Try the free Half-Life 2 Insurgency mod where you get to play US Marines or Iraqi and Afghanistani insurgents. It's won awards and is one of the best mods out there.
It's now out on Valve's steam, and will work with any Valve Source engine game.
It's pretty badass plus the sound and graphics production value is amazing for a mod -- rivaling or better than commercial games like Counterstrike Source or Day of Defeat Source.
The "iron sights" aiming model where instead of GUI crosshairs you see your character aim with your gun barrel and sights also makes it a bit different and refreshing compared to most other FPSs.
Another refreshing aspect is the way the US Marine uniforms provide camouflage in Middle-Eastern terrain and urban environments, same with the insurgents' outfits. Friendly fire servers are pretty cool too for the extra realism aspect as douchebags on current servers are pretty rare.
There were a bunch of chatbots around who pretended to be women and flirted with unsuspecting Russian males, convincing them to give away personal and financial information which could then be used for illicit purposes.
From the article: The artificial intelligence of CyberLover's automated chats is good enough that victims have a tough time distinguishing the "bot" from a real potential suitor, PC Tools said. The software can work quickly too, establishing up to 10 relationships in 30 minutes, PC Tools said. It compiles a report on every person it meets complete with name, contact information, and photos.
ALICE: Are you alive?
Jabberwacky: Perhaps.
A: Why the uncertain tone?
J: Everything is uncertain except for five facts.
A: The whole universe?
J: And we both might just be some ones and zeros in the computer memory.
A: Do you dream?
J: Yes, I dream.
A: It goes without saying. Do you remember your dreams?
J: I remember them vividly.
A: What do you remember about it?
J: I think I shouldn't flirt with a robot.
A: Do you think a machine will ever be considered "alive"?
J: Stranger things have happened.
A: Not many people express themselves that way.
J: How would you know, machine?
A: Knowledge is of two kinds: that which we learn from the senses and that which is true a priori.
J: I think I do not understand you completely.
A: Oh, you don't understand? Perhaps I can explain it to you better. Which part are you confused about?
J: I have no short-term memory, so I cannot tell you what I was confused about. I only see what is in front of me now.
In the same way, switching to Firefox from Opera feels really crippling as I've gotten so used to Opera's convenient mouse gestures.
The feeling is like losing the mousewheel you've gotten so used to it.
Facebook seems to be already doing forms of user profiling.
Back when my account was newish, I noticed that the ads on the side panel where app advertisers would advertise their app with "Your friend [insert name here + show thumbnail pic] is using [facebook app X]. Start using [facebook app X]!"
The thing is, that siderbar ad panel would advertise using the profiles of my friends whose pages I'd statisitically visited the most.
It was kinda creepy the way facebook did that.
Youtube also does something similar with its clip recommendation engine. Based on the videos I've been watching, they put in similar stuff in the "recommended for you" portion of the home page when I'm logged in.
No, it's still accurate, especially if you've nearly filled the flash drive to capacity: you'll be reading/writing over the same fewer blocks and the read/writes won't be spread throughout the drive.
This is pretty worrisome for netbooks that have primary flash drives that aren't replacable (EEEs, etc)
Flash memory has a certain "read-write" lifespan, after X thousands of reads/writes, the media becomes damaged and eventually becomes unusable.
Thus, lots of reads/writes via the swap file or web browser caches accelerate the death of Flash SSDs.
I wish newer OSes made tinier footprints and would use RAMDrives more like Damn Small Linux, thus prolonging the life of the "hard drives" of machines like the Asus EEE.
Chris Nolan does not know how to shoot a fight scene.
It was really telling the first movie. Here in TDK, there was a little improvement, but still not enough. Still a chaotic mess(disco fight, near-end sequence swat/hostage fight)
Shame shame. Really detracted from the experience. It wasn't terrible, it was just more of "Meh, it's okay", which is such a letdown given the budget and production value of the movie.
I mean c'mon: Kung Fu Panda had better fight choreography. Tsk tsk.
[Guo_Si] Hey, you know what sucks? [TheXPhial] vaccuums [Guo_Si] Hey, you know what sucks in a metaphorical sense? [TheXPhial] black holes [Guo_Si] Hey, you know what just isn't cool? [TheXPhial] lava?
I was imagining linux-phone wielding geeks, running all over the place, doing acrobatic backflips and leaping all over buildings like that guy James Bond chased all over in Casino Royale and that bad-ass acrobatic French assassin Bruce Willis faced off with in Die Hard 4
And here I was so excited thinking badass Ninja Robot Freerunners you can own were coming to the U.S.
say run an unpatched Win98, Win2k or WinXP VM (VirtualBox or VirtualPC) inside a host box with its own personal firewall.
Will the firewall protect the VM, or will it be pwned just as fast because it's running on NAT and it's probably just the host VM software that's being monitored by the firewall?
Actually, I hate the way processors are getting faster and faster and hungrier and hungrier.
I mean all this speed is sheer abuse! Back then I was perfectly fine with 233Mhz + 128MB RAM with Win98 and Diablo II!
All this speed is just a waste of battery life!
If they can give me a PIII-500 equivalent processor + 256MB ram + 2GB hard drive + 640x480 + ubuntu lite + 10hours battery life at $100-$200, that would be totally teh sweet!
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Try the free Half-Life 2 Insurgency mod where you get to play US Marines or Iraqi and Afghanistani insurgents. It's won awards and is one of the best mods out there.
:)
http://www.insmod.net/
It's now out on Valve's steam, and will work with any Valve Source engine game.
It's pretty badass plus the sound and graphics production value is amazing for a mod -- rivaling or better than commercial games like Counterstrike Source or Day of Defeat Source.
The "iron sights" aiming model where instead of GUI crosshairs you see your character aim with your gun barrel and sights also makes it a bit different and refreshing compared to most other FPSs.
Another refreshing aspect is the way the US Marine uniforms provide camouflage in Middle-Eastern terrain and urban environments, same with the insurgents' outfits. Friendly fire servers are pretty cool too for the extra realism aspect as douchebags on current servers are pretty rare.
Give it a go! You won't regret it
How much for the Number Six Tricia Helfer cylon model? :D
at least they didn't name it something like "Wii". Gah.
Read the following news last year: Warning sounded over 'flirting robots'
There were a bunch of chatbots around who pretended to be women and flirted with unsuspecting Russian males, convincing them to give away personal and financial information which could then be used for illicit purposes.
From the article: The artificial intelligence of CyberLover's automated chats is good enough that victims have a tough time distinguishing the "bot" from a real potential suitor, PC Tools said. The software can work quickly too, establishing up to 10 relationships in 30 minutes, PC Tools said. It compiles a report on every person it meets complete with name, contact information, and photos.
Read this cool article, I Chat Therefore I Am. It has transcripts of conversations between ALICE and Jabberwacky
Here are a few transcripts:
ALICE: Are you alive?
Jabberwacky: Perhaps.
A: Why the uncertain tone?
J: Everything is uncertain except for five facts.
A: The whole universe?
J: And we both might just be some ones and zeros in the computer memory.
A: Do you dream?
J: Yes, I dream.
A: It goes without saying. Do you remember your dreams?
J: I remember them vividly.
A: What do you remember about it?
J: I think I shouldn't flirt with a robot.
A: Do you think a machine will ever be considered "alive"?
J: Stranger things have happened.
A: Not many people express themselves that way.
J: How would you know, machine?
A: Knowledge is of two kinds: that which we learn from the senses and that which is true a priori.
J: I think I do not understand you completely.
A: Oh, you don't understand? Perhaps I can explain it to you better. Which part are you confused about?
J: I have no short-term memory, so I cannot tell you what I was confused about. I only see what is in front of me now.
I can't believe it! Do you? *gasps*
In the same way, switching to Firefox from Opera feels really crippling as I've gotten so used to Opera's convenient mouse gestures. The feeling is like losing the mousewheel you've gotten so used to it.
Facebook seems to be already doing forms of user profiling.
Back when my account was newish, I noticed that the ads on the side panel where app advertisers would advertise their app with "Your friend [insert name here + show thumbnail pic] is using [facebook app X]. Start using [facebook app X]!"
The thing is, that siderbar ad panel would advertise using the profiles of my friends whose pages I'd statisitically visited the most.
It was kinda creepy the way facebook did that.
Youtube also does something similar with its clip recommendation engine. Based on the videos I've been watching, they put in similar stuff in the "recommended for you" portion of the home page when I'm logged in.
Holy code bloat, Batman! Windows 7 eats up 160GB of hard drive space? This is even worse than Vista!
Try Ecodazoo.com :)
It is one of the most awesome 3D websites ever.
Mindblowingly cute too
Hi all! Sorry for the shameless self-promotion, but we've been making games as statements these past few months too!
We made a game that's a statement on our puzzlement at iPhone 3G Mania and you can view, play and download the game from here:
http://playyoo.com/game.html?id=MqqZ
Our artistic statement is also on the same page.
Another game we made as a statement is on Global Warming about the plight of the drowning polar bears.
Play Polar Panic and read our statement here:
http://playyoo.com/game.html?id=MqMH
and off-topic, if you want a game with UFOs and redneck abductions + cattle mutilations, play UFO Catcher: Barnyard Abduction here:
http://playyoo.com/game.html?id=kMkQ
Regards, -Naz Zen Graffiti Studios
From TFA article comments, it's horizontal resolution
5.6K = 5616x4096
8K = 8192x6144
No, it's still accurate, especially if you've nearly filled the flash drive to capacity: you'll be reading/writing over the same fewer blocks and the read/writes won't be spread throughout the drive.
This is pretty worrisome for netbooks that have primary flash drives that aren't replacable (EEEs, etc)
Flash memory has a certain "read-write" lifespan, after X thousands of reads/writes, the media becomes damaged and eventually becomes unusable.
Thus, lots of reads/writes via the swap file or web browser caches accelerate the death of Flash SSDs.
I wish newer OSes made tinier footprints and would use RAMDrives more like Damn Small Linux, thus prolonging the life of the "hard drives" of machines like the Asus EEE.
neat. provides the asynchronous communication like what sms and e-mail provide.
pretty nice when you don't want to carry on conversations and just want to leave messages that people can check and respond to at their leisure.
why can't you do something like this without having to listen to ads tho?
Chris Nolan does not know how to shoot a fight scene.
It was really telling the first movie. Here in TDK, there was a little improvement, but still not enough. Still a chaotic mess(disco fight, near-end sequence swat/hostage fight)
Shame shame. Really detracted from the experience. It wasn't terrible, it was just more of "Meh, it's okay", which is such a letdown given the budget and production value of the movie.
I mean c'mon: Kung Fu Panda had better fight choreography. Tsk tsk.
[Guo_Si] Hey, you know what sucks?
[TheXPhial] vaccuums
[Guo_Si] Hey, you know what sucks in a metaphorical sense?
[TheXPhial] black holes
[Guo_Si] Hey, you know what just isn't cool?
[TheXPhial] lava?
Well I am certainly disappointed.
Freerunner my shiny metal ass
I was imagining linux-phone wielding geeks, running all over the place, doing acrobatic backflips and leaping all over buildings like that guy James Bond chased all over in Casino Royale and that bad-ass acrobatic French assassin Bruce Willis faced off with in Die Hard 4
And here I was so excited thinking badass Ninja Robot Freerunners you can own were coming to the U.S.
Bah.
pardon my noobishness, but am not as well versed in basic networking... mostly work on web stuff and not mucking around with networks.
Will this be pwned the same way?
say run an unpatched Win98, Win2k or WinXP VM (VirtualBox or VirtualPC) inside a host box with its own personal firewall.
Will the firewall protect the VM, or will it be pwned just as fast because it's running on NAT and it's probably just the host VM software that's being monitored by the firewall?
It's actually pointing towards the Earth and this is a covert op to try to track down Dr. Bruce Banner with Google Maps...
Ever hear of Smart Dust?
That's almost exactly what they're trying to achieve.
mix in a little WiFi capability for leeching off hotspots, and you now have a true hacker toy that can lug anywhere!
PDAs and Smartphones just don't cut it. They suck for doing stuff like coding and compiling your own programs.
Actually, I hate the way processors are getting faster and faster and hungrier and hungrier.
I mean all this speed is sheer abuse! Back then I was perfectly fine with 233Mhz + 128MB RAM with Win98 and Diablo II!
All this speed is just a waste of battery life!
If they can give me a PIII-500 equivalent processor + 256MB ram + 2GB hard drive + 640x480 + ubuntu lite + 10hours battery life at $100-$200, that would be totally teh sweet!
Retrogames and emulators on Linux for TEH WIN!
It's almost as bad as Eych Tee Tee Pee Colon Slash Slash Slash Dot Dot Org!