In my apartment...it's mere seconds of life, as they get squished upon first sight. But that's the problem, the fact that I have to squish them...the fact that my apartment has cockroaches to begin with!!! See, I moved into this roach-infested sh*thole about 4 months ago and am now seriously regretting ever doing so. At the time, it looked clean, but I soom came to realize it wasn't. Just the other day my landlord tried to do something about it, they used those indoor foggers in all the apartments, but it still hasn't done much, as I'm still killing them left and right. I want nothing more than to get out of this place, but I signed a year lease, and if I break that lease, I lose my security deposit. So my question to you all is, do I have any rights in this? Is there some loophole that if my apartment has roaches I can choose to leave and get my money back? I really don't know what to do, because if I see another roach, I'm gonna forget that $1000 and just leave.

On their 4th birthday, they launch an entirely new site! You should all be running to check it out! Seems to be much faster, better looking, better organized...and just more of the stuff that makes deviantART what it is!

Go now... http://www.deviantart.com

I have an idea I want to run by you guys. I want to start a group that will rate and review skins. Now, not just your random rating and comment, a very thorough review, with detailed explanations as to why, what, where and when. Also, it MUST require atleast 3 very knowledgeable people. Each person being an expert in his/her field, thus being able to give a better explanation. Here's an example...

We would rate a skin on categories...

Originality
Graphics
Assembly

First person would rate the overall skin design and it's originality. The 2nd person would be a graphics expert, and thus be able to rate the graphics quality properly. The 3rd person would rate on how the skin was put together, if any bugs, etc, so that person must be efficient in building skins. Average the 3 ratings and you get the final rating. We could do it weekly, like the Weekly Review and highlight one skin, and give it the rundown.

If you guys want to try and do something like this, post your thoughts. I figured we would first start out with Windowblind skins and branch out from there. So for a well-rounded review, we would need a Skin-Studio expert, and a graphics expert. I would be the "Originality" expert...

This is just the base idea, if it does get off the ground, we would probably make a JoeUser account and post links in the comments section of the skins we rate. Maybe once the new WC is here, we could have it right here on WC.

I'm not big on politics, but this is one movie you should spend $9.50 on. It opens in theaters tomorrow, so clear up your schedules and go buy the tickets!

For those who haven't heard the buzz/controversy about this movie, here's the trailer. http://www.fahrenheit911.com/trailer/

...by pointing him in the direction of a taskbar replacement for Windows 2000. See, his XP broke, now he's on Win2k [again]...and can't stand the plain-jane taskbar.

Anyone have any suggestions besides ObjectBar and Litestep?

So, for the last 3 months or so, I've been looking for an apartment, and today, a day before my birthday (I turn 22 tomorrow), I finally got the call. For the first time, I'll be moving out on my own, I can't wait for the extra responsibility and finally start building a life for myself. I'm just very excited about it right now, and I had to tell someone besides my family! After 3 hard months, I was just about to give up the search...but I finally got one! Wooooo!!!

...and not from the company you'd expect to make it.

http://webcast-east.sun.com/archives/GSN-1312/GSN-1312_forjds.mov
(Sorry, but its a 35mb download)

I for one am quite impressed with what I've just seen.
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After roaming these boards for the last year or so, you learn all the unwritten rules of the skinning world. We all know that ripping another persons work is a very big no-no. But what I don't understand is everytime someone posts a request about a skin for a game or movie, you always have someone saying "you will need permission". So why is there such a fuss about someone wanting a skin based on a branded thing?

Yes, TECHNICALLY they are considered rips. But TECHNICALLY, I can go and find atleast 50 skins/icons that are "rips". Why are we so adamant about saying "you have to email the X corporation for permission to make this skin", meanwhile if we just did it, and never asked about it, it would of gone through without any problems.

Can someone please explain why when someone MAKES a copyrighted skin, they are allowed...and everytime someone requests a copyrighted skin...they get the "you need permission" answer? Now ofcourse there are exceptions to that...but generally speaking, that's the way it goes (through my eyes anyway).

So what do you think about this?

An excerpt from the January WinCustomize newsletter:

In March WinCustomize plans to help sponsor the GUI Olympics 2004. Two years ago the GUI Olympics was an inter-website skinning contest. The subject-matter was WindowBlinds 3. A lot has happened since then and skinning has grown even more popular. You can see the skins (visual styles) from the last GUI Olympics here. Some of the best, most original skins of all time were made during that period. The GUI Olympics already has 2 big sponsors lined up and is hoping to get even more. Even at this early stage we've got $10,000 in cash and prizes committed to it. The categories will be WindowBlinds, Icon packages, and one of the popular media players. The categories will range from most creative, most practical, minimalist, power user, and so forth. Stay tuned for more news, hopefully by the next WinCustomize Magazine we'll have more details.

This is just GREAT! I can't wait to see it start! What a competition it's gonna be! The very best of luck to all the skinners!
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My sister wants to get her boyfriend a PC for Christmas (what a nice sister, huh?), anyway...her absolute limit is $1000, that has to include everything. I did a little research on companies other than Dell. Here's what I found, and would like to know if you think this is a good deal before I make her buy it...

Abit NF7 Motherboard (LAN, Audio, USB, etc.)
512mb Dual Channel DDR RAM
AMD Athalon XP 2600+
Western Digital 80gb HD
nVidia Geforce FX 5200 128mb DDR w/TV out & DVI
NEC Dual Format DVD Burner
6-in-1 Flash media reader (they give it to you for free)
17" Viewsonic E70fb monitor
XP Home Edition
Free ground shipping

Total cost: $972

His current PC has a nice set of speakers which he bought as an upgrade, audio and LAN are onboard, plus is comes with your generic keyboard, mouse and a ATX case etc.

What do you think?


BTW, this is from CyberPower Inc. http://www.cyberpowersystems.com
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