| |
August 5, 2003
|
 |
Man jailed for linking to bomb sites
A federal judge sentenced a man to a year in prison Monday for creating an anarchist Web site with links to sites on how to build bombs.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson sentenced Sherman Austin to more than the prosecutor had recommended under a plea bargain.
Austin, 20, pleaded guilty in February to distributing information related to explosives.
Austin told the judge Monday he "wasn't really thinking" when he created the Web site. "I'd be devastated if someone used this information to harm others," he said.
Austin said he took a plea bargain because he feared his case was eligible for a terrorism enhancement, which could have added 20 years to his sentence. The plea deal had called for him to serve four months.
The United States: Freedom of Speech When It Suits Our Own Needs
|
|
|
Back To School
CNet is running an article about what to buy when you're going back to school.
If the pictures are any indication, they are clearly gearing this to college students.
In typical CNet fashion they decide to make a lot of recommendations for what you need.
If you're a gaming freak this one's for you:
"Characteristics: Sleep-deprived from the hours spent finishing his latest favorite game, the game freak unwinds from the helm of his high-powered PC's keyboard or with a gaming console controller in hand. He's always playing the game of the moment--from first-person shooters to racing titles--and craves the gear that'll help him bring his A game."
As a "gaming freak" you can't live without a 42" Plasma TV, an Alienware Area 51 3.0GHz Canterwood PC, and 19" LCD monitor.
With tax, shipping, etc. those three together are roughly $7,000 USD. This is about 1 year of tuition at most state universities.
Suspending disbelief for a moment (how many college students to you know who have $3,800 Plasma TVs?) we still are led to believe that as a gamer you should have THREE expensive monitors for one computer.
I see no better way to spend my money than on a TV that is prone to burn in, a PC that you could build yourself for half the price, and an off-brand LCD.
Here are my recommendations if you're in College and you just sold your ovaries via the campus paper / you sued the University for discrimination and settled out of court:
1) Get a DLP Rear Projection T.V. (samsung has a few nice models in 40" 50" and 61")
2) Build your own computers and give the money you save to me.
3) Planar 19" is nice and the NEC's have a really nice track record of being a high-quality LCD.
Another ace in the hole for CNet.
|
|
|
Summer Releases
I'm a little disappointed with the releases in technology this Summer.
AMD, as we all know, is diving headfirst into 64-Bit computing and the Opteron processor is available although motherboard support is pretty non-existent. Especially for those of us who build our own machines. If anything the new processors will drastically reduce the Athlon XP line of processors which are already pretty darn low.
I've been browsing the latest offerings of computer cases from Lian-Li, CoolerMaster, etc. and am surprised at how few aesthetically pleasing new designs there are. With the exception of Alienware's new case (which some love and some, I'm sure, hate). I'm not sure if I enjoy the disturbing trend to deck your computer case out until the point where it's ugly. Functionally, I don't want 6inches of plastic door sticking out from the front. A lot of CoolerMaster's ATC cases manage to be stunning without having a bunch of "spider / xazer" crap glued onto them. But at CoolerMaster's pricing I'm amazed that anyone would buy their cases. If CoolerMaster managed to start bundling premium Power Supplies ala Antec then you might be able to justify the pricing.
|
|
|
|
