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Story: Violent games, shootings connected?
Dear Editor,
I have been involved in Dungeons & Dragons type role playing since before there was any such thing as Dungeons & Dragons -- approximately 1958.
I have been involved in Live Fantasy Role-Playing Games for over 15 years. I have been playing "Doom" type games ever since they came out. I have been doing these horrible, disgusting, perverted things for over 42 years (I am 56) and you are unlikely to meet a more peaceable person.
My sons are 30 and 27 and I have brought them up in the same mould -- they are also totally sane and non-violent.
The reason? I was brought up with love, care, interest and understanding and I did the same for my children. St Ignatious Loyola (the founder of the Jesuits) once said: "Give me a child until he is seven years old and he is mine for life." I might have the age wrong but the philosophy is correct.
Who are the most important influences in these years -- the parents! Personally in these child violence cases I would like to see the parents in court, being tried for murder, because I blame them.
Regards, Brian Timmins
Story: as above
Dear Editor
I think we should just leave the video game manufacturers alone!!! I know that I play violent video games a lot but I don't go out and shoot People. There are many more things to blame this subject on like poor parenting, availability of guns, etc. We should leave the video games alone because they are not the instigators for killers but merely entertainment for people.
No name supplied
Story: as above
Dear Mailroom
If it's anybody's fault it's the parents. Sony, Ninteno, and Sega are in no way responsible for the actions of the children. Something had to have set them off. If they weren't raised correctly, they probably wouldn't know the difference between right and wrong.
Vicky Werdel
Story: Xircom goes for Win CE... Don't ask
Dear Editor
Are you sticking to your position that large corporations with thousands of employees such as IDC and Xircom are driven by a magical power from Microsoft that "brainwashes" them?
Hayes Haugen
Erm, I'm sticking to the position that Xircom has made a strategic blunder, yes. As for brainwashing, that was a question sir.
Story: as above
Dear Mailroom
I get quite tired of the Win ce bashing that is going on.
My partner and I both use Win CE devices in our respective careers and find them extremely useful. I think its a misnomer to say that people don't need Windows functionality on their PDA's, I would have to disagree. Outlook is the mainstay of our daily routines and most of the time this is what I would be using within my palm-pc and his Velo 500
I understand that the power and processor requirements are quite high at the moment for these devices, but I remember a time when we laughed at the requirements of Windows 386.
Yes they do have faults, but for a musician like myself, the pros have far outweighed the cons. Dissatisfactions, no rechargeable batteries in my E10, lack of calendar links to contacts in Outlook which I believe is fixed in Outlook 2000
I considered my views unbiased towards Microsoft, I am running a Linux server in my office in preference to NT Server. Horses for courses methinks ?
Diddy
Story: as above
Dear Editor
I'm a user of WinCE, and am looking at the possibility of developing it for use by the solicitors that work for my firm. The main reason I am particularly interested in WinCE for that purpose is it's similarity to Windows95 (at least compared to the opposition), and everyone knows that lawyers sometimes (!) have trouble embracing new technologies.
However, I do find it quite shortsighted of Xircom to plump for a WinCE only device -- knowing how passionately some people feel about the whole handheld OS thing. Do they run the risk of upsetting and losing some customers who use other platforms? Maybe.
Personally, I would certainly recommend WinCE devices to someone who was your average Joe Bloggs-type user on the street -- very easy to pick up and use, so why retrain to use another OS?
Yours
Daryl Griffiths
Story: Screaming net: Localtel who?
Dear Mailroom
Noticed your ZDnet article ref Screaming Net/Localtel. I have signed up to transfer to Localtel next week so that I can utilise the free ISP phone charges...BUT.
Currently monitoring how good this all is before I put signature to BT transfer to LocalTel and it seems it takes 20-30 connections to get online after 6pm...
Seems the ISP occasionally disconnects line during weekend....Is this all too good to be true or should I have realised that things would no doubt have some caviats...
I have faxed/emailed Localtel management etc but no reply..
Russ Lakin
We're trying to contact Localtel on this Russ, you're not alone. No news yet.