VT-Vincent

I can see my kitchen window: Google Maps. It looks like Google Maps only did the main strip though, they didn't traverse through the town.

Yeah, I've been using Chrome on the Mac for a few weeks now. It's a bit heavy on CPU usage, but it's a nice alternative to Firefox. It does look (and work) better than Safari, but to be honest that's not much of a challenge. I've never liked Safari, it always feels slow and clunky. Regarding the buttons, there is unfortunately no way to move them. What's more annoying though is the maximize button doesn't actually maximize... it tries to fit the window to the contents. Some applications like Firefox will make it behave like it's Windows counterpart and fill the whole desktop, but most do not. I think it's one of Apple's most annoying UI quirks.

Virtualization or bootcamp is a good option if you can do just about everything you need to within OS X. It's good to have around for the occasional one-off program that's not on the Mac side and has no reasonable equivalent.

A Hackintosh is a nice idea in theory, but the problem is that it can't be used for anything of importance. I've experimented with them and no matter how stable they have appeared over long periods of time, odd glitches and problems that wouldn't be found on a real Mac always cropped up. If you're looking to run OS X, your best bet is to buy a cheap refurbished mini from the Apple store (they go as low as $400 depending on their inventory) or poke around eBay for some early generation Intel macs.

I use both AIM and MSN, but I keep Yahoo around for Yahoo Voice. It's the cheapest voice-in service for the PC.

In regards to updates, that's partially true. In most of the cases I've experienced problems, it has been from Microsoft changing how a specific part of the operating system interacts with other software thus breaking compatibility or specific functions in some cases. Windows Update also has the ability to update drivers, but the driver updates have to be manually selected. I've had extremely bad experiences with driver updates from Windows update. Pricing is a bit complex when it comes to the Mac-vs-PC argument... I just took a quick look on HP's site and built a desktop that matched the specs of the entry-level 21.5" iMac as closely as possible and it came out to about $939, compared to $1199 for the iMac. The $260 price difference can be partially absorbed by the fact they won't need to purchase much additional software as iLife is included, they won't need to buy antivirus every year and they won't be paying any trips to the GeekSquad for virus removals when something inevitably gets through.

I've always used Windows as my primary operating system, but I also have been working in an all-Mac environment for the last two years. Given this, I would like to think I'm reasonably knowledgeable about both platforms. From my perspective, the advantages of OS X are as follows: OS X is for the most part impervious to all viruses and other types of malware, as it's written for Windows. This advantage could easily disappear if Apple's market share grows, but for now it remains one of it's biggest advantages. The UI of OS X is well designed and suited to general purpose computing, it's the only true competitor to Windows. Apple's iLife suite which is exclusive to their platform provides powerful and easy to use content creation tools that are unmatched on Windows. Derived from it's Unix underpinnings, OS X has a multitude of servers built in that can be enabled with a simple click. This functionality would only be present on higher tier versions of Windows or in some cases, none at all. Apple's use of an EFI-based boot loader allows for a more streamlined handling of multiple operating systems. Holding down the shift key allows easy access to all bootable volumes connected to the system, even FireWire and USB devices. When installing the OS, there is no bootloader to worry about. Apple's major updates rarely break things. Microsoft's Service Packs on the other hand can easily throw a deployment into chaos. With that in mind, it's important to recognize there are also a few things in Microsoft's favor: Windows is the only viable platform for gaming. On the Mac side, you will be treated to one or two best selling titles and some half-assed ports at best. In any event, you can expect them to perform significantly worse than their Windows counterpart. A Windows-based PC will be much cheaper than any Mac of similar specs. Since Windows is the dominant platform, it is likely to run virtually all hardware and software on the consumer market. In my opinion, Explorer is a superior file manager and shell. Finder gets the job done, but it could allow for more options. Microsoft Office on the Windows side is far superior to it's Mac counterpart. They are two separate code bases and the Mac suite is simply developed to "catch up" to it's Windows counterpart. As such, it is usually lacking feature parity with the current Windows version. And lastly, these are some moot points, they shouldn't influence anyone's decision in the slightest: Content creation software. This is one of the points I've heard come up the most in favor of OS X. While the iLife suite is excellent for amateurs (myself included), mid-level content creation doesn't matter as virtually all of Adobe's products are on both platforms in a competent fashion. Higher level content creation applications don't count as you'll likely be buying the hardware exclusively for the software in question. Inability to run Windows applications. Through the use of virtualization and Boot Camp, there are plenty of good options for running Windows applications that aren't available on the Mac side. Learning curve. Both Windows and OS X are consumer operating systems, they are both made for ease of use by design. With a little effort and patience, any user can learn either operating system easily. The Mac is just more "creative". This doesn't mean anything, if you mean there is a specific application you need on the Mac that's not available on Windows, then so be it. Otherwise, there is nothing more "creative" about any platform. Windows is for business. Again, this is pretty much identical to the last point just from the other perspective. There is nothing that makes Windows more business-centric than OS X other than specific applications. (Insert Platform) is stupid and (insert hardware) is a toy. There is no rational thinking in these statements. If you dislike a platform simply out of personal taste, that's fine but using it in an intelligent conversation is simply trolling.

It's great to see the site back up again, I think we all need a break from the internet at some point.

I know what you mean. I always ask for a sealed copy if it's available, if not I usually don't buy it unless their price was a lot lower. I don't understand how they can sell something as new if the seal has been broken. I used to work at Circuit City, and we had very strict policies on what could be sold as new. If the seal was damaged in any way, we couldn't sell it as new.

Yeah, honestly I usually avoid buying used for that reason. I usually only buy used if the price is extremely low or it's a B-grade game that I'm not really worried about. It's amazing these stores are willing to take some of these things in considering their condition. Have you ever seen the used controllers? Half of the time there is food caked into the buttons and D-pad.

If you find anything, you will want to ask to see the disc before you buy it. Since they are liquidating, they won't refund or exchange it even if someone pavement surfed on it.

For those of you in the US, you may want to check out your nearest Hollywood Video or Movie Gallery. The company is shutting down about 800 of their stores nationwide and they're liquidating most of their inventory. I picked up a few good deals at my local Hollywood Video - Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Contact for the DS and Eternal Sonata for the 360. Eternal Sonata was even being sold "new" (they are one of those places that insist on opening their new games and removing the discs. ).

For a long time I used to be stuck at 2mbps/384kbps. I actually didn't mind it because the connection was always reliable, consistent and had low latency. Right now, I'm on Comcast which goes up to 16mbps. So far it has been ok, but the speed and latency jump around a lot, especially during peak hours.

The CMOS is actually the memory chip your BIOS stores settings in. If one of your memory modules ends up being defective, you may want to get in touch with the memory manufacturer. Many of them give a lifetime warranty on RAM.

I would start with your memory first. If you have several sticks of RAM, try booting the computer with only one and keep cycling through them until you find the defective one. If you only have one, try moving it to another slot. To find out what BIOS you're running, you'll need to go in the BIOS setup. On most computers, this is done by hitting the DEL, F2 or F12 key at bootup.

Wow, sorry to hear that Emsley. It sounds like public services there are a lot like they are here.

I'm working my way through Final Fantasy XIII... I'm about 9 hours in right now, just starting the 2nd disc. I have to admit I'm disappointed in the linear direction the game has taken. It feels like a step backwards from the great RPGs of the past.

When I was a kid, I used to love those things... now, I can't stand them. I like sweet foods as much as the next person, but those are practically nothing but sugar.

Sorry to hear that Emsley. Loosing a domain name really sucks, especially when it gets bought by a link farm. Luckily, the company that bought mine released it a while back so I was able to re-register it. Ironically though, it was released right after I changed the site's name to "VTemulation.net". Now the .com just redirects to it.

I'm not sure who 1Emulation is hosted through, but generally speaking webhosts are very quick to pull the plug if a payment authorization fails. I would assume GC is probably just tied up with real life right now but he obviously cares about 1Emulation or else he wouldn't be paying the bills. *edit* I was speaking about the webhosting, but regarding the domain it's pretty much the same thing except for one small difference. When a domain expires, most hosts do the sleazy practice of "holding" it for you past the expiration date. You can get it back, but they will charge more for it and the price will go up higher and higher as the days go on. Finally, if they are convinced you won't buy it back, many registrars will auction off the domain. Unfortunately I'm speaking from experience. My site lost it's original domain many years ago and this is the process that Dotster followed after the domain was not renewed.

I don't think emulation is dead. I have only been following the emulation scene actively for about the last year, but in that time I have seen a lot of impressive developments. Dolphin, SSF, PCSX2 and bsnes are just a few emulators that have made great strides as of late. I think the bigger issue is that interest in emulation is dying. Retro gaming has always been a large part of emulation, but the problem is that most of today's gamers have never even seen a Super NES or experienced those games of the past. Those that value that past and understand it now have real lives that are putting emulation and gaming on the back burner. Unfortunately as interest dies, development will slowly follow. It will be interesting to see if there is any resurgence of the emulation scene or if it ends here. I hate to say it, but I think that's a very good possibility. My adventures on the Internet began over 10 years ago and since then I've seen a lot of things change. When I first started out, chat rooms were the primary form of communication. As time went on, forums eventually displaced them and chat was all but dead. If history is any indication, online communication will continue to evolve and forums too could eventually be left in the dust.

I've actually never been picked for Jury Duty. I heard that at least here in the US, they obtain a list of people to call from the pool of registered voters. Since I never registered to vote, that would probably explain why I've never been called.

I'm not so sure that's a bad thing. Sonic Team obviously had a few wins, but they've also had a lot of problems. They failed to transition Sonic to 3D during the Saturn's run and their later games met limited success. Even the classic games were notoriously glitchy and were all rush jobs.

SSF, a Sega Saturn emulator for Windows has been updated today. At the moment, SSF is one of the best Sega Saturn emulators available on any platform. Below is a translated list of changes in this release: Author's Website: http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~phantasy/ssf/index.html Source: http://www.vtemulation.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=482

beulahkilborn781 is a bot... it's scary these things are actually managing to post replies that are on-topic.