rridgely

What company could you possibly not disclose that is testing hard drives? Seems a little sketchy honestly. Anyway post your article when it's done, I'm interested but skeptical.

All I'm asking for is a little more info to back up some pretty bold claims. I read lots of stuff about consumer and corporate technology and have never heard these claims. I'm not saying he's wrong I just don't think he's provided enough facts to support his claims.

Who do you work for? I'm not doubting you but your throwing around a lot of "absolute facts" that I've never heard mentioned before. I have WD my book drives that are about 5 years old and work fine. I've never read any articles in mainstream tech journals saying not to use 3.5 externals.

Do you have any mainstream sources for any of this? I have been using WD external drives to years without any problems.

Anyone having issues in windows 8 with flash crashing? I'm constantly having it quit playing videos in IE10 and Google Chrome(both latest versions). I've had this problem since windows 8 came out. I thought it was graphics drivers but those are updated too.(this pc is using core I3 with intel graphics)

Baby It's Cold Outside(ok this ones a classic...) [media][media] (Best Christmas movie ever)

What is your favorite Christmas songs? I've never been a huge fan of the "classic" Christmas songs, but there are a few I listen to a few times each year. Merry Christmas Baby(Springsteen... DUH!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi9kvO2zL2E It Must Be Santa(Bob Dylan) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8qE6WQmNus

One thing I think its important to note is that iOS has GPS applications from the three major GPS makers. Magellan, TomTom, and Garmin all have iOS apps that work very well on iphone and ipad. Android doesn't have any of these.(at least I cant find them on my nexus 7)

I wish apple would buy TomTom. Google maps is cool and all but it's turn by turn directions aren't nearly as good as my TomTom standalone GPS. I like the new app but I wouldn't personally rely on it to take me somewhere I was unfamiliar with.

http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/133824-valve-opengl-is-faster-than-directx-even-on-windows Valve claims their source engine actually runs faster in Open GL. That article says that open gl supports all of the same features ast direct x. I'm not sure how true that is but that article caught my eye a few months ago. I'm actually kind of excited about this. I would love a well put together pc/console hybrid.

I think Microsoft is in trouble. The computing landscape is changing and they are being attacked on all sides. The average user is moving to smart phones and tablets. Even MS office is being ditched by a lot of college kids and students. I know a lot of my peers have started using Google Docs for everything simply because its free and their documents are available on every device they have. I don't think the hard core excell user will ever switch but I believe the average user might not have any reason to bother paying for Microsoft software. I cant tell you how many iPads with keyboard cases I saw in the last half of my college career. I also read this article today: http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/8/3744314/gabe-newell-valve-console-living-room-steam-box If valve seriously embraces linux gaming computers that are meant for being used in the living room, then MS may very well lose the pc gaming crowd as well. These computers may ship with windows but its really looking like valve is pushing for better graphics support in linux. I don't think Linux will become the new favorite desktop OS because of this but it will probably take a serious portion of the gaming market. Steam is a HUGE player in gaming. They have the best games and often the best prices. I cant wait to see how this turns out.

Playing around with my linux partition. This is Ubuntu with the Mate desktop environment installed.

Seems so bizarre that a company could sell radioactive material as a kids toy. I remember seeing something on the history channel once where shoe stores used to use xrays to fit people for shoes. Technology has come a long way.

I just found something kind of cool in chrome. I was trying to save a rubric in my Master's class(college uses blackboard. A terrible software for hosting online classes). I normally use Windows' built in XPS printer to save stuff for offline use. Now chrome saves as PDF natively. Not sure how long its been there, just noticed it.

Before I got married, I used to tease my wife that I was going to propose to her with an "engagement TV" rather than a ring. She would give me such a disappointed look. The ring unfortunately won out in the end. (it was going to be a really nice tv though. )

I use keyboard/mouse on shooters. I tried to play arkham city without a controller and it was just not fun. Same thing with Witcher 2. I use 360 controller for action games.

The problem with win8 is much more than just the start menu. The problem is that the design isn't intuitive at all. Ask a new user to shut down a windows 8 computer. It will take them a while. You have to bring up the charms bar with a keyboard shortcut or a specific mouse gesture. How is that better then a start button? Same thing with applications. The windows 8 menu hides the desktop applications. First thing I wanted to see when I installed Windows 8 was if they changed paint or notepad in any way. It took me a little while to find the applications menu. Sure I could have just typed but that's not how I normally launch programs. Sure once you know these things you can use the OS just fine, but these fell like change just for the sake of change. I currently have a love hate thing going on with win8. Depends on the day how I feel.

Darksiders is an awesome game by the way. It's like Zelda but instead your a horseman of the Apocalypse. Played it a while ago and forgot how cool of a game it is. The combat is like god of war and the exploration is pure zelda, cant beat that. I played it on PS3 though, you will deffinitely need a controller to play this I don't think it would be much fun on keyboard/mouse) I have a ton of games to catch up on over christmas break. Maybe I'll get to these over the summer.

Not sure how many pc gamers there are on here but this is an awesome deal: http://www.humblebundle.com/ Darksiders Saints row 3 Metro 2033 Darksiders Red Faction Armageddon Company of Heroes Pay at least $6 to get the full bundle. All money goes to charity. Games are able to activate on steam.

I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere that only the initial release will be free. I think they plan to make it a subscription like office 365. MIcrosoft will basically be trying to mimic apples minor OSX update schedule.

I tried it and its ok. If anyone is using intel graphics you need this fix: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=117294&p=652365&hilit=intel#p652365 Otherwise your only getting software acceleration instead of using your video card.(will lead to much higher cpu usage)

I have a Win8 login time of about 14 seconds(timed with my iphone). This pc has a SSD for the windows partition.

How old are you? Do you have kids?

Sorry but putting hacked versions of key windows components onto a computer isn't a good idea. I cant imagine this will lead to anything but a buggy windows install. I've been using windows 8 since it came out and I've gotten to know its good functions and bad functions. Some of what this tool is replacing is actually a real improvement(the ribbon interface in explorer is actually great). I did buy start 8 and its a fantastic program. I'm all for customizing computers to your liking but what your link suggests will probably cause more harm than good.

Start8 has a lot more features than just bringing back the start menu. One of my favorites is the ability to have the windows key bring you back to the desktop when using metro apps.(I still find it hard to get out of the metro apps sometimes.) I also like that it lets me boot straight to the desktop after login. I really tried to like the metro interface but those apps are useless to me on a desktop. I may still grab a touch screen laptop but I'm sticking with this on my desktops.