Slashdot Mirror

Back in the beta1f days, I always found Quake 3 Fortress to be a much more accurate conversion of Team Fortress than I did Team Fortress Classic. I can't speak for it now, as I've lost my CD of Quake 3 somewhere.

I used to have faith in the TeamFortress team, even after they "sold out" to Valve as everyone called it at the time. The more products they create -- something which appears to have come to a stop given the speed of development on Team Fortress 2 -- the more I realize that it must have been purely by accident that Team Fortress was as good as it was, and more a function of the community of mapmakers and server admins than it was of the developers.

And yes, the ridiculously fast scout rocked :)

The brilliant brains behind TheSpark.com have brought out AskJesus, a parrody of AskJeves. What the site does is a tad hard to explain.. just take a look at this thread, AskJesusified! I laughed my ass off =)

,-----.----...---..--..-....-
' CitizenC
' WebMaster, PlanetQ3F
`-----.----...---..--..-....-

Ok, it was a bad example. However, I looked at the Mozilla source, smaller programs my friends wrote, and even basic .C sample programs from across the web, and it went right over my head. Sure, i'm not the BIGGEST, baddest programmer in the world, but I can hold my own.

People are reading the source code, but you have to be a 'black hat hacker' to understand it.

,-----.----...---..--..-....-
' CitizenC
' WebMaster, PlanetQ3F
`-----.----...---..--..-....-

The gentlemen who wrote this article is brilliant -- there is no doubt it my mind, and he definately raises some interesting issues.

When I first installed Linux, I was .. not good at programming. Words like "compile", "./configure", and "make" were as forign to me as "Je parle francais comme une vache espanogle." ("I speak french like a spanish cow.") Once, I tried looking at the source code for BitchX. ONCE. The code itself was spread across a gazillion (I forget the exact number) files.

Now I DO know how to code. I'm taking my super-happy C++ coding classes in high school, so I know my way around a compiler and the like. So, after reading this article, I thought "hey, lets see if I can understand this NOW!" Guess what? It's still spaghetti code. I still can't unstand a stick of it, other then the PRINTFs and SCANFs. That's it. And I got a 98% in the class.

So I submit that it is not that nobody is reading the source for programs. Rather, TONS of people are reading it, they just don't know what they are looking at.

,-----.----...---..--..-....-
' CitizenC
' WebMaster, PlanetQ3F
`-----.----...---..--..-....-

.. that this proves, once and for all, that size does, in fact, matter ;)

,-----.----...---..--..-....-
' CitizenC
' WebMaster, PlanetQ3F
`-----.----...---..--..-....-

After reading that article, a question popped into my head: What would we use said data for? My PERSONAL fantasy is that, eventually, we will get to a point where you will simply have to THINK a command, and your mind-reading-hat (or goggles, you get the idea) interprets the neurological impulses, and gives your computer the appropriate commands..

A curious idea, to be sure.. but does anybody else out there think this will EVER happen?

,-----.----...---..--..-....-
' CitizenC
' WebMaster, PlanetQ3F
`-----.----...---..--..-....-

I've been reading computer magazines for years, and I am always amazed at the way that hardware companies will report bench mark results. Instead of explaining it in a simple, easy-to-understand manner, they will play on the ignorance of the average consumer, and throw terms like "triangles per second", "refresh rate", "maximum colours", and "frames per second" around, hoping to sound good!

Several times, I have read ads for hardware, that proclaim that they are faster then the competitor. They even have pretty bar graphs! And of course, their bar is much longer. However, here is a great place to repeat the long-unblieved-until-now phrase "size doesn't matter."

What is stupifyingly bizzare is that I can turn the page, find the competitors ad, and they proclaim exactly the same thing! It's mind boggling, too say the least.

That is why open source benchmarks are a good idea -- not only does it allow people to improve on the code directly, but it lets people see exactly what is going on behind the scenes.

Or maybe, we shouldn't let companies do benchmarks for their own products. After all, you can make stats say pretty much whatever you want them too. Or maybe we should just ignore ads completely. (I know that I don't trust magazine ads for sure. Rather, I go and find MULTIPLE reviews of hardware, both online, and word-of-mouth, to get an accurate picture.)


,-----.----...---..--..-....-
' CitizenC
' WebMaster, PlanetQ3F
`-----.----...---..--..-....-

For me, the "Customize" button is directly to the right of "Net2Phone" .. however, I didn't have a previous version of Netscape installed, so it didn't import any favorites or anything..

The button itself takes you to http://home.netscape.com/bookmark/6_0b1/customize. html ..

,-----.----...---..--..-....-
' CitizenC
' WebMaster, PlanetQ3F
`-----.----...---..--..-....-

One of my mother's friends is a new computer user. (She grew up with a typewriter..) Well, not new -- she can find her way around a desktop and Word Perfect. She then discovered the wonder of desktop themes, and mp3s on Winamp. She began to become obsessed with customizing Winamp -- she insisted that her Winamp skin match her desktop theme (which she has mountians of.) She isn't a hacker; she just wants her stuff to look good.

,-----.----...---..--..-....-
' CitizenC
' WebMaster, PlanetQ3F
`-----.----...---..--..-....-

.. unfortunately, the hard-coded link to the customise page is a 404 error! HELLO NETSCAPE! Isn't this what Quality Control is for? Somebody go grab the mozilla source and fix that thing please! =)

,-----.----...---..--..-....-
' CitizenC
' WebMaster, PlanetQ3F
`-----.----...---..--..-....-

I remember, when I was like 10, watching old Star Trek episodes with my dad, and being completely and utterly infatuated. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen! I ran around, zaping people with my phazer, and generally had a blast!

Then Star Trek: TNG was released, and I hoped that it would live up to the standards of "old school" Star Trek.. and on some level, it did! However, I still believe that Spock kicks Data's ass any day of the week.

Then came Star Trek: DS9, also known as the bane of my existance. I found it (and still DO find it) to be insanely boring. I mean, all they do is sit around on that stupid station, and their problems come to them! Give me a break! This, my friends, is the in-space version of a toll booth! It gets old. Fast.

Then we get Voyager, complete with a captain who sounds spookily like Sharon Carstairs, leader of the NDP. (New Democratic Party) It is OK, I suppose.. except, once again, they have written themselves into a corner. All the characters do is bitch and complain about never being able to get home. Give it a rest, guys! If you miss your loved ones so much, then just CREATE THEM ON THE HOLIDECK! Or get the doctor to erase their memory from yours. Anything! Just stop whining about so and so! =)

As you can see, I am fairly opinionated about this sort of thing. I know my Star Trek. And all I can say is, the latest installment had better be GOOD. (No pussyfooting around in the Gamma Quadrant, please.) If it isn't, then I guess I will go back to watching classic Trek on Space.

All I can say is "Beam Me Up Scotty!"

,-----.----...---..--..-....-
' CitizenC
' WebMaster, PlanetQ3F
`-----.----...---..--..-....-

Is anybody else pissed off about having to create a username and password when first launching Netscape 6? It really annoyed ME..

I had to spend close to 10 minutes trying to find an unused username, just so I can use the software? Please. Netscape, let's not try to merge your stupid website with your browser. If I want to have a login to your site, I'll go there ON MY OWN TIME, and get one. I shouldn't be forced into it, especially when I first install your software.

,-----.----...---..--..-....-
' CitizenC
' WebMaster, PlanetQ3F
`-----.----...---..--..-....-

I remember, while I was growing up, I (gasp!) didn't have a computer of my own. (Well, I'm only 18 now, but when I was in like grade 5.) However, one of my friends had recently gotten a computer of his own -- an Amiga!

It was easily the coolest thing I had ever seen. I remember being instantly drawn to the warm, incandecent glow of the monitor like moths to a street lamp. Ahh, the many hours of playing games like Laser Chess that I spent in front of that computer! :)

Amiga had me hooked after 5 minutes with their original machine, and I'm quite anxious to see what their creative minds can come up with now!

,-----.----...---..--..-....-
' CitizenC
' WebMaster, PlanetQ3F
`-----.----...---..--..-....-