rayzoredge

Call of Duty 4 is pretty outstanding and runs rather well for a next-gen game. I run it at 1400x900 with nothing else on and it still looks spectacular on my 3.2GHz P4, 2GB DDR2 SRAM, and ATI Mobility Radeon 256MB X600 laptop. (The X600 is considered a mid-range video chipset.) I think that it's a great buy and you won't be disappointed with that choice, unless you have really high standards for a game. (The only cons I found with the game dealt with some realism issues and the fact that the campaign, however immersive and awesome, is too short.)I can't say anything about Warhammer 40K as I have not played it.You also can't go wrong with a Wii game, although good luck on finding Wii Fit with the board. (Apparently it's a hot commodity that sold out quick on release.) Mario Kart Wii seems like a clear winner, although I haven't gotten it. You can also go with some safe Wii bets like Super Paper Mario and Zelda: Twilight Princess. One game I really, really thought was awesome was Rayman: Raving Rabbids. That game has to be one of the few games I've had the most fun with in a long time, and playing with friends is even better. (If you're looking for a game with a story though, the game disappoints, but the fun mini-games do more than make up for that deficiency.) Rayman: Raving Rabbids 2 was okay compared to its predecessor, but adds some features and still is rather entertaining.You could also save your money...

I liked how you compared XP to its predecessor. Not a lot of people think of it that way, and even I remember being wary to switch over to XP from my beloved Windows 98SE. It's a simple process of being weaned onto the next big thing.I have to stick to my guns though on Vista, simply because my feelings are still the same. From a Joe Schmoe level, I don't see what Vista brings to the table other than DirectX10 support and a fancier desktop interface. XP brought better USB capability, a smoother interface (and if you didn't like it, you could revert to the classic look), device compatibility, etc. Then again, now that I look at it, it's probably the same animal... but hey, you guys can point fingers at me when I finally migrate to Vista and bash Vienna or Windows 9 for what it is. At this point in time, I consider the Windows vs. Linux vs. Mac argument rather pointless as like you said, they cater to different tastes. Mac aims for pretty eye candy and user-friendliness, which apparently they've achieved... but I have nothing much to say about it as I have never used it extensively. It has the basics and has powerful multimedia-editing software available for it, which coupled with the "easy" way of doing things in Mac, probably gives it the strong arguing point for a multimedia production platform. Windows is the basic flavor and what I would recommend to anyone XP Professional SP2 just because it works with a plethora of the programs and games available out there without too much of a hassle, if at all. Linux has a bajillion different distributions out there and as much as I would like to jump aboard fully with Ubuntu, the small things like not being able to get my keyboard and mouse combo to work under the operating system irks me enough to keep me away, not to mention that compatibility with programs that I use under Windows can't be used (unless you use Wine... which, why emulate when you already have Windows available as a dual-boot option?). I don't think I've unleashed the power of Ubuntu quite yet to actually bolster an argument for Linux, but I can say that if you want a free operating system that does the basics very well with a splash of sophistication, it would be a great and easy alternative to Windows as opposed to shelling out the money for a Mac machine (although you may snag the Mac elitism with that price tag too ).

If you're going to go for a pure self-defense weapon, I think a small can of pepper spray will suffice. You can get them at Galls.com for $16 USD. It doesn't take much skill at all and is easy to use. Granted, it's not a martial arts thing, but it'll make it easier too when it comes to law enforcement... a pepper spray dispenser, if they even recognize it on your key chain in the first place, is much more of an arguable self-defense weapon than something that looks like you can hurt someone with intentionally. And of course, I'll do what everyone else has been doing and point out that you ARE taking karate... use your body as a defense! I wouldn't actually go for any of those items you mentioned simply because like you mentioned, they may be seen as weapons... not to mention that the $XX "weapon" can get confiscated.

Don't swear off of USB just yet. Snag a good hub with a power supply, like Targus's 7-port USB 2.0 hub. (I'm talking about the older style which didn't run me much at all... there's apparently a new one that has an audio pass-through- which I take as an additional headphone jack - and runs $40 or so.) Here's a list of wired headsets, sorted by editor's rating on CNET. I trust CNET with their reviews... it's one of the better review sites for new toys and gadgets.

These are awesome! I need to use these just to get a laugh out of someone. And now, for my contribution, found somewhere on the Interwebs:-You: "Hi! I was wondering... do you know how much a polar bear weighs?"Her: "No... how much?"You: "Enough to break the ice."

People are so uptight sometimes... or all the time. I'm sure it was something you had to be there with, because as of right now I have no real say since I don't know Ms. Owen at all.To joke about a wanted terrorist having signed your t-shirt should have warranted either a laugh or a blank look... but not to be sent home. That's outrageous. It's your last day! You should be enjoying it with all of your friends, colleagues, and professors!I guess you can be glad you don't have to deal with her again... until you return for more schooling.

LogMeIn is a great program that might fit your needs. All you need is the client installed onto the remote computer and have it turned on and running... LogMeIn allows you to access that computer from ANY other computer via the Internet. There are various levels of the program that grant you more features, but I believe even the Free license will allow for you to be able to play sounds on the target computer, depending on how your Internet connection is and what your LMI settings are. For actual sound streamed to the accessing computer, I believe that you need a Pro or IT license, which you have to pay for. VNC is also another option, but unfortunately I never got it to work. It's supposedly another good remote access program.

I am guilty of hating on Vista moreso on hearsay than on actual experience.The only Vista machines that I've dealt with are one of my friend's laptops and desktops. The interface is sleek, smooth, and attractive... and as much as I love eye candy, I hated working with the OS. Some things were moved around from XP, which is probably understandable, and I guess you have to be out of the XP mindset to truly be able to work with Vista smoothly. Some of my retarded experiences included trying to network a Vista machine with XP machines for a LAN game, accidentally shutting down the computer because I thought that the power button icon on the Start menu would bring up a dialog (which it didn't), sluggish performance on a decent laptop, and compatibility with existing programs.It might be biased, but I was turned off from Vista even before actually working with them thanks to plenty of hearsay on the Internet on forums, articles, and whatnot.Vista is great for the average person that is out for basic productivity: word processing, Internet usage... the works. Anything that involves any sophistication out of that, however, and you're in for a world of pain that almost makes you wonder why a geek would upgrade to Vista. There are constant annoying pop-ups which, however well-intended they are, are... annoying. Users with administrative privileges are still bothered with Vista's infamous way of making sure you want to proceed with ANYTHING you want to do, and even being an "administrator" doesn't grant you certain administrative privileges. I've read articles with benchmarks that show XP performance trumping Vista by a considerable margin, and this doesn't even have to be peer-reviewed... just go into your local Wally World and look at the system requirements for a piece of software. You'll see that if you are running Vista, you have your OWN system requirements off to the side, which are notably higher than what they are if you were to run it on an XP machine. Why is it that a successor to an OS should perform WORSE?Think of program and driver compatibility. It's a pain in the butt when you can't run the same programs you did once before on XP on Vista... which XP also had a problem with for older Windows 95-98 programs. However, XP offers compatibility modes that actually work for the most part. There are some programs for Vista that won't even install in the first place. Drivers are a pain to snag, especially if you need it for an Ethernet card that grants you Internet access to try to find those very drivers... you'd have to have a second computer to find the drivers and play trial-and-error, restart, boot, etc. It's a wicked pain, and I hope that things smooth out in the future. It should, anyway... I haven't had any incentive to check out what SP1 brought for Vista.Performance is a big issue. Why spend $300 on an OS that doesn't make use of your hardware efficiently? It's like forcing your hardware to work at 75% of what it can really put out simply because Vista taxes available resources that heavily, and I don't have the slightest clue as to why. (It might be because they didn't work off of an existing platform of code... and actually did everything from scratch, if I remember correctly.) No one should have to figure that out... it should just work, but then again, with more new features and gimmicks, I understand why Vista and even Leopard are having problems.And I haven't even bothered to touch on security and other IT issues that I've read.This is why I recommend everyone I know to stick to XP, just because Vista, although pretty, is too much of a pain to bother. You shouldn't be fighting with your operating system. It should work FOR you. I'm not saying that Linux is the answer or XP is the godsend, but by far they are better alternatives. I'm sure even Mac OS X is a better alternative, unless Leopard is actually more successful than I realize. If I had the money to burn, I would be using Mac OS X, and if I could find a real, working answer as to why my wireless laser keyboard and mouse combo doesn't work under Ubuntu, I would be using that too. Unfortunately enough, XP is the most-polished turd (in my opinion) that I have available to me that I can use with most, if not all, of what I want to do.

Haha... but that's why programmers get paid to surf through their own code and test, test, and test again for loopholes, vulnerabilities, and code injection attacks like these.In all reality, I would promote code injection just to be able to learn from the experience. You get to figure out if your exploit works, why it works, introduce yourself to a little bit of PHP and how it works, and if you're a white hat hacker, you might even score some attention, potential, and a job as a network/Internet security specialist. I for one like to try various code injections into the all-infamous wall that is MySpace, since a lot of the things you do is entangled into a nightmare of code all within a ColdFusion file (index.cfm) and the various JavaScript files it calls on. There might be some PHP in MySpace's design now... I'm not that sure now because it's been a while since I've poked around.

Haha... this was rather humorous. Kind of neat to see how we've progressed and pushed for equal rights and such. It's not exactly something that's put into practice all over yet (as people are STILL being raised with gender prejudice towards certain things, like girls aren't supposed to be beating up boys or be into things that boys would "normally" find an interest in).

The only thing overkill about this computer is the price. The specifications are actually quite a bit on the excessive side, but at the same time it does put out a good point on future-proofing. It's crazy how you can buy a computer now and EXPECT it to be obsolete within a month's time or so... and it works for the consumerist society because we're expect to keep buying new things and abandoning the old. I remember back in the day when I thought 1GB of RAM was outlandish... even the idea of having 2GB hard drives seemed enough. Now, after having purchased 200GB and 500GB external hard drives, I'm already finding out that I'll be needing more space within a year or so. It's crazy.For those of us that have waited patiently, video cards are at a point where $150+ will net you almost 5 times the performance of your current video card, when months to maybe as soon as a year ago those same video cards were selling at bloated prices.The key point is to wait. The build that I had designed almost half a year ago has dropped from $2000 to $1300. Don't look at it as overkill... future-proofing is good.

Uh... no. I'm in a matter of disagreement. You can't judge how much you believe in something by percentage... it doesn't make sense. You either believe in a deity or don't. God's not going to save your falling butt from dropping out of a plane with no parachute whether you you believe him 95% or 25%. You either have faith in the fact that God is there for you or not. Atheism is a set of beliefs, primarily that of the non-existence of a God. In a way, science and atheism tie together because science provides the answers to the unexplainable, much as God's miracles explain how and why things are the way they are. Also, there is the existence of mannerisms. I say "godd*mnit" a lot... but that doesn't mean that I believe in God. People say "Oh Lord," but that doesn't mean that they believe in the Lord Almighty. We pick up these mannerisms (in this case, cussing and exclamation) from various sources, whether it be reading it from a book, hearing it said on the tele or radio, from our friends and family, and whatnot. It doesn't necessarily proclaim a belief in something. It's kind of hard to keep yourself away from the idea of God since it's so present almost everywhere with different religions and their impacts on society. The U.S. announces freedom of religion (to include atheism), yet we print "In God We Trust" on our currency and integrate bouts of Christianity in our culture, so it wouldn't be a surprise that God plays some sort of cultural existence in just about everyone's lives (in the U.S., anyway).

For 2009, I expect a little more, but the screenshots look pretty good. I can't wait to see that system requirements checklist though... Owners of The Sims 2 will know what I mean, especially if they installed a lot of expansion packs.I love The Sims. It's amazing how much of this game you can play knowing that you're playing a game of life in real life and feeding, bathing, bedding, and even relieving your Sims comes before food, personal hygiene, sleep, and bathroom breaks...Or is that just me? Maybe I'll actually build my desktop so that I can play this game and all the other games that I've been putting on hold because of my laptop that's quickly becoming even more obsolete...

Hehe... $65 doesn't leave you a lot of room there. I'm using a Creative Zen Stone 2GB and it ran me around $40. It's as small as... well, a stone, has a decent interface, and if you're a person that doesn't care to keep an eye on the display and just listen to music on shuffle, I think you'll be happy with it. (It has a case available to it that allows you to hang it with your keychain, which I think is great.) It's got slight problems, like the fact that you will have no folder organization available to you, but for around $40, it's quite a steal. You can also get the iPod Shuffle for about the same price, but I have no experience with Apple products. Not a big fan of Apple, really... but if you want to be part of the trend, I can imagine that it might be the same deal as Creative's Zen Stone line. Sandisk's Sansa e250 looks like a good deal too, if you want the actual iPod look but not pay for Apple's name. No experience with them either, but apparently it gets good reviews. Also, look into a good pair of headphones or earbuds, as the MP3 player you will choose won't make a difference in sound quality if you have crappy output. I HIGHLY recommend earbuds from V-Moda, as I own a pair of V-Moda Bass Freq earbuds and they ROCK. Best $40 I spent on earbuds... and now they're available for $30 on Amazon. Trust me on that one.

Madonna's old, Miley Cyrus is new. Kids are going to relate to Cyrus. Madonna will always be a pop culture icon. End of story.The fact that people even make this and other celebrity gossip an issue at all surprises me, when in reality it shouldn't. (I never understood why America is so engrossed in pop culture, but I'm sure I have my own guilty pleasures that people find retarded. )

Both games are of the real-time strategy genre. It is also kind of hard to compare two separate worlds... Starcraft have their Terrans, Zerg, and Protoss in more of a science fiction setting, whereas Command and Conquer was strictly humans with the occasional drop-in of extraterrestial life... in the case of 3, the Scrin.Gameplay may or may not be the same... it depends on what Starcraft has to bring to the table. In all reality, most RTS games have been pretty much the same (save for World in Conflict, which introduced a free camera system, and maybe Endwar with its ability to include warfare from the 3rd person perspective), but the concepts were all the same: build a base, gather resources, attack with units, and utilize superweapons. Of course, each game is differently played because of the units and abilities available, but for the most part, it's all the same.

Er, if you look at the definition of what a religion is, you'll see that a religion is not always related to a deity or spiritual concept. A religion is a set of beliefs, simply put. With that said, atheism and even science are religions. Heck, all of your superstitions, traditions, and whatnot are included into the definition of what a religion is. As far as that argument for atheism... that was kind of out there, no offense. I think that I'm more atheist and less agnostic; however, I don't see how it works moreso for serving the world. It's simply having no belief in a higher deity. Of course, I know a lot of Christians aren't exactly out to serve God either... it's just the level of dedication to your faith. Some people are hardcore Bible-thumpers and others just are religious just to fulfill any spiritual needs and/or need an "answer" to the unexplained. Whatever floats your boat, really... as long as there are no conflicts that have to deal with making others believe what you believe. Everyone has a right to believe what they want to believe and not have anything forced on them... which is why I hate those door-to-door people that want to "save" you.

This war for oil is paying off pretty well... It took me a little over $40 to fill up my mum's 2006 Honda Civic. It makes me shudder what everyone else is paying for their cars... especially the truck owners and the people that cruise around in their Hummers and their Cadillac Escalades. (No offense to anyone... but serves you right. ) It's crazy. And to think that not a lot of people are supporting and backing up attempts for alternative fuels because of money... it doesn't make any sense, because if gas is too expensive, people will have less of a want to drive, or spend money, or buy stuff... it's like big-business America is killing itself. I can't remember the last time I made a trip to the mall to GO to the mall... fortunately for me, my commute passes by a mall, three Walmarts, and countless gas stations. Then again, the commute is costing me...

Wear a full body suit like that kid in that Judy Blume book that I know that I can't remember. I'm glad you finally got the jump to riding a bike... I would like to also, but what's holding me back is the fear of wiping out. Badly.

I don't know how it is like in England, but I know in Germany, a bike counts as a vehicle in the road. Helps your case if you ever try to pursue it... if this is the case across Europe.

Looking at NewEgg... the 8800GS will come about to $150, $220 for the 8800GT, and $100 for another 8600GT. (Just guessing on the averages.)Looking at Tom's Hardware, the GT comes out with 30 fps, the GS with 24, and the SLI option at a mere 14 fps when benchmarking with Oblivion at max graphical options at 1920x1200x32. At a lower 1024x768x32 resolution, benchmarking results in 70, 58, and 38fps, respectively.You get almost double the framerate with the 8800GT compared to adding another 8600GT for an SLI setup, but of course you pay about double the cash. 50% improvement comes with the 8800GS.Know what that means?At this point, you're getting what you pay for.

OP, your friend definitely has an addiction if he NEEDS Coke like the way you describe him.I've been finding that I like to drink Coke quite a bit. It's bad with all the sugar in it, so I resort to Coke Zero, which has no calories... but tons of chemicals! I like other sodas, but I've have not refused Coke because I didn't prefer it. (I like root beer, gingerale, and other sodas too.) I don't drink carbonated drinks as religiously as a lot of people I know do, though. I know a friend that can down a case of Red Bull over a day, and of course we all know our local and lovable Dew fanatics.

Judging from OP's speech, I would say that this happened in the U.K. I don't think that's much that you can realistically do... although I would push for a hit and run if you caught ANY identification of the vehicle. That's crap that someone actually gets away with that on such stupid behavior. The driver may have been either reckless or even under the influence... in which case I'm glad you're still around to be typing with a broken wrist.If anything, be glad you left a friggin' dent in that guy's car. I know it ain't much, but it's the little things in life that'll push you forward instead of leaving you behind. In the dust. No pun intended.Okay, maybe some.

It would be great if I found my soul mate at around the 18-24 age mark, but realistically, I don't see myself ready to tie the knot until I'm ready financially and career-wise, for the sake of the wifey and for the sake of stability.I know that love doesn't wait and it may happen at any time, but I'm trying my best not to become emotionally desperate. Every passing is questionable: is it physical? am I just longing for female companionship? could this be "the one?" Having to doubt myself like this is horrible, but it's an unfortunate consequence of past relationship history.So ideally, whenever I'm stable... which might come around or past 22. (For me, probably past 25.) Longer than that... well, then I'll have to suffer the virtue of patience.

Haha... reminds me of MUDs from back in the day...Most time I've ever spent on a library computer terminal.