Jitway

Nintendo always owned in Japan. Not here till the WII came out but in Japan Nintendo has and always will be king. I know this for I have been there. Even back in the NES and SNES days it was king there.

Marie Jo

Michelle Hunziker

November Doom - Through A Childs Eyes I once had a vision the beauty of two graced the sky It left me with nothing but hurt For I knew this couldn't be true Looking back through a childs eyes I have been betrayed by time Now I dream with a sense of pride And I grieve the shame of mankind I once was left behind All the promises and empty words Forced me to walk upon the earth Alone in the shadow of man Looking back through a childs eyes I have been betrayed by time Now I dream with a sense of pride I grieve the shame of mankind I once had a vision The fall of man before its time Again I knew with innocent eyes You should have saved us all Looking back through a childs eyes I have been betrayed by time Now I dream with a sense of pride I grieve the shame of mankind

Too far for me to come just for a one day party. Now if it was a week long get s h i t faced party I might consider. But have a good one none the less. Don't drink all the booze cause I sure would.

I think the files you are trying to read or listen to are not compatible with RealPlayer. I have seen a lot of this in vista. Try using another program to play them in. I will try to find out more info for you. Also make sure you have no enchantments enabled in your sound playback of your media player as well as any sound enhancement plugins disable them and try that.

What OS? Vista I bet. Plus what software and you using to view pics and videos?

After successfully cutting into Nintendo's considerable lead in console sales over the past several months, Sony is once again losing ground. According to statistics provided by Japanese game magazine Enterbrain, Nintendo sold 331,627 Wii consoles in the four weeks ending February 24, compared to 89,131 for the PS3. This is larger than the 3-to-1 margin in January. As has been practically consistent since its launch, the Xbox 360 lagged far behind with only 14,079 consoles sold during the same period. With such broad success during the month, Wii games also stood atop the best selling games. Nintendo sold some 1.33 million copies of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, followed by Wii Fit, which had sales of 309,311 units. Both games are produced directly by Nintendo. Of course it is. The GBA and then the NDS were always big over there. Handhelds rule in Japan. So the WII being interactive and all of course it would be a hit there and out sell the PS3. They are no dummies. Source HERE

Through its Grand Central subsidiary that it acquired last year, Google will provide phone numbers to homeless people in San Francisco by working with the city's shelters. The project, dubbed Communications and Respect for Everybody (CARE) will join up with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's Project Homeless Connect (HPC) to accomplish this. Along with lifetime access to a permanent phone number, the project offers voicemail as well. Google and San Francisco will also allow homeless shelters and agencies to create new accounts for their residents. The Mountain View-based company has already handed out more than 4,000 voicemail accounts to homeless people across the city, but the latest announcement marks the first time it will work directly with the homeless shelters. People in the program are able to check their voicemail using a PIN by calling their assigned number from any phone. The voicemail system works similar to mobile phone service providers in the United States. Both Google and Mayor Newsom's office insist people who dial the phone number of a program participant will be unaware that it is any different than any other voicemail system. Grand Central allows users to route their phone lines -- home, mobile and business -- to another location, and set the system to ring all, one or two, or none of the phones, depending on who is calling. As more employers and health clinics require a phone number as a bare minimum for communication purposes, this initiative will hopefully give homeless people a lending hand towards getting back on their feet. "We're firm believers in the power of technology to improve the daily lives of individuals and communities as a whole, and we recognize that access to phone and voicemail services is one way that GrandCentral can help San Francisco's homeless stay connected with family, friends, social workers, health care providers, and potential employers," Google Senior Product Manager Craig Walker said in a post to the Google Blog. Assuming the effort is successful during its pilot run in San Francisco, Google plans to work with other cities and agencies to create similar programs across the country. This a great idea but the downfall to this is if you are truly homeless then you don't have the money to be calling your voice mall everyday. Not to mention all the return calls. I give google the credit though for trying. More should be done on educating the ones that truly want it and train them. Source HERE

Big name (and long time) acts like Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson are now joining a huge barrage of newer musical artists in trying to hawk CDs and MP3 files over the Web. But what will it take for these musicians to convince you to buy? According to speakers at this week's Digital Music Forum in New York, musicians need to keep from getting snarled up by the maze of different promotional channels for them to choose from, including: satellite Internet stations, music download sites like iTunes, social networking sites like Facebook, and ads on Google and other search sites. Other potential pitfalls include a "plantation system" that has allowed record labels and an assortment of their associates to cash in handsomely on CD, tape, and album sales for decades. On the other hand, though, the Internet is opening up access to music sales for a lot more talent these days, said music industry veterans. Music acts no longer need to ink contracts with huge lables like Columbia, Epic or Sony to get their work in front of people, noted Benjamin Campbell, CEO of OurStage, Inc. Satellite stations can specialize in virtually any kind of music, whether rock, rap, country, jazz or more specific genres like Celtic Folk, concurred Celia Hirschman, host of KCRW's "On the Beat." Furthermore, where it once cost $2,000 an hour for a record label to rent a recording studio, musicians are now churning out CDs and MP3s in studios that cost only $2,000 in total to build, contended Elliot Mazer, "multi-platinum producer/engineer/founder" at Left Turn Music. Big labels are trying to take full advantage of Web-based sales and marketing too. Sony's BMG Label Group, for example, puts together Internet-oriented marketing materials for household names along with lesser-known acts from around the world, said John Fleckenstein, BMG's SVP of International. But on the other hand, to lower the overhead costs traditionally passed along to consumers, big labels still need to ditch a plantation system that's supporting folks like tour managers and contract attorneys in "Fifth Avenue Manhattan real estate," Campbell said. Campbell told attendees that all it takes for a music act to succeed is a good product, research into the potential markets for that product, and some knowhow about how to reach the right audiences. Moreover, through the wonders of Web analytics, it's also easier to locate members of a small audience that will be receptive to the work of a non-mainstream artist, he said. But other speakers at the digital music show indicated that things aren't always as simple as all that. Once upon a time, a record label might have targeted the 25-to-35-year-old age demographic for a specific band's music. Now, however, labels have determined that there is an "eon of difference" between the interests of a 26-year-old and a 27-year-old, for instance, said Sony BMG's Fleckenstein. Decisions need to be made, too, around which if any social networking sites to harness. MySpace is starting to lose ground as more musicians drift over to Facebook instead, according to Vicki Saunders, director of music marketing and promotions at TouchTunes Music. But Shahi Ghanem, CEO and president of Brickfish, recommended the use of at least three social networking sites, so as to reach a broader audience. The over 35-year-old set, though, could well be a tougher sell, even among consumers who frequent the Web all the time. Aside from social networking sites geared mainly to a young demographic, a lot of the conference banter revolved around topics like how to offer the right kinds of downloadable MP3 ringtones. Yet meanwhile, studies by major industry analyst firms are showing that digital music downloads remain largely the province of a much younger age group, still in their teens. This is so true more and more Musicians are turning away from big studios and producers to make and produce albums themselves. This is a good thing but can be bad as well. If they do not know how to produce a album or even worse sell it to the public it will be a disaster. Writing a hit is hard enough these days but producing it and selling it is even harder. You have to be really talented to be able to do it all and there are not that many out there that are. Source HERE

Fake Ferraris seized in mafia-run factory Police have discovered a factory in Sicily producing fake Ferraris. Engineers working for the mafia at the small workshop in Campobello di Licata, near Palermo, took second-hand cars and turned them into replicas using photographs as a guide. Seven cars under construction were impounded, as well as £350,000 worth of machinery, tools and cash. Police also raided addresses in Milan, Rome and Puglia and seized a further 14 cars that were already on the road. The cars, which were priced at between £15,000 and £35,000, depending on the model, were sold over the internet and in second-hand car showrooms across Italy. Police believe that dozens were being sold each month. The workmen were described as "extremely capable" by Francesco Carofiglio, who headed Operation Red Passion. However, the fakes were easily spotted because they have a narrower chassis and thinner wheels than a genuine Ferrari. Police said the fakes could also be distinguished by the sound of their engine. Typically the engineers used the Pontiac Fiero, a two-seater American sports car from the 1980s, as a base for their fakes. "The sound of the Pontiac's V4 engine is nothing like the Ferrari 348GTS's V8 which it would be turned into," he said. Either the Pontiac or a Toyota MR2 would be stripped down then fitted with a mix of genuine Ferrari spares and glass fibre panels. Police said the buyers were usually "businessmen" who knew that the cars were fake and would often hire out the cars for special events such as weddings. 35000 for a Pontiac hmmmm no thanks. Bet it don't run like a Ferrari. Source HERE

NBC Universal filed comments with the FCC this week that side with Comcast on BitTorrent blocking. The company opposes Net Neutrality regulations because it wants ISPs to filter out copyrighted content, and it seems to be willing to blame P2P for all the bad things in the online world in order to get what it wants. NBC’s FCC statement claims that P2P networks “exacerbate” network congestion and that P2P apps trick end users into supplying bandwidth and processing power. Maybe NBCU’s lawyers should have checked back with the team from NBC Direct before filing these comments. The ad-supported download platform for TV content announced this week that it will be using Pando’s P2P technology to “provide millions of viewers free DVD-quality downloads.” The P2P-powered NBC Direct service is going to be available in the first quarter of this year and will feature HD downloads, according to a press release from Pando and NBC. The service will make use of what Pando is calling a “peer-assisted content delivery service,” which is essentially a traditional CDN solution with a P2P layer on top. Pando’s P2P technology is based on BitTorrent, a fact the company readily acknowledges on its web site. That web site apparently wasn’t on the radar of the lawyers that wrote the media giant’s FCC filing, which claims that: “Because P2P networks send and receive huge files, congestion results, particularly for upstream traffic on cable networks.” The filing also has a few choice words for the core technology utilized by Pando’s P2P solution: “BitTorrent…consumes disproportionate amounts of upstream capacity by opening up multiple connection streams to seize capacity.” Today’s broadband networks weren’t built with P2P distribution in mind, NBC argues, which is why BitTorrent and similar applications would put a “much greater strain on available upstream bandwidth than network engineers anticipated and built for.” NBC also seems to believe that using P2P to distribute video content is kind of sneaky: “Many of these end users might not even be aware that their computers are being used to take the place of commercial servers and that their personal broadband subscriptions will be used by third parties to transmit copies of the content in question.” To be fair, the filing does acknowledge the fact that P2P may be used for legal content delivery while not specifically mentioning NBC’s plans to do so. So how do you deal with the fact that blocking BitTorrent will also harm legal downloads? NBC’s answer is clear: Just install even more filters and eavesdrop on each and every file transmitted: “The Commission should enable and indeed applaud reasonable network management practices that carefully and appropriately address not only network congestion, but also the tidal wave of illegal file-sharing.” NBC is pointing to AT&T as an example of an ISP’s willingness to install content filters, but the filing doesn’t explain how ISPs are supposed to deal with P2P protocol encryption and other tricks to bypass such filters — tricks that ironically might soon find their way into Pando’s software to deal with Comcast’s BitTorrent blocking. Now that is funny they blame p2p and say it is evil but they use the same technology to get stuff to their viewers. Now if that is not calling the kettle black I don't know what is. Source HERE

When EMI, Universal Music and Warner music reached settlement agreements with the likes of Napster, KaZaA and Bolt, they collected hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation - money that was supposed to go to artists whose rights had been allegedly infringed upon when the networks were operating with unlicensed music. Now, according to an article, the managers of some major artists are getting very impatient, as it appears the very people who were supposed to be compensated - the artists - haven’t received anything from the massive settlements. They say the cash - estimated to be as much as $400m - hasn’t filtered through to their clients and understandably they’re getting very impatient. Lawyer John Branca, who has represented the likes of The Rolling Stones and Korn, said: “Artist managers and lawyers have been wondering for months when their artists will see money from the copyright settlements and how it will be accounted for.” Indicating the levels of impatience with the big labels holding the money he added: “Some of them are even talking about filing lawsuits if they don’t get paid soon.” Of course, EMI, Universal and Warner have a different take on the delay, with sources suggesting that it’s down to the difficulties in deciding who gets what money, based on the levels of copyright infringement for each individual group or artist. A recording industry on the back foot having spent most of its time fighting the digital revolution rather than becoming part of it, is clearly trying to hang on to every penny, even when it comes to compensating the artists who they claim they were defending by taking legal action in the first place. Irving Azoff, who manages Christina Aguilera, The Eagles, Van Halen, REO Speedwagon and Seal (amongst others) says it’s hard for artists to get what they deserve from the labels: “They will play hide and seek, but eventually will be forced to pay something,” he said. “The record companies have even tried to credit unrecouped accounts. It’s never easy for an artist to get paid their fair share.” Typically, the labels see it a different way. An EMI spokeperson said that it was “sharing proceeds from the Napster and Kazaa settlements with artists and writers whose work was infringed upon” while Warner’s said the label is “sharing the Napster settlement with its recording artists and songwriters, and at this stage nearly all settlement monies have been disbursed.” The Universal spokesman spoke only of the label’s ‘policy’ of sharing “its portion of various settlements with its artists, regardless of whether their contracts require it” with no mention of whether it had actually done this or not. But typically, when money is involved, things start to get murky. The same sources who suggested the reasons for the delay in making flockts are also suggesting that there might not be much money to even give to the artists. It’s being claimed that after legal bills were subtracted from the hundreds of millions in settlements, there wasn’t much left over to hand out. Well I can say for a fact that they got 10,000 from me and the artist never got crap of it. I new that they legal *cough cough* fees would go to the lawyers and some big ass corporates pocket. This is just not right but what else would we expect from our wonderful government. Source is HERE

In 2005, California passed a law that prohibited the sale of violent or sexually explicit video games to minors. Since then, as in every other state where this sort of law has been attempted, the legislation was found to be unconstitutional. It was hit with an injunction preventing its enforcement before being completely blocked back in 2007. Gov. Schwarzenegger appealed that decision, and this week Media Coalition filed an amicus brief to oppose the law and hopefully end this back and forth in the courts. California's appeal, if it is successful, would "carve an enormous new exception into the First Amendment bedrock up on which [the groups that make up the Coalition] depend for the creation and dissemination of a wide variety of... media." The California law also includes a labeling requirement for game titles. "Violent" games sold or imported in California must include a label that shows a solid white "18" outlined in black, with dimensions no less than two inches by two inches, and placed on the cover of the game. "These requirements constitute compelled speech," the Coalition claims. "They are not narrowly tailored as other less restrictive means are readily available to ensure that parents are informed of the violent content in video games." "To date, state and local government efforts to restrict minors' access to violent video games, or to impose mandatory rating or labeling systems on these products, have not survived strict constitutional scrutiny," the Federal Trade Commission wrote in a 2007 review titled "Marketing Violent Entertainment to Children." In fact, every single law hoping to criminalize the act of selling "violent" content to children has failed in the past, at considerable cost to taxpayers. Ya spend the money to research and fight this with our money and not let's say on things like feeding the poor or health care. The government has its head up its ass again. They did this with the warning label of lyrics on cds so I guess it is time to put a big label on the games so Mommy And Daddy can see it and not buy it for you. Give me a break. Read the full story HERE

Corsair announced today its new 16GB Voyager "GT" USB 2.0 flash drive that will be showing at CeBIT next week in Hanover, Germany. The company typically markets its devices as more rugged than other removable memory devices, with its Survivor line designed to even be water resistant to 200 meters. But the GT is instead shown off for its transfer speeds. The GT promises speeds up to four times faster than "average USB" devices, according to Corsair, claiming a 1.06 MB office file takes less than 2 seconds , 270 MB worth of pictures takes 24 seconds, and a 1.63 GB movie takes 98 seconds. Hi-Speed USB 2.0 transfer performs at up to 480 Mbps (60 MB/sec), and Full Speed generally around 12 Mbps (1.5 MB/sec). Suggested retail price of this drive is $169.99. Nice waterproof and fast almost indestructible. Now just to make them bigger and cost less and I am in on the band wagon.

Children of Bodom - Blooddrunk Release Date April 9th in the UK April 15th in the USA + These tracks are on the UK release only Genre: Speed | Thrash | Melodic Death Metal | Speed Metal Label: Spinefarm Alexi Laiho Vocals,- Guitar Roope Latvala - Guitar Henkka T. "Blacksmith" - Bass Janne Wirman - Keyboard Jaska Raatikainen - Drums 01. Hellhounds On My Trail 02. Blooddrunk 03. LoBodomy 04. One Day You Will Cry 05. Smile Pretty For The Devil 06. Tie My Rope 07. Done With Everything, Die For Nothing 08. Banned From Heaven 09. Roadkill Morning 10. Ghost Riders In The Sky + 11. Lookin Out My Backdoor + Spinefarm Records will also release a digipack version of CHILDREN OF BODOM's new album, "Blooddrunk", on April 9. The set will include a bonus DVD featuring the songs mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound, the "Blooddrunk" video, a "making-of-the-video" segment, and a photo gallery. In addition, the CD will feature CHILDREN OF BODOM's cover of STAN JONES' "Ghost Riders In The Sky" as a bonus track. "Blooddrunk" digipack details: CD: 01. Hellhounds On My Trail 02. Blooddrunk 03. LoBodomy 04. One Day You Will Cry 05. Smile Pretty For The Devil 06. Tie My Rope 07. Done With Everything, Die For Nothing 08. Banned From Heaven 09. Roadkill Morning 10. Ghost Riders In The Sky DVD: 01. Blooddrunk (video) 02. Making of the Video 03. Hellhounds On My Trail (Surround Sound) 04. Blooddrunk (Surround Sound) 05. LoBodomy (Surround Sound) 06. One Day You Will Cry (Surround Sound) 07. Smile Pretty For The Devil (Surround Sound) 08. Tie My Rope (Surround Sound) 09. Done With Everything, Die For Nothing (Surround Sound) 10. Banned From Heaven (Surround Sound) 11. Roadkill Morning (Surround Sound) 12. Photo Gallery Well I got my hands on a promo release of this and got to say this is the best yet. Blooddrunk was recorded and produced by Mikko Karmila at Petrax and Finnvox studios in Finland during October, November and December 2007, except vocals, which were recorded by Peter Tägtren, and keyboards, which were recorded by Janne Wirman at Petrax studios, Finland, during October, November and December 2007. The CD was mixed at Finnvox by Mikko Karmila in November 2007 and it was mastered at Finnvox by Mika Jussila in December 2007. A lot of fans were disappointed with their 2004 release, Are You Dead Yet?. The album was less thrashy and more modern sounding than their previous albums, you will be pleased to hear that the band found the edge and heaviness in Blooddrunk. In August 2007 the band entered the Petrax-studios in the middle of the woods of Hollola, Finland. Stranded in the middle of nowhere, the band and their producer Mikko Karmila recordeding material for the album which was later dubbed “Blooddrunk”, a nine track killer of an album which shows Bodom at their heaviest and hardest yet. Even more technical and more unforgiving than any of Children of Bodom’s earlier albums, Blooddrunk shows the raw side of Alexi Laiho. No mercy given, no easy routes chosen, the whole album is pure death, terror and murder from the beginning until its end. The title track of the album was shot into a video by German director Sandra Marschner, and the video displays the terrifying themes perfectly with a shot into the life of a dead, cold ghost town and its inhabitants. One of the highlights on the album comes from track 5, Smile Pretty for the Devil. The last minute or so of the song features an excellent guitar and keyboard solo that makes you remember why you fell in love with the band in the first place. The albums token ballad is Banned From Heaven, a nice and heavy melodic number and is my favorite on the album. Other good tracks are Hellbounds On My Trail, which is reminiscent to past Bodom classics like Needled 24/7 and a good opening song to the album. There is also the title track Blooddrunk which is very melodic and heavy as well. There is also a HD video floating around of Blooddrunks title track and well worth a watch. Here is the one on youtube but the HD is much clearer and full screen. Children of Bodom will head for tours next, starting their world domination from the States with theGigantour, and continuing towield their deadly scythe all over Europe, Japan. You can find out about it here GIGANTOUR 2008 I am going to the April 19th date in Kentucky. I will be taking with me a copy of this album with me to get Children of Bodom to sign. So all you out there go and buy this CD I am telling you there is not really a bad track on this alblum. I give it a 9.5/10 stars.

Robert Indie music means anything that is not a major label product. They are small independent labels. Usually privately owned by music groups themselves.

Five hundred top members of the music business gathered today in New York to hear that "music 1.0 is dead." Ted Cohen, a former EMI exec who used the phrase, opened the Digital Music Forum East by pleading with the industry to be wildly creative with new business models but not to "be desperate" during this transitional period. But what is music transitioning to? No one seemed quite sure, except to say that it won't look much like the music business of the last several decades. Consider the statements that were made today without controversy: * DRM on purchased music is dead * A utility pricing model or flat-rate fee for music might be the way to go * Ad-supported streaming music sites like iMeem are legitimate players * Indie music accounts for upwards of 30 percent of music sales * Napster isn't losing $70 million per quarter (and is breaking even) * The music business is a bastion of creativity and experimentation Only a few years ago, none of those statements would have been true, but perhaps none is more striking than the last. Panelists from every sector of the digital media marketplace were in agreement that the major labels, under the pressure of eroding profits, have been forced to become experimental in their business dealings and to do deals that would have been deemed too risky only months before. Greg Scholl, boss of indie label The Orchard, pointed out that the music business is not just four companies, and that indie music's market share is now approaching one-third... and it's growing. Indies have also been more open, historically, to experiments such as selling music without DRM. I found this very interesting in the fact that indie labels are now 30 percent of sales. Read it HERE

As a politically and socially conservative state, Utah has been at the forefront of many attempts to keep objectionable material away from the eyes of children. The latest attempt comes in the form of a bill introduced into the state House of Representatives that would give ISPs who block access to objectionable material the equivalent of a "G" movie rating. HB 407, introduced by Rep. Michael Morley ®, would designate some ISPs as "Community Conscious Internet Providers" if they meet certain criteria. In order to be certified as a CCIP by the Attorney General's office, an ISP would prohibit its customers by contract from posting pornography or other material that's harmful to minors. Customers of the G-rated ISP would also be prevented from reaching what the bill refers to as "prohibited material." It sounds innocuous enough, but there are some troubling aspects to the legislation as well. ISPs wanting to get the CCIP designation would have to keep track of IP addresses used by their subscribers for at least two years after they were first allocated. In addition, they would be required to cooperate fully with any law enforcement agency seeking to identify one of their customers. CCIPs would also need to respond to anyone complaining about porn or other objectionable content still accessible via its network. Full story HERE This will never work and hopefully will not get passed. And isn't Utah the Mormon state with many wifes allowed. We can have 12 wifes but no porn I guess..lol.

Microsoft on Wednesday gave TED conference-goers--an audience typically filled with stars like Goldie Hawn or Forest Whitaker--a close-up of real celestial bodies with its new virtual telescope. Microsoft demonstrated long-awaited software called WorldWide Telescope to an audience at the exclusive Technology Entertainment and Design conference in Monterey, Calif., a four-day confab that started Wednesday. It's unclear whether the demo of the astronomy technology made anyone in the audience cry like former Microsoft evangelist Robert Scoble, but the images (shown above) were certainly stellar. WorldWide Telescope, similar to the sky feature in Google Earth but much more expansive, is a virtual map of space that features tens of millions of digital images from sources like the Hubble telescope and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, a project championed by missing Microsoft researcher Jim Gray (to whom Microsoft dedicated the WorldWide Telescope on Wednesday). From the desktop, the technology lets people pan and zoom across the night sky, zeroing in on the Big Dipper, Mars, or the first galaxies to emerge after the Big Bang. It also lets people call up related data, stories, or context about what they're seeing from sources online. I can see this trying to be another Google Earth and it may eventual be very interesting but I don't think it will ever fully compare or replace Google Earth for what most users use it for. Full story HERE

Some people say that Comcast is evil, that it has no moral fortitude. But this isn't true, not in the least. Comcast does have standards, and it's fighting vigorously to defend them. After Monday's testimony before the FCC on their bandwidth "delaying" policies, Comcast was accused of blocking the general public’s attendance by planting its own employees at the hearing and paying them to do so. On Monday, the FCC grilled Comcast on its bandwidth management practices. After several grueling hours, the FCC appeared to sympathize with the public opinion that Comcast's policy of "delaying" BitTorrent uploading was inconsistent with net neutrality standards. However, the real fallout from Monday's hearing wasn't the FCC's sympathy, their indecision, or the bantering that went back and forth. The real fallout was the news that Comcast encouraged its own employees to stand on line prior to the hearing - in effect filling the forum with its own supporters and blocking other participants. "Yesterday's FCC hearing in Boston was open to the public and well-attended by many, including Comcast employees, who obviously had an interest in its content," Charlie Douglas of Comcast told Slyck.com. "Comcast informed our local employees about the hearing and invited them to attend. Some employees did attend, along with many members of the general public. For the past week, the Free Press has engaged in a much more extensive campaign to lobby people to attend the hearing on its behalf." Fair enough. Comcast does have the right to inform its employees of an upcoming FCC hearing that has a direct impact on their company. However, the public awareness website Free Press thinks Comcast took things a bit too far, and accused the cable giant of blocking access to the general public. They accomplished this, Free Press charges, by paying individuals to attend the FCC hearing and cheer Comcast's testimony. “First, Comcast was caught blocking the Internet", Timothy Karr, campaign director of SavetheInternet.com said in a press release. "Now it has been caught blocking the public from the debate. The only people cheering Comcast are those paid to do so. We didn’t have to pay anyone to attend the hearing. Comcast’s actions raise red flags for most people — with good reason. Clearly, Comcast will resort to just about any underhanded tactic to stack the decks in its favor. And yet Comcast still expects us to trust them with the future of the Internet?” Comcast shunned the idea that it paid people to attend the meeting or to cheer its side. Instead, it merely paid "a few" people to stand in line to the event - what they did from afterwards was their business. "Comcast did not pay people to attend the hearing," Douglas continues. "As is common practice in Washington, we paid a few individuals to stand in line in the morning to hold seats for Comcast employees who we knew were attending, including several who were coming with David Cohen. These people arrived early when there were hundreds of seats available at that time." And who needs better justification or rationalization than the practices that go on in Washington? After all, Washington DC is a hot bed of "common practice" philosophy. To say Comcast has acted without standards or unreasonably is unfounded, as their standards are clearly in line with what's "common practice" in Washington. And as it appears, Washington's "common practices" are very flexible, considering the FCC hearing was held in Boston. Read about it Source HERE But now the FCC contemplating do-over Comcast hearing at Stanford Seems they are not happy with Comcast buying seats...lol The FCC is considering holding a fresh hearing on net neutrality, with Comcast and Verizon again in attendance -- and this time it may be at Stanford. The do-over comes after a mini-scandal erupted over the first hearing, held at Harvard; Comcast flacks confessed they'd paid people off the street to act as seatwarmers. Let this be a lesson to you all: If you're going to meddle in politics, do it skillfully enough not to get caught. Read about it Source HERE

1. Do I need firewire? - No firewire is in the past it is all about usb now. 2. A DVD burner with Blueray. Does this prevent playing of other DVDs? - No a blueray will play all other formats of Dvds and Cds. Would not get a bluer-ray unless you are big into movies and have a HD monitor or Tv to watch it on and in that cause you would need a HD output on the PC 3. Is 7200 rpm SATA II OK? - Yes and get as big as you can afford as you will always run on of space...lol. Plus Hard Drives are cheap now. 4. CPU and motherboard: Intel-E4500 Core 2 Duo. Will this cope with future developments, programs? - The E4500 Allendale 2.2GHz 2M shared L2 Cache which is good but for say 50 us dollars more you can get the E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA which you see has more processor speed and twice the shared L2 Cache which is real important in stopping data bottleneck when running multi tasking. Plus you jump from the FSB: 800MHz to FSB: 1333MHz with the latter processor. As far as a motherboard for the E6750 processor I like the GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L not very expensive and got PCI Express x16-1 slot, PCI Express x1-3slots and PCI Slots 3 slots which always is good for expanding. It has on board 7.1 surround sound but lacks on board video which a lot do anymore so you would need to get a video card. There are many out there and it all depends on you needs as which video card to get. If you want a opinion tell me what your video needs are. For the E4500 you could use the same motherboard or this one the EVGA nForce 650i Ultra very expensive and has PCI Express x16-1 slot, PCI Slots 3 no PCI Express x1 which is why it is expensive. On board 7.1 surround sound as well and lacks video as well. But supports the DDR2-800 Memory if you are going that way. 5. Sound: On board, or not? - Onboard is fine 6. Windows XP or Vista Premium? - XP Pro until they get the bugs out of Vista XP is the way to go. Ram: More than 2 GB? Is DDR2-800 PC6400 OK? - The Gigibyte motherboard I suggested takes DDR2 1066 and Corsair is a god brand 2 GB is plenty for most needs. If you can afford more go for it most motherboard accept up to 8 GB now these days. But I would go no more then 4GB is you plan on getting more then the 2GB you stated as there is no 32bit programs that support more then that. The EVGA motherboard supports DDR-2 800. Corsair being the same brand I would recommend for that type of memory as well. 8. Modem, if Broadband: Single port ADSL? - Yes single port is fine. If you ever plan to run a network you more PCs you could always just get a router and add it on later. 9. DVD drives: Presently have 1 DVD player + 1 DVD burner. 1 drive seems norm now. Should I have both? 1 drive is fine since a burner not only plays all the media but burns them too. For copying discs you just need to rip data to PC first and then copy to new disc. On the fly copying using 2 drives is never a good idea anyway. Always get read errors. Well I hope that helps as I build PCs for a living and told Robert I would give my two cents worth. Have any further questions just ask.

Ya just go up to everyone you meet your age and start a conversation. What is the worse that can happen they tell you to flock off. Oh well just move on to the next one eventually you will find ones that have your same interests. BTW I have no friends cause I killed them all in Satanic Rituals.

Yep for the next 2 days only get a HD drive for your XBOX and 5 free HD movies for 50 bucks. Good deal if you really want it though HD is over and done with.

I resemble that remark and growing out of things is just a everyday accurance. We just need to make it more interesting and also I am with Fatal why in the hell do we not host emulators. Is it because of bandwith?