42 replies to this topic

[nerfsharpie6]

I did have a fan on it. Two actually, one is the external attachable fan, and the other was a varied speed fan that you would use to move air in a room. It lasted about a year and 2 weeks, but thats the fatal flaw you have to deal with on the gen ones (white). How ever the gen 2 (elite) is better built and has a lesser chance at succumbing to RROD. They must have been tired of having so many shipped they fixed it with the elite's. So as not to be off topic as much...

Has anyone figured out how to get parties into a netflix instant watch? I heard that you could do that, but I guess not, must have changed it before release.

[Talio]

The NXE is...well its a Microsoft idea. You still have to give them props for trying. And truly the Netflix instant watch is just excellent. The 8-way chat is good for when you are having clan meetings, or trying to talk to friends in different games. But the avatars are a slight rip off of the Mii's, and the fact that there are only 4 games out for your avatars costing 10 dollars a piece.

But sadly...I got...THE RINGS. Thats right RROD. Blast the design team who put looks over reliability.

You know that's a good point. Compared to some of the shit microsoft pulls, they seem to have gotten it pretty on the money with xbox. Console loyalties aside, the fact that it doesn't physically catch your entertainment center on fire is a step in the right direction. NXE might bite it pretty hard, but at least it's not Vista.

Okay, that's enough geek from me.

Talio.

[nerfsharpie6]

You know that's a good point. Compared to some of the shit microsoft pulls, they seem to have gotten it pretty on the money with xbox. Console loyalties aside, the fact that it doesn't physically catch your entertainment center on fire is a step in the right direction. NXE might bite it pretty hard, but at least it's not Vista.

Okay, that's enough geek from me.

Talio.

Microsoft only knows how to build some decent stuff because they have a good build team when it comes to consoles. Look at the original Xbox. Sure its huge, but it was reliable as all hell. The (in my opinion) few flaws the 360 has is lack of blu-ray, and good ventilation. Which hey I can live with out blu-ray but ventilation is imporatant if you want to keep it for more than its expected lifespan. And yes, not having your entertainment center NOT burn down is a huge plus.

Don't even get me started on Vista. I'm still using XP and have no plan to switch unless for Ubuntu, or when ever the new Ops system comes out from Microsoft.

[Chuck Norris]

I haven't downloaded it yet, and not going to. Two of my friends have gotted rrod within a few days of downloading it, they've both had theirs for quite awhile with no problems. Too much of a coinidence to take a chance in my opinion.

[bakenbitz]

There is no way that the new update causes RROD. That is such bullshit. I hate when people start shit up like "Write here if you got RROD after playing X game. It was just a coincidence. It is impossible that a simple software update would cause the motherboard/whatever to disconnect.

[nerfsharpie6]

I actually wouldn't doubt the fact it helped play a role in the death of their xbox's but if they had them for a while it was going to heppen with or with out the update.

And if you don't know what RROD is...GOOGLE MUTHA FUCKA! Its a hardware failure. From overheating.

[bakenbitz]

I actually wouldn't doubt the fact it helped play a role in the death of their xbox's but if they had them for a while it was going to heppen with or with out the update.

And if you don't know what RROD is...GOOGLE MUTHA FUCKA! Its a hardware failure. From overheating.

I know what it is, I've gotten it three times. Yes it is a hardware failure. Yes it is from overheating. Yes the overheating causes the solder to come loose and thus detaching a very important chip of sorts. Thank you, goodbye.

[CrazyIvan VI]

I actually wouldn't doubt the fact it helped play a role in the death of their xbox's but if they had them for a while it was going to heppen with or with out the update.

And if you don't know what RROD is...GOOGLE MUTHA FUCKA! Its a hardware failure. From overheating.

I know what it is, I've gotten it three times. Yes it is a hardware failure. Yes it is from overheating. Yes the overheating causes the solder to come loose and thus detaching a very important chip of sorts. Thank you, goodbye.

And they've fixed it for free, every time it's happened, so why not just take the risk and download it? You can't play online without it, and that's kinda' the best part of videogames... in my opinion.

[nerfsharpie6]

No doubt its fun. I play with friends from my school and our former clan leader is from Scotland. But it can...be frustrating at times to say the least.
Oh and baknbitz, that post was for people who DIDN"T know what RROD is. And my friend has had it 4 times, one from a power surge. So those that have gone through know what its about.

[Lynx]

I have had two 3/4s RRODs.

I swear it better be fixed by Monday when I can see it again. If not... Microsoft + 360 packed with explosives?

[Talio]

I've never heard of it causing red ring of death. System freezes multiple times over yes...but I only experienced that once. In all earnest, being in the technology industry, windows gets a far worse rap then it deserves. As end users, which if you only own and run a desktop, you are a end users, you really don't know nearly as much as you think you know about computers. If you have your MCSE and understand all the aspects and operations of the operating system, then you have the true advantage of being able to criticize it. Otherwise, you just don't know enough about the system to keep it running properly. Then again, with a Mac, you can honestly just do whatever you want and nothing happens to it. I've owned one for almost three years and it's still way better then any pc I've ever had after 6 months. But even then again, I'm a lazy mother fucker. Whatever...NXE sucks but it could be worse. Get over it bitches.

Talio.

[linish22]

Damn. My 360 is broken (NOT RROD) and they come out with a new HUGE update and games. Wow.

[nerfsharpie6]

That sucks for you linish.

Tailo: I got so tired of Windows. I use it at school, and used it home everyday for...consequently six years on XP and more on both '95 and '98. It just got shoved down my throat that Windows was the end all be all OS. But after awhile I got tired of having to constantly update it for security. Thats a huge flaw with it in my eyes, is the vulnerability of the OS. I have no issues with some pf the programs, but the threat of virus's just became tiring after a while. Thats one of the main reasons I switched to Ubuntu. I don't have to worry about any mal-ware because if you have a root password set you can't install anything unless you enter it. Plus its free and comes with some cool things along with the OS like openoffice.org, GIMP, Image viewers, paint programs, dictionary, seventeen games, Firefox, server clients, remote desktop viewers, Pidgin instant messaging (you enter one account on your messenger of choice and you get that account), audio extraction, cd/dvd burning and creation, plus WINE which is a Windows emulator and allows you to run some programs flawlessly. One of the few things about Ubuntu I DON'T like is that you have to manually update the OS by going into your command prompt (called terminal) and type in: sudo apt-get install update. But Windows does have its advantages like being able to hold XAMPP servers with minimal installation effort. The same goes for anything you install on Windows, is minimal effort to install it.

As for being on-topic: I hear if you softmod your Xbox, you can choose between Dashboards but I don't know.

[Talio]

That sucks for you linish.

Tailo: I got so tired of Windows. I use it at school, and used it home everyday for...consequently six years on XP and more on both '95 and '98. It just got shoved down my throat that Windows was the end all be all OS. But after awhile I got tired of having to constantly update it for security. Thats a huge flaw with it in my eyes, is the vulnerability of the OS. I have no issues with some pf the programs, but the threat of virus's just became tiring after a while. Thats one of the main reasons I switched to Ubuntu. I don't have to worry about any mal-ware because if you have a root password set you can't install anything unless you enter it. Plus its free and comes with some cool things along with the OS like openoffice.org, GIMP, Image viewers, paint programs, dictionary, seventeen games, Firefox, server clients, remote desktop viewers, Pidgin instant messaging (you enter one account on your messenger of choice and you get that account), audio extraction, cd/dvd burning and creation, plus WINE which is a Windows emulator and allows you to run some programs flawlessly. One of the few things about Ubuntu I DON'T like is that you have to manually update the OS by going into your command prompt (called terminal) and type in: sudo apt-get install update. But Windows does have its advantages like being able to hold XAMPP servers with minimal installation effort. The same goes for anything you install on Windows, is minimal effort to install it.

As for being on-topic: I hear if you softmod your Xbox, you can choose between Dashboards but I don't know.

I get what your saying. As an end user, it's very bland and seems to be really bad, but it's not a toy. It's actually very powerful tool once you get under the hood. Not to the level that a nix system might have, but in reality, linux and unix are move of a toy at first. Most people load it up on their machine and mess around with it. The ones who get really good do some cool shit, but you have to be a real fucking nerd to get to that level. Which is awesome...I'm a nerd and in absolutely aw of the things the open source community accomplish, but in the business world when you have a 170 tickets sitting in your queue, you just don't have the time to sit down and play at it. The good thing about Windows is it's accessibility. If you want to become a Windows SA, it's actually a very simple thing to do. It's hard, but simple. A few years ago when I did research on becoming a Unix SA I found that just having your Sun cert wasn't enough. Sun certs are for techs, not high level unix SA's. It's like a true to life apprenticeship. So for a guy like me who makes his money from tech and works for a company where they see computers as a necessity rather then a source of enjoyment like you and I do, Windows is the obvious way to go. It gets done what you need it to get done and it's got enough power to run a company. From a purely business stand point, you've got to see how windows is a better investment. For one thing, the equipment is cheaper. Sun servers are some of the most expensive and hardest to maintain. Granted they're bullet proof and last forever, but when you have one of those flukes where shit just stops working, it can be a daunting task to bring it back up. If your that kind of guy who finds something like that fun, then you absolutely need to drop everything and go directly into Unix administration because you will pull fucking bank! And that's the other thing, the people it takes to run a Unix environment are absolute top talent and that doesn't come cheap. Because of this, the biggest companies tend to be the only ones who can afford this and also happen to be some of the most miserable to work for.

But to break it down, if your responsible with your system and understand the workings, you can run Windows very very well. It's a pain in the ass having to download patches and all that shit, but it's not like it's hard, it's just a pain in the ass. Have you ever updated a Sun system? Holy shit. I can't tell you how many times I've been up at 2 in the morning troubleshooting someone who just flashed the firmware and now their box won't come back up. You get it with PC based systems as well, but it's easier to troubleshoot that and I don't need a FE. But who knows...I can't tell the future of technology anymore then anyone else. i'm the kind of likes everything and feel like all the systems have a place. It's really when you start using that management term "synergy" that you can really see some bitching operations. Coming from JP Morgan, where my last job was, I can say that I really saw a top notch IT operation and they have just as many windows systems running as anything else. Actually they have more.

I recommend Mac's whole heartedly for home users, because yes, to keep a windows system healthy you pretty much have to be a professional and actually give a fuck. And I think that most home users just don't want to have to give a fuck about their computer. They want things to work like their TV. You hit a button and it comes on. You can sit back, do what you need to do and relax. You work hard all day and the last thing you want to do is come home update drivers. And Apple is really in touch with that. Say what you will about them and how god damn expensive they are, but they're not selling the stuff to college kids and poor. They're selling it to the office worker who has the money to make the investment. It's not for everyone, but I feel like if you can pony up the cash and don't want to give a shit about your computer, Mac's the way to go.

Jesus christ....way off topic. Fucking Sundays man.

Talio.

[nerfsharpie6]

Thats just a wall of fucking text. And I read it twice...I have no life.

I get what your saying about Windows being able to run companies, and do it extremely well. I've seen it at schools, offices, and doctor's offices, and it performs excellently. I'm just saying from what I've read on some "specialty" forums, Windows security is easy to get through if your a determined individual. I'm not saying it sucks security wise, its just more vulnerable under certain circumstances. After that I don't know about Sun servers, but apparently they are complicated as hell to run and maintain. I'm just interested in the software aspect of computers like Tech support. Thats something I'm interested in as a career and hobby. I guess I should start looking into stuff like that.

I can't type enough to compare to your wall of Effeminate text about Windows Pro's. I just don't know enough to talk to you about it. I feel so owned right now. Off topic, but a good conversation.

[Talio]

Thats just a wall of fucking text. And I read it twice...I have no life.

I get what your saying about Windows being able to run companies, and do it extremely well. I've seen it at schools, offices, and doctor's offices, and it performs excellently. I'm just saying from what I've read on some "specialty" forums, Windows security is easy to get through if your a determined individual. I'm not saying it sucks security wise, its just more vulnerable under certain circumstances. After that I don't know about Sun servers, but apparently they are complicated as hell to run and maintain. I'm just interested in the software aspect of computers like Tech support. Thats something I'm interested in as a career and hobby. I guess I should start looking into stuff like that.

I can't type enough to compare to your wall of Effeminate text about Windows Pro's. I just don't know enough to talk to you about it. I feel so owned right now. Off topic, but a good conversation.

Fuck it, computers are my life so I'm gonna keep talking about it.

Windows is about the easiest thing to hack. Honestly. Actually I'd hate to say it, but so is unix. One SSH or telnet terminal session gets intercepted and you're done. Telnet sends your password across in PLAIN TEXT! SSH is a simple encryption that either hat would be embarrassed not to be able to crack. Your systems is only as good as the network that's behind it. That's why Cisco is in business. A windows system is not vulnerable at all if it's coming through a 6500 with a sup mod. That'll fucking stop anything. It's 1024 bit encryption and even once you get in, you have to understand the network hierarchy and be in full admin mode. To get into full admin mode not only do you need the admin password, you have to know the command and the command you make up when you first set up your network. Then once you have that you have to know what Vlans are available and even then, you only get a huge list of IP's and mac addresses. The point is, all of this work isn't worth it to any hacker. Most of them are after credit card numbers and it's way easier to hack into someones wireless network and sniff their traffic. Besides, Windows systems are not vulnerable at all if you keep up with the security patches and have your virus definitions up to date. It's far from bullet proof, but those two things make it extremely difficult for any hacker and that's all you have to do. Make it more of a pain in the ass to hack your system then the next guy. And as long as your responsible, there will always been hundreds of thousands more people who haven't done it.

Sun servers are weird. The hardware is standard proc, board, drive and memory, but the processor isn't like a pc. It's just handles bit management completely differently. I don't know enough about it to talk any more about it and that's it's only weakness. You basically have to be a sun FE and go through their training to really get it. I heard they are starting to use some intel chips in their boxes, but I don't see that lasting long. They're great servers though. Really do last forever. You buy a V440 or a T2000 right now and it really could be the last server you'll ever need....If you're a good Unix admin...and well I've already addressed this.

If you want to get into the business it's really not that hard. Major in technology in college. Keep in mind that a Computer Science degree is programming. You'll get alot of support stuff to, but it's mostly programming. I'd suggest something like Business Technology or Computer Network Engineering. Do well, but don't worry. Having a degree is enough. Hell, you can go to community college if you want. While in college try to get a position in one of the labs. You'll sit in the computer room and help people with their problems. Congrats, you are officially in the support industry. That's how I got my start. I got a job in a little computer lab that University of Delaware maintained off campus while I was going to school for Network Engineering. Then you want to be constantly trolling the school job database for part tech positions. Look out for Tape Ops and Help Desk type jobs. Both suck horribly and you'll probably ending up working weird hours, but let me be honest with you. If you're not comfortable with working weird hours, do not go into this business. I've got 5 years experience as a tech and I still work off hours. It'll all be worth it when I'm a senior admin in my 40's pulling 6 figures. So yeah, get a job with a company in some silly position in tech support. This does two things. First, it gets experience on your resume which is more important than anything else including college. I never finished my degree because I got into a good tech position that the hours just didn't allow me to go. I'd go back now, but with my experience and certifications, a bachelors would be irrelevant. I'll only ever go back if I plan on going to grad school (I won't). The second thing you accomplish is getting your foot in the door. Once your in help desk or in my case, Tape ops, be the best fucking help desk or tape operator ever. And it's easy to do this because most people in those positions are just unmotivated office workers. Be the best at that job and make friends with everyone in the tech department. Eventually a real tech job will open up and thats the time to go straight to the highest level manager you can get to and ask for the job face to face. The guy will be really impressed by your courage to just walk up and ask him for a job and you have the advantage of making him look you in the eye and say no. Not many high level managers will do this. They'll just be so impressed with you that they'll probably just give you the job. Again, this is exactly how I did it. Don't be discouraged by corporate bullshit though and soon enough your gonna find out what corporate bullshit is. I hate it, but it's a necessary evil in this business.

So yeah, there's my advice to you that you didn't ask for.

And yeah...I'm used to the NXE now. I'm over it.

Talio.

[silentsnipe]

I, personally, hate the new theme. I hate how you can't swear on it when your like 13. I hate the avatars. The music. UGH! I hate it.

[nerfsharpie6]

How did we get way off topic? I don't care because this is an enlightening conversation.

I've heard that Telnet is a cheap whore like that. But thats why some company's shell out the cash for encryption programs like PGP. It allows you to encode and encrypt plain text transmissions between the sender and receiver or receiver's. Sure its only a thing that slows hackers down, but some will just ignore it if its over 256 bit encryption, to much work, and to much time spent on something that could be useless. But anything under that with an MD5 check sum is easy prey when the right tools are used. If the pass phrase or word is in the data base of a brute force attack then it will get the pass eventually, but it takes time and then you have to sift through the packets and find which password or phrase belongs to which if intercepting multiple packets. Thats why with some encryptions, it only takes a 512 bit or more phrase to register, especially with homebrew encryption. The problem with homebrew encryption though, is that you have to take the time to code, syntax, compile, and execute it, even though there are no guarantee's it will work. When I had XP I had three encrypted files to hold anything that I deemed important such as tax return statements or other gov't letters. For the algorithm alone I used Twofish-Serpent-AES combo and SHA-512 header. The passphrase was about 60 characters, and I used a unique mp3 key file. On top of that I used AVG and spy-bot search and destroy as my Virus protection. The only thing I didn't do and I regret it now because I should have done it, was not close any unused ports. Port listening is a bitch, because a good hacker can sniff out traffic on your network, acquire passwords, and even open back doors to open you for an attack. But your right the point id to make it a pain for a hacker to get you. Just to prove how lazy some people are I have a little story to tell...

On a forum I frequent, there was a contest to see who could write the most well written article in any field the site had in its article data base, and who could develop the most unique codes for php, sql, C++ etc etc. The winner would be eligible to receive a list of OVER 500 people's IP address's and other info. That was just for the first month of the contest alone. The admin who was doing the contest had well over 3,000 people or more to give away.

Now if thats not scary than I don't know what is.


I guess if I'm going to get into the tech support department I'll need to do some study on SUN servers. They seem like the best server to use, but a pain to maintain. Hell I would take a good server thats a pain in the ass to maintain than a server that could be hacked by a script kiddie....
And helping people in stuff like this is a plus for me, I enjoy trying to help people when it comes to computers. Now I thought to be a tech support guy you HAD to have at least a bachelor's in computer science. But if all I have to do is major in Compute Network Engineering than hell, I might just have found my major...thank you. I might do a minor in Business Technology just to say that I have it. And the advice that I didn't ask for, you just helped to relieve some of my stress. Now that I know what to do and major in all I need to do is start looking for scholarships. And if getting into a tech spot in the labs for this, is a huge help than I'll have to consider it when I go to college.

And how was University of Delaware? I only live like 15-20 minutes from one of the campus's on route 13. But that might change if I move to Florida. Any way, thanks for the advice.

And I might get my 360 back before Christmas! I hope....


Ya...my turn to write a small wall of text. Plus I'm going to Radioshack tonight to apply for a job.

Edited by nerfsharpie6, 15 December 2008 - 04:36 PM.