From the end of the article, under "Best of Show:" The "game" in question involves a series of wooden blocks stacked to look like battlements. Small soldiers are optional and can be arranged any way on these blocks you see fit. Star Wars figures can be used to give it a "futuristic" theme. Walk back 10 paces and man a small, wooden, ingeniously crafted catapult...
Well, tanj. I read that while downloading the latest AllegroHack binary. I came this close (scrunches up fingers real small) to just turning off the computer right there and going to get my blocks out of the attic and my legomen from the closet. I mean, really, who needs HP and MP snd Str and Int and Exp Pts and all that when you can just destroy stuff with reckless abandon (while maintaining that fantasy setting)? I think I need to go lie down... -J
My father recently asked me to look into finding a good digital camera for the family... I might just steer him toward a Kodak Digita device...;) But the question is, when will they port NetHack? Hmmm? -J
I even wonder if many of today's high school kids have even played those types of games.
Erm. I'm a high school kid (a junior, if you must know). I grew up on Commander Keen, Rogue, Battlehawks: 1942 (there was a game for quick stress relief), Lemmings, Dangerous Dave, and so forth. Mind you, I was probably into computers much earlier than most people my age. Granted, I missed Zork and it's ilk, but I've been playing them on my Palm Pilot, so I have been exposed to them.;) -J
First, I think adventure gaming may be dying, but it may also be in a partial reboirth in the genre of Roguelikes. First among these is Rogue, but it also includes biggies like Nethack (which has a greater adventure element to it), Moria, *band, Adom, and many, many more (the Roguelike News is an excellent Roguelike source). They are simple, usually free, and with variant-friendly games like Angband, just about anyone with knowledge of C can write one. Just my plug for my favorite genre, one which is certainly notdying out.
Second thought: It bugs that people think a genre is dying out because a new, unique specimen of it has not recently been released. I still play Battlehawks 1942 and Secret Wepaons of the Luftwhaffe(sp?) every once in a while...and i'm always up for some original TIE Fighter. I think a genre's survival is based on how much people want tto play it, not the amount of release's in it. Of course, the two are linked. And that's all. BTW, anyone remmber an RTS called Walls of Rome? I play that a lot, too.;-) -J
Take it from Juliet, what's in a name? a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
Or, as Mark Fabi put it in Wyrm, a rose by any other name would still smell like the sex organ of a thorny shrub. Sorry, had to get that off my chest...;) Anyway, I agree with you. The title won't affect the quality of the movie... it's kind of like judging a good fantasy booka s bad just because the cover artist has a thing for scantily clad women. -J
OK, hear me out on this. From the outside, I really got the impression over the course of this whole thing that DeCSS was sort of a standard (as in flag) for the Open-Source/Linux/free everything/etc. movement. I know that is incorrect. I know this case was technically about players on various platforms and suchforth. But the uninvolved outsider may very well see it the first way... And I wonder how much of that is the outsider's fault... Before you all flame me, let me point out that for the most part, I support the DeCSS people's arguments. All right? Just seeing another side of this. -J
In some recent work I've been doing with putting Powerpoint shows online, I've found that IE is very friendly with the Office suite apps(viewing ppt or excel documents from within the browser, for example), and Netscape can have considerable trouble. Might this change with a Linux port? (I don't know how many Linux users use IE as a browser...is there a Linux version, or does one have to use a Win emulator?) -J
I want something in the Palm V style casing with a color screen.
Argh. I hear this a lot. Look, the IIIc is bigger than the other IIIs. I understand they had to remove the hotsync cover jsut to make room for all the innards necessary for a color screen. And you want to put that into a V casing? One thing I like about my PalmIIIxe is that it is grayscale. Colors eat up battery and processor, and I don't need them on what is essentailly and organizer and, for me, word processor. I have some games, but the thing about the Palm is that it isn't a gaming platform and isn't meant to be.
I have to agree with you on the PADD thing, though. I still can't figure out how they input stuff...
For a good graffiti writing surface, I use Scotch "Satin" transparent tape. 1 strip fits great over the writing area and offers just the right (haha, write!) amount of resistance. -J
MP3 capabilities? For the love of god of your choice, why? It's tarting to sound like a WinCE handheld! More importantly, MP3 playing would probably get it banned from school use entirely. -J
It bugs me how much Sir Alec Guiness is connected to Star Wars. All personal dislikes of his aside, Obi-Wan strikes me as a somewhat stifling role. But this popular connection is also disturbing because, as many have pointed out, the man had a long and varied career. It's kind of like [fav. author plug] Timothy Zahn, who is a really good science fiction writer, but most who know him know him as the Star Wars guy. Granted, they were good SW books, but he's written a lot of other good stuff.[/plug] So in the midst of all the bad (tasteless?) "force be with you" and "stronger than you can ever imagine" jokes, remember that Sir Alec Guiness was not just Obi-Wan Kenobi. -J
So these foot pedals are by default set to be Shift, Ctrl, and Alt. That means I only need 1 finger to reboot my computer! Heck, I can use my nose if I'm doing something silly like playing the bass and using the computer simultaneously. Amazin'. In all seriousness, I like the idea of being able to set macros to foot pedals. As the site points out, HTML coding could become much easier. -J
The quantity of bugs an OS has is a completely meaningless statistic.
OK, I agree with you entirely. "Bug" is, when you think about it, a rather vague term, and it can apply, as you point out, to everything from a minor window-drawing error to a major security hole. But whenever I hear hardcore Linux zealots go into anti-Micrsoft rant mode, one of the common arguments is "less bugs! more stable!" etc. So it seems to be something that everyone does. Just observing. I'll probably get flamed anyway, though... -J
Well, Mr. Gore (the reviewer) says that the mouse even works on the palm of one's hand. But I know my palm, at least, is not a flat surface. So clearly the mouse works even if the sensor is not right up against whatever surface you are using. Which makes me wonder: How far away from the non-reflective/translucent surface can the mouse be? Could I wave it about in the air a foot over my desk and still have it work? -J
It seems to me that the original paper really trivializes the benefits of the "point-and-grunt" interface. Yes, I do want control over my files, but I can drag an icon from one directory to another faster than I can type "copy readme.txt d:\rogue" or, for that matter, "copy reade.txt to d:\rogue". I don't want to sacrifice that efficiency simply for an ideal about the abandonment of language. -J
Hmmm. Interesting. But Jupiter's orbit is so much larger than ours, how much coverage can it really provide? It seems to me that we don't coincide with it that much. On the other hand, it's intriguing to wonder how many comets have been pulled just a few miles off course by a gas giant and thus drastically affected other planets. Wow. This is going to keep me up all night... -J
...IMNSHO, would be a "sports" model. I always carry a folded up ziploc bag in my Palm pouch just in case I get caught in a rain shower. Would it be that difficult to add a rubber seal around everything? Okay, the hard buttons might lose a wee bit of functionality and hence be not as good for Hardball or whatever, but let's remmeber that the Palm isn't meant to be a gaming platform. Just as long as they don't add the bright yellow color that seems to be automatically associated with "sports," I'll be happy. -J
Why do so many people still cry for color+wireless+palmVs? Think logically people! Size! Size! Look how big the IIIc is! Look how big the VII is! Now imagine fitting either of those into a V case! Eh? Eh?!
Okay, I had to get that off my chest. As for the new Palms, they look like what they are: low-end machines aimed at the everyday person. Maybe people will buy them for the hipness factor, but they look kind of silly to me. They make me even more smug about my black IIIxe, which I think is one of the better looking machines.
I think Palm is making a mistake in playing Handspring's game with the "iMac" principle of computer design, which seems to be "cheerfully colored case == better!" Frankly, I think I might be embarrassed to whip one of these M100s out on the subway or wherever.
That being said, huzzah for the cover display which shows time, date, and appointments. That is one of the greatest features of the Handscape launcher, which provides tiny windows into two of the major apps. But to be able to see this without even opening and turning the thing on would be quite cool. -J
Slashdot Mirror
From the end of the article, under "Best of Show:"
The "game" in question involves a series of wooden blocks stacked to look like battlements. Small soldiers are optional and can be arranged any way on these blocks you see fit. Star Wars figures can be used to give it a "futuristic" theme. Walk back 10 paces and man a small, wooden, ingeniously crafted catapult...
Well, tanj. I read that while downloading the latest AllegroHack binary. I came this close (scrunches up fingers real small) to just turning off the computer right there and going to get my blocks out of the attic and my legomen from the closet. I mean, really, who needs HP and MP snd Str and Int and Exp Pts and all that when you can just destroy stuff with reckless abandon (while maintaining that fantasy setting)?
I think I need to go lie down...
-J
My father recently asked me to look into finding a good digital camera for the family... I might just steer him toward a Kodak Digita device... ;)
But the question is, when will they port NetHack? Hmmm?
-J
I even wonder if many of today's high school kids have even played those types of games.
;)
Erm. I'm a high school kid (a junior, if you must know). I grew up on Commander Keen, Rogue, Battlehawks: 1942 (there was a game for quick stress relief), Lemmings, Dangerous Dave, and so forth.
Mind you, I was probably into computers much earlier than most people my age. Granted, I missed Zork and it's ilk, but I've been playing them on my Palm Pilot, so I have been exposed to them.
-J
First, I think adventure gaming may be dying, but it may also be in a partial reboirth in the genre of Roguelikes. First among these is Rogue, but it also includes biggies like Nethack (which has a greater adventure element to it), Moria, *band, Adom, and many, many more (the Roguelike News is an excellent Roguelike source). They are simple, usually free, and with variant-friendly games like Angband, just about anyone with knowledge of C can write one.
;-)
Just my plug for my favorite genre, one which is certainly notdying out.
Second thought: It bugs that people think a genre is dying out because a new, unique specimen of it has not recently been released. I still play Battlehawks 1942 and Secret Wepaons of the Luftwhaffe(sp?) every once in a while...and i'm always up for some original TIE Fighter. I think a genre's survival is based on how much people want tto play it, not the amount of release's in it. Of course, the two are linked.
And that's all. BTW, anyone remmber an RTS called Walls of Rome? I play that a lot, too.
-J
But what the heck!
the Brunching Shuttlecocks know what's up.
-J
Take it from Juliet, what's in a name? a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. ... ;)
Or, as Mark Fabi put it in Wyrm, a rose by any other name would still smell like the sex organ of a thorny shrub.
Sorry, had to get that off my chest
Anyway, I agree with you. The title won't affect the quality of the movie... it's kind of like judging a good fantasy booka s bad just because the cover artist has a thing for scantily clad women.
-J
OK, hear me out on this. From the outside, I really got the impression over the course of this whole thing that DeCSS was sort of a standard (as in flag) for the Open-Source/Linux/free everything/etc. movement. I know that is incorrect. I know this case was technically about players on various platforms and suchforth. But the uninvolved outsider may very well see it the first way... And I wonder how much of that is the outsider's fault...
Before you all flame me, let me point out that for the most part, I support the DeCSS people's arguments. All right? Just seeing another side of this.
-J
In some recent work I've been doing with putting Powerpoint shows online, I've found that IE is very friendly with the Office suite apps(viewing ppt or excel documents from within the browser, for example), and Netscape can have considerable trouble. Might this change with a Linux port?
(I don't know how many Linux users use IE as a browser...is there a Linux version, or does one have to use a Win emulator?)
-J
I want something in the Palm V style casing with a color screen.
Argh. I hear this a lot. Look, the IIIc is bigger than the other IIIs. I understand they had to remove the hotsync cover jsut to make room for all the innards necessary for a color screen. And you want to put that into a V casing?
One thing I like about my PalmIIIxe is that it is grayscale. Colors eat up battery and processor, and I don't need them on what is essentailly and organizer and, for me, word processor. I have some games, but the thing about the Palm is that it isn't a gaming platform and isn't meant to be.
I have to agree with you on the PADD thing, though. I still can't figure out how they input stuff...
For a good graffiti writing surface, I use Scotch "Satin" transparent tape. 1 strip fits great over the writing area and offers just the right (haha, write!) amount of resistance.
-J
MP3 capabilities? For the love of god of your choice, why? It's tarting to sound like a WinCE handheld! More importantly, MP3 playing would probably get it banned from school use entirely.
-J
It bugs me how much Sir Alec Guiness is connected to Star Wars. All personal dislikes of his aside, Obi-Wan strikes me as a somewhat stifling role. But this popular connection is also disturbing because, as many have pointed out, the man had a long and varied career.
It's kind of like [fav. author plug] Timothy Zahn, who is a really good science fiction writer, but most who know him know him as the Star Wars guy. Granted, they were good SW books, but he's written a lot of other good stuff.[/plug]
So in the midst of all the bad (tasteless?) "force be with you" and "stronger than you can ever imagine" jokes, remember that Sir Alec Guiness was not just Obi-Wan Kenobi.
-J
So these foot pedals are by default set to be Shift, Ctrl, and Alt. That means I only need 1 finger to reboot my computer! Heck, I can use my nose if I'm doing something silly like playing the bass and using the computer simultaneously. Amazin'.
In all seriousness, I like the idea of being able to set macros to foot pedals. As the site points out, HTML coding could become much easier.
-J
The quantity of bugs an OS has is a completely meaningless statistic.
OK, I agree with you entirely. "Bug" is, when you think about it, a rather vague term, and it can apply, as you point out, to everything from a minor window-drawing error to a major security hole. But whenever I hear hardcore Linux zealots go into anti-Micrsoft rant mode, one of the common arguments is "less bugs! more stable!" etc. So it seems to be something that everyone does.
Just observing. I'll probably get flamed anyway, though...
-J
I've written some weird stuff, but there's no way I'm going to be able to start that many sentences with semicolons.
;)
-J
Well, Mr. Gore (the reviewer) says that the mouse even works on the palm of one's hand. But I know my palm, at least, is not a flat surface. So clearly the mouse works even if the sensor is not right up against whatever surface you are using. Which makes me wonder: How far away from the non-reflective/translucent surface can the mouse be? Could I wave it about in the air a foot over my desk and still have it work?
-J
Because trolls are dumb like that. ;)
-J
Heck, I'd use that on my PalmIIIxe. Good idea.
-J
While we're at it, I want a pony, an FTL drive, and a private continent. ;)
-J
It seems to me that the original paper really trivializes the benefits of the "point-and-grunt" interface. Yes, I do want control over my files, but I can drag an icon from one directory to another faster than I can type "copy readme.txt d:\rogue" or, for that matter, "copy reade.txt to d:\rogue". I don't want to sacrifice that efficiency simply for an ideal about the abandonment of language.
-J
Hmmm. Interesting. But Jupiter's orbit is so much larger than ours, how much coverage can it really provide? It seems to me that we don't coincide with it that much. On the other hand, it's intriguing to wonder how many comets have been pulled just a few miles off course by a gas giant and thus drastically affected other planets.
Wow. This is going to keep me up all night...
-J
...IMNSHO, would be a "sports" model. I always carry a folded up ziploc bag in my Palm pouch just in case I get caught in a rain shower. Would it be that difficult to add a rubber seal around everything? Okay, the hard buttons might lose a wee bit of functionality and hence be not as good for Hardball or whatever, but let's remmeber that the Palm isn't meant to be a gaming platform. Just as long as they don't add the bright yellow color that seems to be automatically associated with "sports," I'll be happy.
-J
Why do so many people still cry for color+wireless+palmVs? Think logically people! Size! Size! Look how big the IIIc is! Look how big the VII is! Now imagine fitting either of those into a V case! Eh? Eh?!
Okay, I had to get that off my chest. As for the new Palms, they look like what they are: low-end machines aimed at the everyday person. Maybe people will buy them for the hipness factor, but they look kind of silly to me. They make me even more smug about my black IIIxe, which I think is one of the better looking machines.
I think Palm is making a mistake in playing Handspring's game with the "iMac" principle of computer design, which seems to be "cheerfully colored case == better!" Frankly, I think I might be embarrassed to whip one of these M100s out on the subway or wherever.
That being said, huzzah for the cover display which shows time, date, and appointments. That is one of the greatest features of the Handscape launcher, which provides tiny windows into two of the major apps. But to be able to see this without even opening and turning the thing on would be quite cool.
-J
That's what I thought originally. It's almost like tao. Almost.
-J
Yah, hence the "Really bad" part. But they're sorta spelled the same...
So "tau" rhymes with "toe," then?
-J
In related news, the scientists who conducted the study are co-authoring a book on the subject, entitled The Tau of Neutrinos.
-J