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TheBaken

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  1. Like
    TheBaken reacted to LinusTech in deceptive reviews and shoddy advertisement practices being cracked down on in youtube re Machinima/xbox 1   
    A lot of assumptions being made here.
    We don't take money to do reviews. We never have.
    We take money to do advertisements, which are never labeled as reviews.
    NVIDIA provided the graphics cards (and Cooler Master sent cases and coolers, ASUS sent motherboards, Intel sent CPUs, Kingston sent SSDs and RAM, Swiftech sent water cooling gear) for our editing workstations for product placement in the whole room water cooling series of videos we produced featuring this hardware extensively.
    In the grand scheme of things, $6000 of graphics cards (don't imagine that's their BOM cost on them either) is a great deal for 1-2M impressions on a series of videos about using them.. but those videos were NOT a review. They were about a clearly sponsored (we said it was more than once) outrageous project.
    As for sending "keeper" vs "loaner" units of hardware, yeah for many products we just don't do loaners anymore, but more than anything else this is to do with me not feeling like it's worth my time to play email tag for shipping labels and spend an hour driving to FedEX and filling out stupid international bill of landing and commercial invoice nonsense over like a $100 item that costs more to send back than to just not bother with anyway.
    That and quite frankly even a negative review (for some reason) often generates a lot of sales for the manufacturer.. so as far as I'm concerned they can eat the cost of the item and I'll do whatever I want with it when we're done reviewing it - whether that's continuing to use it personally (Pebble Steel and iPhone 6 come to mind) - or re-visiting it only when we need to re-do our comparative numbers (here's a lesson on why this is necessary and we can't just re-use old numbers)
    And on the subject of the Pebble and iPhone 6 - these are both items that were NOT provided by the manufacturer. One was purchased for my own use and the other was provided by a separate sponsor who makes skins for phones (dBrand), but I didn't necessarily mention this at the time because who cares? It doesn't colour my impressions of the device.
    Here's an item I wasn't allowed to keep and won one of the two editor's choice awards I've ever given out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1uj6wQTu58
    Here's an item was allowed to keep that I ripped apart saying it was worse across the board than the two similar products from other manufacturers that I compared it against: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O1aCNrjV64
    Here's an item I was allowed to keep that I basically ripped apart on camera and sent it back anyway because it had so little value to me I didn't even want to give it to a friend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3AgcltUM9s
    And I could do this all day..
    You may notice that most of the items we review we are fairly positive about. There is a reason for this, and it has nothing to do with being paid to review it.
    I don't generally bother to review stuff that I already know is stupid junk.
    The bottom line is this. You can either trust me or not trust me. Ultimately that's your deal. My job is to do what I do, and the people who recognize it for what it is - my opinion being given to you - will follow, and the others can go find someone who maybe they think "hasn't sold out" but might just "happen to agree with them" to listen to. Enjoy.
  2. Like
    TheBaken reacted to The_Strict_Nein in Comcast Now Says It Will Not Sue FCC   
    Which is perfectly fine. Now small companies can come in and instantly set up in all the former Comcast areas, losing Comcast massive amounts of money and hopefully making them bankrupt.
     
    Title II is chemotherapy. It's gonna get worse before it gets better.
  3. Like
    TheBaken reacted to Victorious Secret in FCC Approves Net Neutrality rules, reclassifies broadband as a utility (+ other NN updates/FCC rulings from the hearing)   
    Well, thats it folks. It happened. ISPs are now utilities under Title II, the FCC passed it by 3-2. Net neutrality is a thing. 
     
    Don't expect it to just be over, however. Many groups have strongly suggested that they will have lawsuits against the FCC over this ruling, what does it matter now that the FCC has a proper ruling in place AND most likely will have congressional backing from the democrats on this. 
     
     
     
     
     

     
    So the big vote is happening today and since its a pretty important topic I figured I would make one thread to keep all the news of today in order. I think its important and I think people should care about what goes on. 

    That being said, here is the first piece of news I've come across for the day, involving Google (and others) pushing the FCC to update their language on NN to prevent ISPs from having a loophole to abuse. 
     
    The loophole in question would have allowed ISPs to charge websites for sending content to their consumers. We can argue that this is a good thing AND we can argue that Google (and others) are flexing their lobbying power after seeing how the game is played; we can debate if thats a good or bad thing later but for now its a good thing in this scenario. 
     
     
     
    Update #2
    Ajit Pai is going all out against NN and is making some frankly embarrassing statements for someone who should be better educated in the issue at hand. 5 guesses as to which ISP is funding his next political campaign. 
     
    He claims that NN will hurt companies, which is ironic since stocks shot up when Wheeler announced his plans. Oh boy, someone is grasping at straws and edging closer to the "Think of the children" defence. 
     
    This tweet really says it all about what the opposition to NN is like. 





     
     
    Update #3
    FCC overturns state laws that protect ISPs from local competition
     
    Municipal broadband networks could expand because of FCC's controversial vote.
     
     
    The FCC is on a roll today, effectively telling ISPs to tuck tail and run with a new ruling to allow municipalities to run their own show and not worry about ISPs blocking their moves. Something that supersedes state laws (as it should, since some states have no goddamn idea how to actually run the show)
     
     
    Update #4
     

     
    Okay, these next parts are from the Verge stream so thats the source, its mainly of Wheelers comments as he is dropping bombs and being fairly serious about this all (I guess he got tired of the speeches delivered by Pai) 
     
     
     
    THE AYES HAVE IT.
    NN PASSED!
     
    The vote passed 3-2, net neutrality as Wheeler wanted it (or as close to) has been passed by the FCC. 
     

     
     
    Overall, this went how many people hoped it would go. Wheeler essentially did this the entire time:
     

     
     
     
    For those wondering what Wheeler is actually like, there is a nice background of the man and what he actually did before he became a FCC commissioner:
     

       
     
    http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/fcc-chairman-tom-wheeler-net-neutrality-plan-google-115502.html
    http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/02/fcc-overturns-state-laws-that-protect-isps-from-local-competition/
    http://live.theverge.com/fcc-title-ii-net-neutrality-live-blog/
    http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/26/fcc-net-neutrality/
    http://gizmodo.com/fcc-passes-strongest-net-neutrality-rules-in-americas-h-1688204371
  4. Like
    TheBaken reacted to Omon_Ra in More Snowden Leaks, NSA to world: "GET REKT"   
    Der Spiegel has just released a report on new documents from Edward Snowden, detailing even more of the NSA's antics. It's kind of a long read, but the TL;DR version is much the same as the rest of the Snowden leaks: the NSA likes haxxoring, finding every way to collect all the datas and ideally leaving no trace. None of this comes as a huge surprise, which in itself is a sad and scary prospect, but there are some new details that I imagine will ruffle the feathers of the international community; especially some of the US's closest allies. On to some of my thoughts in the article:
     
    They have tapped into other countries' intelligence networks to collect that countries' data. The NSA went with the 'I Drink Your Milkshake' reference; I propose, 'SIGINT-CEPTION'
     
     
     
     
    They're working hard to hide any trace of responsibility and dodge any potential legal actions:
     
     
     
     
    Then there's this, 'Yo dawg, I heard you like spying!' and the shuffling of data to mask the origin/destination.
     
     
     
    One of the many issues I have with all of this, is that the NSA would be hugely naive to think that whatever tools, patches, hacks, software, etc they are using, will remain only in the hands of the NSA. If Stuxnet has taught us anything, it will get out, and people will find ways to use it.
     
    Then there's the recent Obama announcement about going after hackers with harsher penalties. Nearly everything that would be considered 'hacking' by a civilian, is being done ten-fold (at the least) by the government itself.
     
    There was a point in time where this kind of government spying, hacking and surveillance was in the realm of tin-foil hat conspiracy theorists and dystopian science-fiction. Keep in mind a lot of these documents are several years old, which begs the question: what are they using now?
     

     
    Full article with links to PDF's of the Snowden documents:
    http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/new-snowden-docs-indicate-scope-of-nsa-preparations-for-cyber-battle-a-1013409.html
  5. Like
    TheBaken reacted to xox in Windows 10 to Still Offer a 32-bit Option   
    It's not about that, it's mostly people on 64-bit systems who use programs that don't work on 64-bit, just ask like every UK hospital ever.
    Programs like IBM PCIS are still in use today, it doesn't work on 64-bit, so they have to use 32-bit windows. There are other programmes too which are 32-bit only, and it costs tens of millions of pounds to upgrade the infrastructure behind that programme; if you were a business, you too would want 32-bit Windows 10.
  6. Like
    TheBaken reacted to MoonSpot in North Korea has played a bit too rough with the US, US Gov to respond   
    Yea, I don't know if bombing a country of brainwashed and exploited people over a movie falls in line with the spirit of:
    “Give me your tired, your poor,
    Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
    The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
    Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
    I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
    But it's apparently a brave new world. One in which I have yet to find a link to FBI official statement. A lot of foxnews and RT stuff though(makes me skittish).
  7. Like
    TheBaken reacted to Alec Harpers in Post Linus Memes Here! << -Original thread has returned   
    Oliver Twist/Linus

     



     

     

    Thanx to @loganm for the screen grab

  8. Like
    TheBaken got a reaction from Osama Adam in [NOT TRUE] Assassin's Creed Unity XB1 version has better textures than the PC   
    That actually makes a surprising amount of sense, and frankly I don't blame you in the least bit.
  9. Like
    TheBaken got a reaction from Kherm in [NOT TRUE] Assassin's Creed Unity XB1 version has better textures than the PC   
    That actually makes a surprising amount of sense, and frankly I don't blame you in the least bit.
  10. Like
    TheBaken got a reaction from digitalnav in [NOT TRUE] Assassin's Creed Unity XB1 version has better textures than the PC   
    That actually makes a surprising amount of sense, and frankly I don't blame you in the least bit.
  11. Like
    TheBaken reacted to Valkexia in Skyrim mod help   
    A more efficient way is to use Mod Organizer. It's easier to install, uninstall, and rearrange mods.
     
    The best way is to follow a guide. Skyrim STEP is one of the most detailed http://wiki.step-project.com/STEP:2.2.9
    The most advanced and detailed guide is http://wiki.step-project.com/User:Neovalen/Skyrim_Revisited_-_Legendary_Edition It includes graphics, stability, and some gameplay. Follow this guide and you can say goodbye to most CTDs.
     
    If you just want some mods:
    Skyrim Realistic Overhaul is overall the best texture pack. There's a link in the guides.
    SMIM for meshes
    Skyrim Flora Overhaul
    Tamriel Reloaded is a series of mods that deviates from vanilla. It includes textures, new trees, and new grass. It's my favorite series of graphic mods.
    Book of Silence
    Serenity ENB is one of most best-looking ENB preset. It's also one of the most taxing, though it can be tweaked to be less taxing without losing too much quality.
    These are my personal choices but following the Skyrim Revisited: Legendary Edition guide is still the best way to go. Also, wiki.step-project.com and forum.step-project.com have a lot of resources to learn from.
     
    I don't recommend Skyrim HD 2k, even the lite version. It uses too much VRAM in a lot of interiors. Skyrim Realistic Overhaul is the way to go.
    Install as little mods as possible. I, myself, have at least 200 mods I can't play without but I'd rather have less if possible.
     
    Other relevant info
    http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/50244/?
    http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/55921/?
    http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/50214/?
  12. Like
    TheBaken reacted to Mew in Cops can make you unlock your phone if you use your fingerprint to unlock.   
    I'd like to make it known that this is really easy to get around, at least for iOS. If a cop asks for you to unlock your phone, try to restart your phone because TouchID will not work after a restart, it requires a pin after 48 hours of not unlocking or after a reboot. To restart your iPhone, simply hold the power and home button for a couple seconds.
  13. Like
    TheBaken reacted to Linusinium in Antares Rocket failure results in explosion.   
    Not stupd bro. Just paste the full youtube link, a shortened url won't work
  14. Like
    TheBaken reacted to swagfag in First video game you had/wanted to upgrade your computer for   
    you shouldnt feel old, you should feel fast
  15. Like
    TheBaken reacted to Victorious Secret in Nvidia: Average selling prices of graphics cards can grow further   
    Here is the sad thing. 
     
    You're acting as if AMD wouldn't say the same thing. AMD is not some saint. Both Nvidia and AMD are in it to win it. Not to bend over backwards and take it up the ass from customers. 
     
    If AMD could get away with their own Titan Z for 3k, they would. They so would, don't kid yourselves otherwise. AMD is not the "good guy". They're the bad guys who just suck at being profitable like Nvidia is.
     
    All Nvidia said is that the average prices are going up, PC gamers are buying more expensive stuff, expensive hardware is more expensive to make, costs are driven up as a result of the demand and the restricted supply. Making GPUs is not cheap or easy, both in manufacturing and in the RD. You 780s actually do cost a lot more to make than your 750s. They cost more as a result, and market demand pushes those prices up (or down) as it sees fit. 
     
    AMD would say the exact same thing. Anyone who knows anything about how business works understands that. 
     
    The rest of the children here clearly don't, and its getting tiresome to have this constant bashing of either company as if either company is on the "consumer side" of things. 
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