Class Action Lawsuit Against Microsoft for Mass Xbox Bans
November 21st, 2009 by WordPlopMicrosoft recently banned over 1 million Xbox Live accounts for using modded Xbox hardware. Some reports say the number is now over 2 million. Now there is a lawsuit against Microsoft for the bans. This might seem like a bad idea – after all, modded hardware is against the Xbox Live Terms of Service. However, many people who had their consoles banned are now reporting that not only were they banned from Xbox Live, but they were also banned from their consoles.
How can Microsoft ban you from your console? People are saying that their access to their console’s hard drive was blocked. That means they can’t access a key part of their console, which makes it almost unusable. What gives Microsoft the right to brick consoles for hardware modifications?
Some are reporting that their console was banned because of a simple fan modification. They upgraded the fan on their console to help prevent the infamous Red Ring of Death – RRoD – and now Microsoft apparently bricked their console. How is this fair at all, yet alone legal?
When you buy something, you own it. That is obvious. People who bought an Xbox are the legal owners of that property. How can Microsoft legally make that property unusable? They have the right to ban modders from Xbox Live, which is an extra service to the console. But they should have no right to damage or make unusable the actual hardware that people purchased. This is in effect the same as a Microsoft employee coming to your home and stealing the hard drive out of your Xbox.
I really hope this class action lawsuit goes to court, Microsoft doesn’t settle, and Microsoft loses. This would set a great precedent that would prevent companies from touching the hardware which you paid for and have every right to modify. Think of automobile companies for a second. Wouldn’t they rather have you buy a high-end version of their car for $10,000 more to get an extra 50 horsepower, than have you modify your car by yourself for $2,000 to get the same extra power out of it? Imagine if car companies installed chips in new cars that would disable the wheels from spinning if they detected a custom engine modification? Isn’t this essentially the same thing as Microsoft disabling your hard drive because they detected that you upgraded the fan on your Xbox?
Disabling hardware, your private property which you purchased, should be completely illegal. If these reports of Microsoft bricking consoles for hardware modifications are true, Microsoft should lose the lawsuit. And by the way, the Terms of Service and the EULA rarely hold up in court, because this type of agreement cannot overwrite laws.
Note: I cannot confirm if the reports of consoles being bricked are true, but people all over internet forums are saying the same thing.
Sources: Engadget, multiple forums
XBOX 360 logo copyright Microsoft
How to make text on your netbook or other small screen more visible and easier to read
November 3rd, 2009 by WordPlopIf you are using Windows XP and are on a netbook or using a laptop with a small screen, text might seem difficult to read. The fix for this is to download ClearType Tuner from Microsoft’s XP PowerToys website. This is Microsoft’s own tool for using ClearType text on Windows XP. ClearType is a technology that makes text easier to read by using special antialiasing methods on text (just how video games use it to fix jagged edges.
Below are two screenshots of how ClearType works on the Acer Aspire One netbook.
Before:
After:
The difference this makes on an 11.6″ 1366×768 display is huge. And I also recommend to set the slider to the darkest option, otherwise the text looks a bit blue:
Left 4 Dead 2 Demo Screenshots
November 3rd, 2009 by WordPlopHere are some screenshots from the Left 4 Dead 2 Demo. The demo is buggy and crashes very frequently, but it is very fun. Hopefully Valve will work out all the problems by the game’s release date.
WARNING: Extreme amounts of blood, gore, and violence
Sorry if the page takes long to load or becomes laggy – All 12MB of pictures load at once and are resized into thumbnails using your browser. Read the rest of this entry »
Google Search Deal With Twitter Will Include Tweets in Google Search Results
October 22nd, 2009 by WordPlop
Google has partnered with Twitter to include Twitter updates in Google’s search results. This will have a big impact on both Google’s search results and Twitter. This deal has great potential for news applications, but it can also go really bad if not implemented correctly.
A lot of people use Twitter to post random thoughts, and probably even more use it for self promotion. Companies treat it as a free advertising medium. This means that a lot of the content on Twitter is unprofessional and not search result worthy.
However, the very positive aspect of Twitter can come from news tweets. Through Twitter, people can post news that have literally just happened a few seconds ago. Real news websites simply cannot do this due to lack of resources. With Twitter, there are millions of people who can act as news reporters.
Taking all of this into account, Google needs to find a way to include only real news tweets in their search results. They need to find a way to separate the advertising, promoting, and personal tweets from tweets that are useful and report something relevant. This sounds like a very difficult thing to accomplish, but if anyone can do it, it would be companies with huge budgets, like Google and Microsoft. Microsoft has a similar deal with Twitter.
Twitter being included in Google search results has great potential for real, unedited, live news. However, it needs to be implemented very carefully, or else Google search results will include a lot of garbage.
image copyright Twitter
How to Access Blocked Websites Without Using Proxies
October 21st, 2009 by WordPlop
Most employers block websites such as Facebook and Youtube from being accessed while you’re working. And when they do that, they also block proxy websites that would allow you to access blocked websites. Here is how to get past most filters without the use of any software or proxy-like web services.
Web filter software only filters the URL of websites – its address. However, websites have another address – the IP address. If you enter a website’s IP address into the address field in your browser, it will take you to the website, just like the normal .com address would.
All you have to do is find a website that tells you the IP address of a website. To do this, simply type “website ip lookup” into Google or any search engine, without the quotes. The first result here is Self SEO’s website IP lookup page. If this site gets blocked by your IT department, just find another one.
Now just type in the website you want to visit and get its IP address. For example, using Self SEO’s service, typing in facebook.com gives the IP address 69.63.181.12. All you need to do now is copy the IP address and paste it into your browser’s address bar, and hit Enter. You should now be on the website you wanted to visit, without the need for a proxy.
This simple method works most of the time. It probably won’t work if it’s a small website on a shared server – the IP address will take you to the hosting company’s home page. For Youtube, this method won’t work for watching most videos, because Youtube calls each video from a different server using the youtube.com address – this problem can exist in other websites as well.
WordPlop.com is not responsible for anyone being fired from their job as a result of visiting websites they were not supposed to.
Windows 7 Desktop Gadgets are Nothing New
October 21st, 2009 by WordPlopI don’t get why so many people are talking about Windows 7’s sidebar-free gadgets as a new feature. This feature has existed on Vista all along. You just drag the gadgets off the sidebar, then right click on the sidebar and Close. Yet a lot of people are saying that this is a great new feature. It’s not, it’s been around for a couple of years in Vista.
Windows 7 does have many new features, but this is not one of them. This just proves people are ignorant about Vista and never gave it a real chance.
Sony Catapults PlayStation 3 into a Bravia LCD TV
October 21st, 2009 by WordPlopNot much to say except that it’s amazing that this is Sony who’s actually doing this. Sony Australia is catapulting a Sony PlayStation 3 into a Sony Bravia TV. That just makes it so much better. Video of the destruction below.
How to Clean Your LCD Screen Without any Special Cleaning Products
October 20th, 2009 by WordPlop
You most likely have a dirty laptop screen. Lots of people like to touch their LCD screens for some reason. This makes them disgusting to look at after a while, and they can get really dirty. Yet people still don’t clean them until it’s so dirty that the dirt distorts the colors.
So you don’t want to buy any LCD cleaners because they cost over $10? Good, because there is no reason you should. All you need to clean your screen is your fingernail, a napkin, and your breath.
First off, a warning: if you are not extra careful, you will damage your screen. Try this at your own risk.
When following these steps, be extra gentle and use your brain. LCD screens are easy to damage, so don’t wipe it as if you were cleaning your windshield. Apply almost no pressure – it will take longer to clean, but you won’t crack your screen.
- Turn off the screen.
- Get a napkin (a better alternative is a microfiber cloth, like those for cleaning glasses) and make sure it is an extra soft napkin with absolutely no dirt on it. A tissue or toilet paper might work, but a lot of the time they leave behind tiny pieces.
- Put your mouth a few inches from the screen, and breathe warm air onto it so it fogs up, then gently wipe that area of the LCD. Repeat this until you cover the whole screen.
- Now look at the screen from an angle so you can see if there’s any spots left. If you can’t clean them off with the napkin, use your fingernail to gently scrape the debris off the screen. Then breathe on and wipe that area.
- Look at the LCD at an angle again and repeat until the screen is completely clean.
It’s that simple, and works 99.9% of the time. Save money on LCD cleaning solutions, or better yet, stop touching your screen.
Phoenix Instant Boot Starts Windows 7 in a Few Seconds
October 19th, 2009 by WordPlopPhoenix Instant Boot looks like an impressive new technology that lets computers start up in just a few seconds. But let’s take a closer look at what is really happening.
The video is demonstrating a new BIOS that starts in about one second. The BIOS is supposed to make Windows load instantly as well. But this cannot happen with current hardware and a normal install of Windows. This is the key point – the Windows install. A normal install will have background applications running, more icons on the desktop, a higher resolution, and more things which will make it take longer to start. The video demo shows Windows Aero disabled, a resolution that appears way too low than it’s supposed to be, and it’s obviously a brand new install, maybe with the exception of a program or two installed (but not starting up).
The Windows install shown in the video is customized in a way that a normal user would never have it. That is why it boots so fast. And the thing about it changing how people will use the device – most likely no. It won’t change how people use laptops. It will just let people turn them on quicker. But then, who ever turns off their laptop? Hibernation cuts Windows loading time to half or less, and that’s what laptops do when you close the lid.
Don’t get me wrong – faster is always better when it comes to boot times. But people should also be realistic in terms of how much to expect – you just can’t boot a normal operating system in a few seconds on today’s hardware.
Should you get a 5400 RPM or a 7200 RPM laptop hard drive?
October 19th, 2009 by WordPlop
With more and more laptops coming with an SSD option, is there a point in getting a 5400 RPM hard drive for a laptop? The simple answer is no.
SSD – solid state drives – are soon going to become mainstream in notebooks. Right now, most mid to high end laptops either have an option for an SSD drive or come with it standard. This means the 7200 rpm hard drive will soon be outdated. Yet some laptops still come with 5400 rpm hard drives. If you are looking to buy a laptop that comes with a 5400 rpm hard drive as standard, it is most likely a low end computer. So since 5400 rpm hard drives are getting outdated, should you still buy the laptop with this option? Yes, if you’re getting a good deal on the notebook, you can overlook the hard drive for two reasons – it’s very easy to upgrade in most laptops, and it’s not that big of a speed difference for the average person.
If you want to buy a new hard drive separately for your laptop, then do not get a 5400 rpm hard drive. You can get a 7200 rpm drive for the same price or even cheaper if you look around. In addition, most new 5400 rpm drives are for IDE connections, while 7200 rpm drives are for SATA connections. This means most newer laptops will accept the 7200 rpm drive, and if the price difference is no more than $10, it’s better to get a 7200 rpm drive.
In conclusion, if you find a deal on a laptop but it has a 5400 rpm hard drive, you should still get the laptop. If you’re buying a new hard drive for your laptop as an upgrade, get a 7200 rpm drive over a 5400 rpm drive if the price difference is $10 or less. The difference in speed between the two is not noticeable unless you are doing something like video editing all the time. And contrary to popular belief, a faster hard drive will not make your internet any faster whatsoever – a 5400 rpm hard drive can transfer data many times faster than your internet connection can.
