for anyone who would be stupid enough to try and be me for a while.

Sweet tip! I wonder if my school's system will let me use it? I bet it won't. They're really bad about shutting down access to anything that could be even remotely illegal. Hehe.

The world is changing. 10-year-olds have their own cell phones. They were born right around the time that AOL really started to get popular, so they've never known a life without the Internet (unless the computer crashed and had to go to the repair center, of course).And I think it's great, to a degree at least, that kids are growing up with technology that even we 23-year-old people had to learn after we hit adolescence. (Having a computer in the house still wasn't very popular when I was, say, 10.)These kids will (theoretically, at least) be able to learn all this stuff easier, and they'll be able to do more with it. In theory, I mean, because it seems like a lot of the youngest users are barely able to shut down the system when an error or thunderstorm interrupts what they're doing.If parents and schools were better equipped to help their kids learn more about technology, these kids would have a better chance of being able to find decent jobs after they finish high school. Let's be real: it's REALLY hard to find something besides an entry-level, minimum-wage, unskilled-labor job if you don't know much of anything about computers/technology in general.

I've never played D&D, but I understand the basic concept behind it as I've had several friends who played it. (Most of them seemed to outgrow it - after high school, when they started getting full-time jobs or going to college or whatever else, they just sort of moved on).Like just about anything else, I think D&D can be fine in moderation. I mean, alcohol in itself isn't bad, but if someone is addicted to it, that can make it pretty bad. Really bad, even. So, if a D&D player wants to hang out with his/her friends in Mom's basement on Saturday nights, cool. As long as nobody gets really hacked off about the way the game's going and beats the snot out of another player, y'know? *grins*

You could always donate your computer to someone who needs one, like a college student near wherever in the world you live. I'm sure that your system will be happier with someone who doesn't sit around complaining instead of trying to find ways to improve things.

I would rather see Linkin Park release stuff like this - what I like to call their "in between REAL albums releases" than put out some half-finished, uninspired pile of dog poop. Remember: their label insists that they release so many albums in a predetermined period of time, so LP *has* to put out *something* to keep everybody happy. Besides which: usually when they put out something like this, it means that their next studio album with new songs is just around the corner. So I'm getting excited about what's coming up next.

1. Compaq laptop.2. WinXP Home (but I also use Pro - just haven't installed it on this system yet).3. Firefox. I use IE only when applications/sites force me to (which is rare, thankfully).4. Yahoo! Mail. And I use Firefox to access my "real" e-mail account.5. Win. Media Player, QuickTime ... Flash sometimes.6. Office '03.7. AVG Free Edition.8. LavaSoft's AdAware.I hope this helps even if I DO use a lot of Microsoft stuff *grins*

I don't have children. But when I'm in charge of someone else's children - such as during Vacation Bible School week at church - I get really, REALLY irritated when I see the results of zero-discipline parenting.The kids are out of control. I usually volunteer to help with arts and crafts. They knock each other around, nearly throwing each other out of chairs, because EVERYONE wants the glue or markers or whatever first. (We finally got sick of it and started assigning kids stuff in turns so that there was no more fighting over the stuff. And some groups of kids were so rotten that we finally stopped even letting them pick the colors of the projects that they wanted to do. Oh, too bad - you're stuck with a green sun visor instead of the blue one that you wanted because you couldn't sit still and wait your turn like a civilized human being.) One kid almost got creamed (by me) because he started YELLING at me to give him pieces of a craft project that we were trying to pass out to each table in turn. (There was more than enough for everyone. I told them that THREE TIMES before I even started passing anything out. But this kid started screaming at me to give him his pieces. Grr.)They won't shut up when an adult is trying to demonstrate how to do the craft, or say anything else. They throw markers at each other. They jump up and run out the door to go outside even though they know that's not allowed (need an adult - the church is RIGHT off a busy highway.) They've even thrown their shoes at each other before.There are exceptions, of course. A few children are well behaved. I make sure to tell their parents how good their kids had been the entire week (I figure that if a kid does something good and right, he or she needs to know about it - so that he/she'll want to keep doing it AND so that they'll know Mom and Dad aren't the only ones who notice their behavior and are affected by it). I don't care what some people say: when done correctly, spanking - and most other methods of discipline - are GOOD for kids. They're GOOD for parents. They're GOOD for those of us who have to put up with monstrous little jerks (who will surely grow up to be out-of-control teenagers, then out-of-control adults). My parents spanked all five of us when we were growing up. None of us are in therapy. None of us are criminals. We all know how to behave like respectable adults. And when we were growing up, people were *constantly* telling Mom and Dad how good/polite/well-behaved/nice we were. It was worth a little stinging in my back side if you ask me.Please: if you have children, at least teach them how to behave when you entrust them to other adults. That's the least that you can do for us.

You're pretty good at this stuff. I can't really say which one's the best (they're all good) but if i had to pick one I'd probably say the Kobe Bryant file. Nice work.

Seems to me that the vast majority of the features you mentioned in that list are already in firefox. Granted, you have to get a few add-ons for some of the things (like the sessions-saving thing that reopens firefox as it was when it crashed on you or whatever).But it's good that they've finally gotten rid of licensing fees. The stupid ads were THE reason that I only used Opera for about five days (long, LONG before Firefox came out).

Wow. LOTS of choices on this one. That could be cool, depending on what features and capabilities Microsoft puts with each release.But I'm still waiting a while for them to release the super-stable version. And so that my school will get the upgrade discs in on our awesome student-license agreement and sell it to me for five to ten bucks.*drools*

I don't recall Firefox ever claiming that they had created a *perfect* Web browser. Had they been able to make that claim, they'd surely be charging arms, legs and large toes for their program. But I still prefer it over "the big two" because a) it crashes less often (a LOT less often, actually), I've had to remove significantly LESS spyware/adware from my computer since switching over (we're talking a drastic reduction here - somewhere in the 70-90 percent range would be my guess), and c) I like the convenient features, such as the tabbed browsing. Yes, security flaws will happen. That's true no matter WHAT programs we use on the Internet. Programmers can only cover our butts to a certain extent. After that we have to make sure that we take the appropriate steps and measures to secure our systems.

That's a pretty good translation there. I understood what you were getting at, and if I didn't already use Firefox I would probably be checking it out.I used to use Netscape, but won't anymore because it's just not stable or user-friendly anymore. Version 8 crashes on my brand-new computer like, every twenty minutes. Pile of junk.And IE, well, it's just not as secure or user-friendly as Firefox.And I'm addicted to the Stumble! add-on. Heh.

I might not worship Dubyah, but I'm sick of people trying to blame him for EVERY world/national/local/personal problem. It's not *his* fault that the hurricane hit a city that didn't have officials with enough competence to evacuate as many people as possible, including those who couldn't get out on their own. Other cities in the past (and now, if you look at Galveston as an example) are figuring it out. Why not complain about the MORONS who twiddled their thumbs and went, "Durrrrr I dunno" when EVERYONE was telling them to GET THEIR PEOPLE OUT because IT WAS GOING TO BE BAD. (And I find it VERY interesting that these local officials managed to survive the hurricane. Hmm.)As for FEMA: it's not their fault that flood waters, destruction, etc. kept them from being able to wave a Harry-Potter-esque wand over New Orleans and make everything okay again.And MAYBE they would have been a little more inclined to get in and start working just a LITTLE sooner if the IDIOTS with guns weren't taking potshots at helicopters and other rescue vehicles. (They're lucky the National Guard didn't just drop a few frag grenades on them. I don't care how rotten the situation is; you just don't try to murder people who are coming in to help.)

When I was doing lots of photography work (journalism days, mostly - not all that long ago) a pro photographer recommended the Canon Digital Rebel. It's fairly high price-wise, but if you want to do action shots it's pretty much necessary to have a fast, capable camera. I used my brother's 35mm Rebel and really liked it, so if I'd stuck with photography I probably would have taken the guy's advice (bro's cam. was really sweet and not too terribly expensive).On the other end of the spectrum ... at the newspaper where I worked, we shared a Nikon CoolPix. PIECE. OF. JUNK. Conveniently portable, sure, but good luck taking decent shots if the subjects are moving at all (including shallow breathing).

If you like your current antivirus, stick with it. You might have to pay for it, sure, but you'll eventually have to buy Norton too (which isn't exactly cheap).Personally, I hate Norton just for the fact that it takes up so much space and devours system resources. But if you want to try it out and see how it works on your system (it might not be too terribly bad - sort of depends on a ton of factors), it might be worth it. If nothing else, keep the installation files for your current AV so you can put it back if you don't like Norton.

I agree. I don't really care who says which OS is the best because, for me, XP's cool. The poll is interesting, though, because as of right now it's basically showing that users like all the choices roughly equally. (Linux is ahead, technically, but it's not like fifty percent ahead of everything else.) I love XP, but if someone wants to use Linux, cool. S/he has an advantage, actually: I'll never ask to borrow their computer (because I'd have no idea of what to do with it past booting it up, hehe).

Hmm ... the replies from the other people on this topic have been really good. I'm going to second the PayPal donation idea (just be sure the account is in your dad's name, as you need a bank account or credit card to withdraw any money that's put into PayPal). And if you doubt that people with big pockets will empty them into PayPal: There's a guy in Boston named Randy Milholland who draws a Web comic called Something*Positive - it's an ongoing comic about a bunch of characters in Boston and Texas. It's pretty sweet, actually. Anyway ... I'll let him tell it as he put it in the FAQ section of the site: Anyway ... you might not be able to get *THAT* much money from donors, but if your site becomes very popular and you give visitors something that other sites can't ... you just might get a few extra bucks out of the deal. -----Added quotes upon request-----szupie