All I really remember about MCGA was that very few games supported it, most supported CGA or VGA when I had the PS/2. Therefore I was confined to run most games in CGA, all the while hating IBM for MCGA and the Micro-Channel Archetechture.
Who cares? Does every show have to be a ratings bonanza? Can't television contribute to culture and learning instead of just ad revenue?
Err, well money is what gets shows produced, so that is a problem. If a science network shows stuff, and no one watches, then they go out of business. Therefore, the science shows must have some level of viewers to maintain the channel. Either from ad revenue or by enough subscribers to a given ad-free channel to at least float the network.
In case you have not noticed, the best science shows have come from PBS, and some of my favorites are from the CBC. Both of these are public broadcasters.
There are shows out there that are science based, but how many people watch them?
Nova has been around for ages, as has Nature. Both are excellent shows, but what kind of audience do they have? Sadly, not enough. Even with such excellent programs as this: The Elegant Universe. (Note, you need to downgrade your version of quicktime if it is new to view it due to a quicktime bug. I reccomend the full screen version BTW.)
Up here in Canada I have been watching The Nature of Things for as long as I can remember. We also get Quirks and Quarks on CBC radio, which is actually quite popular up here. (I reccomend downloading some episodes in MP3. Jay Ingram from Daily Planet used to host this show.)
So, there are good shows out there for such a network, but the question becomes, would people watch? I know I would, hell, I would subscribe to a cable channel of that nature in an instant. However, as it is, I use my ATI All-In-Wonder and the PVR software that came with it to record and play back these shows, so I have a "custom" science channel of my own.
Michael Schermer has been working towards this for some time: as shown here.
I think though, that one VITAL thing to add would be along the lines of what Schermer already does (and the Mythbusters TV show does to some degree as well): Teach Joe Sixpack the nature of scientific thinking, specifically critical thinking as outlined in Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World, Science as a Candle in the Dark. Once more people begin to understand this concept, they will likely become more open to scientific televison, well, that is what I hope for anyhow.
A friend of mine sent me $35 bucks via paypal, it arrived.. Then the other day I checked my account and it was EMPTY. I have not bought anything with paypal in the last month, so where did my balance go?
Well this makes me damn happy. In a list of my favourite games, System Shock 2 is one of them.
I was overjoyed when Thief 3 came out, especially after, quite sadly, Looking Glass closed their doors.
For those of you who have never played either the incredible Thief Series, or System Shock, you are in for a treat. Be aware that the graphics are sub-par, but the audio! Eric Brossius is FRIGHTENING. He is responsible for the audio in Both the Thief Series, and System Shock 2. They damn well better have him on board.
By the way, if you want better system shock 2 graphics, check into Rebirth:
One of my pet projects now is to turn a laptop, a cuecat and a webcam into a fridge computer that will allow me to inventory my refridgerator as well as take a snapshot whenever I open the door.
Ah! Now at last we can answer that age old question that has been plaguing mankind! What happens to the light in the fridge when you close the door? You do mankind a great service...
. . . . . (On a side note, for the humor impaired; Yes, I know what happens, but don't forget about the light in the equation for your idea...)
Why not add gadgets to a regular bike? Like say a Palm Pilot or a GPS? That would, IMO make it an E-bike. If you are looking for an electric bike, then why not build an electric motorbike or perhaps a scooter?
I mean, having a bike and NOT moving it under your own power (Kinetic or Potential energy here) really defeats the purpose.
Sorry - yes you are correct. It has been some time since I was there. I used to live in Montreal, and I now live on the "Wet Coast". I knew that the Museum had changed it's name, but I could not remember the new name. I also could not remember if it was "man" as in Homo or "Mann" as in the island.
I personally believe that had Tolkien lived and changed with the times he would have loved the movies that have been made so far. I'm looking forward to the Hobbit eventually.
I believe you are absolutely correct in this regard. Tolkien has an excellent preface to the version of LOTR that I have, and in it he discusses how LOTR is not a parralell of World War II. He also discusses how he hates allagory it all its forms. He also then makes brief mention (and perhaps it is also in the Tolkien letters, but I cannot remember) that he has no problem with changing a story to fit a format. There is much in that preface that suggests that he would have made similar changes to what Jackson has done.
One can argue that the LOTR books are "pure" and should be left unchanged in a movie format. However, for those of you who are hung up on this, I suggest you read the rough drafts published by Christopher Tolkien for LOTR. Here is a pre-warning though - you will seriously spoil the magic of the story. Here is a minor spoiler:
Aragorn was originally a hobbit, and his name was "Trotter" not Strider. Tolkien also had no idea what the characters would do after they reached bree, but he knew that they should head on to bree. After that, there was no story at all.
I agree. Guys like you are awesome. I got a celeron 300A overclocked to 450 with 3dfx cards back in the day off of a guy who just *HAD* to upgrade. Last year, I got an AMD 2500+, Radeon 9800 All In Wonder Pro, 160 GB drive off another guy, who, like you, just HAD to upgrade. I overclocked the Athlon, and that is what I am using right now. It is a great gaming machine - sure, it is a year out of date, but what do I care? It plays all the games just fine. Including Doom 3.
Furthermore, because I got it used, I got it for a steal.
Pu is totally worthless nowdays, the US has about 18 tons of excess Pu that it would like to get rid of, the Russians likewise.. We may have to build several billion dollar reactors just to burn up the excess Pu.
True - worthless to nations like the US and Russia... Not so worthless to others who have more nefarious designs.
On some work computers I have changed the Firefox Shortcut to appear exactly as the IE shortcut - I used the same icon, and renamed the shortcut to "Internet Explorer".
I then placed the shortcuts in the same places that you normally find IE.
Seriously, if there is a sequel - I want the original actors - and I want to see Luke follow the same path as Anakin.
*THAT* would be worth seeing.
After all, anyone who paid any attention to what Yoda said in Empire knows that Luke is trending to the dark side. Heck, it is even shown in ROTJ. About the only "light side" thing he does is refuse to strike down Vader. Everything else really seems to go against Yoda's philosopy.
Having Han and Leia fighting against Luke would be interesting... provided that the other luke... LUCAS stayed out of it.
I have seen Highlander 2 more times than I have seen Higlander one. Why? Because when it came out on VHS in the 80's my friends and I considered so funny as to be on par with Monty Python movies. The flim is just awful... Which is why I like it so much.
Another movie along the same thread is: Yor, the Hunter from the Future Absolutely horrible as well. Therefore, I highly reccomend you get a bunch of friends and some beer, and rent this one too while ripping into it.
I could not agree with your post more. As I play through Doom 3 I keep thinking about Thief 3. "The Cradle" was terrifying - I could not play it at night. It was exceedingly well done.
As you say - the worst happens to you ALL THE TIME. So, it really just becomes a case of "run through level fast - shoot anything that moves".
So, for me, I don't find it scary. Beautiful graphics? Yes. Good voice Acting? Yes. Interesting? Sorta...
I played the original Half Life single player again over the weekend, and I found that to be a better game too. id has done what they always do with a game. They have produced an excellent engine, and I wonder when someone will make a good game out of it. Half life was excellent, and not always "creepy dark" like Doom 3. Thief 3 was excellent, and mostly "Creepy Dark", but then, that is Thief, and the whole game is based around hiding in the shadows.
I agree with you - after being surprised a few times, it just gets old. I have been "surprised" by monsters more times than I can count now, and I have rarely been startled.
I have not tried the Multiplayer yet, but it should be more rewarding than the massive multiplayer out there. I will enjoy seeing what the Mod scene does with this.
For those who are checking system specs (outside of HardOCP)
I have: AMD Athlon 2500 Overclocked at 3200 ATI All In Wonder 9800 Pro 128 MB 512 MB Ram 160 GB 7200 8MB Cache Hard Drive Nforce 2 Chipset with Soundstorm Sound
The game is playable at 1024X768 with High Quality settings, but unfortunately, whenever I approach a door, my framerate drops into 1-2 frames per second or lower. Otherwise, when not loading level sections, the game runs above 30 FPS. Also, when loading certain sounds, the game drops into low framerates.
Generally, I play at 800 X 600 with Medium Quality settings, but this does not totally eliminate the "door issue".
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All I really remember about MCGA was that very few games supported it, most supported CGA or VGA when I had the PS/2. Therefore I was confined to run most games in CGA, all the while hating IBM for MCGA and the Micro-Channel Archetechture.
Yes, I used to have an IMB PS/2 Model 25. MCGA is superior to CGA only in certain arenas. The PS/2 could not handle VGA - which sucked.
The PC speaker is like the CGA of music.
You mispelled MCGA.
For those that don't remember MCGA.
Who cares? Does every show have to be a ratings bonanza? Can't television contribute to culture and learning instead of just ad revenue?
Err, well money is what gets shows produced, so that is a problem. If a science network shows stuff, and no one watches, then they go out of business. Therefore, the science shows must have some level of viewers to maintain the channel. Either from ad revenue or by enough subscribers to a given ad-free channel to at least float the network.
In case you have not noticed, the best science shows have come from PBS, and some of my favorites are from the CBC. Both of these are public broadcasters.
There are shows out there that are science based, but how many people watch them?
Nova has been around for ages, as has Nature. Both are excellent shows, but what kind of audience do they have? Sadly, not enough. Even with such excellent programs as this: The Elegant Universe. (Note, you need to downgrade your version of quicktime if it is new to view it due to a quicktime bug. I reccomend the full screen version BTW.)
Up here in Canada I have been watching The Nature of Things for as long as I can remember. We also get Quirks and Quarks on CBC radio, which is actually quite popular up here. (I reccomend downloading some episodes in MP3. Jay Ingram from Daily Planet used to host this show.)
So, there are good shows out there for such a network, but the question becomes, would people watch? I know I would, hell, I would subscribe to a cable channel of that nature in an instant. However, as it is, I use my ATI All-In-Wonder and the PVR software that came with it to record and play back these shows, so I have a "custom" science channel of my own.
Michael Schermer has been working towards this for some time: as shown here.
I think though, that one VITAL thing to add would be along the lines of what Schermer already does (and the Mythbusters TV show does to some degree as well): Teach Joe Sixpack the nature of scientific thinking, specifically critical thinking as outlined in Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World, Science as a Candle in the Dark. Once more people begin to understand this concept, they will likely become more open to scientific televison, well, that is what I hope for anyhow.
A friend of mine sent me $35 bucks via paypal, it arrived.. Then the other day I checked my account and it was EMPTY. I have not bought anything with paypal in the last month, so where did my balance go?
Err, that first sentence should say that it is in my top FIVE favorite games of all time.
Well this makes me damn happy. In a list of my favourite games, System Shock 2 is one of them.
s r_ info.htm
I was overjoyed when Thief 3 came out, especially after, quite sadly, Looking Glass closed their doors.
For those of you who have never played either the incredible Thief Series, or System Shock, you are in for a treat. Be aware that the graphics are sub-par, but the audio! Eric Brossius is FRIGHTENING. He is responsible for the audio in Both the Thief Series, and System Shock 2. They damn well better have him on board.
By the way, if you want better system shock 2 graphics, check into Rebirth:
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/etienne.aubert/sshock/s
Its a mod that makes for better graphics.
They don't have to worry. All the people with black hats will rewrite the code for them... Free of charge!
One of my pet projects now is to turn a laptop, a cuecat and a webcam into a fridge computer that will allow me to inventory my refridgerator as well as take a snapshot whenever I open the door.
Ah! Now at last we can answer that age old question that has been plaguing mankind! What happens to the light in the fridge when you close the door? You do mankind a great service...
.
.
.
.
.
(On a side note, for the humor impaired; Yes, I know what happens, but don't forget about the light in the equation for your idea...)
Why not add gadgets to a regular bike? Like say a Palm Pilot or a GPS? That would, IMO make it an E-bike. If you are looking for an electric bike, then why not build an electric motorbike or perhaps a scooter?
I mean, having a bike and NOT moving it under your own power (Kinetic or Potential energy here) really defeats the purpose.
Yes, I get confused. As a lover of Norton Motorcycles I often think of the Isle of Mann.
Sorry - yes you are correct. It has been some time since I was there. I used to live in Montreal, and I now live on the "Wet Coast". I knew that the Museum had changed it's name, but I could not remember the new name. I also could not remember if it was "man" as in Homo or "Mann" as in the island.
which I can only imagine as deafening to whales and dolphins.
According to the Museum of Mann in Ottawa, Canada which has broken whale eardrums on display, this is entirely possible.
If radio antennas are considered weapons of mass destruction, I think we are all in trouble.
Well, it is known that Saddam did in fact, have radio antennas in Iraq, and I believe that there are still some there now.
I personally believe that had Tolkien lived and changed with the times he would have loved the movies that have been made so far. I'm looking forward to the Hobbit eventually.
I believe you are absolutely correct in this regard. Tolkien has an excellent preface to the version of LOTR that I have, and in it he discusses how LOTR is not a parralell of World War II. He also discusses how he hates allagory it all its forms. He also then makes brief mention (and perhaps it is also in the Tolkien letters, but I cannot remember) that he has no problem with changing a story to fit a format. There is much in that preface that suggests that he would have made similar changes to what Jackson has done.
One can argue that the LOTR books are "pure" and should be left unchanged in a movie format. However, for those of you who are hung up on this, I suggest you read the rough drafts published by Christopher Tolkien for LOTR. Here is a pre-warning though - you will seriously spoil the magic of the story. Here is a minor spoiler:
Aragorn was originally a hobbit, and his name was "Trotter" not Strider. Tolkien also had no idea what the characters would do after they reached bree, but he knew that they should head on to bree. After that, there was no story at all.
I agree. Guys like you are awesome. I got a celeron 300A overclocked to 450 with 3dfx cards back in the day off of a guy who just *HAD* to upgrade. Last year, I got an AMD 2500+, Radeon 9800 All In Wonder Pro, 160 GB drive off another guy, who, like you, just HAD to upgrade. I overclocked the Athlon, and that is what I am using right now. It is a great gaming machine - sure, it is a year out of date, but what do I care? It plays all the games just fine. Including Doom 3.
Furthermore, because I got it used, I got it for a steal.
Pu is totally worthless nowdays, the US has about 18 tons of excess Pu that it would like to get rid of, the Russians likewise.. We may have to build several billion dollar reactors just to burn up the excess Pu.
True - worthless to nations like the US and Russia... Not so worthless to others who have more nefarious designs.
So, how long will it be until we are all carrying iPhones?
My guess is 2 years.
People are working on 8-way motherboards that will become 16-way when duel-core Opterons come out.
That will be soo cool when we have duel core opeterons. Can you imagine 16 opetrons dueling it out in your case?
Cool! Wicked Awesome!!!
What? A typo. Oh. Err... I knew that...
On some work computers I have changed the Firefox Shortcut to appear exactly as the IE shortcut - I used the same icon, and renamed the shortcut to "Internet Explorer".
I then placed the shortcuts in the same places that you normally find IE.
No one noticed. Not one single person.
Makes things easier for some people sometimes.
Seriously, if there is a sequel - I want the original actors - and I want to see Luke follow the same path as Anakin.
*THAT* would be worth seeing.
After all, anyone who paid any attention to what Yoda said in Empire knows that Luke is trending to the dark side. Heck, it is even shown in ROTJ. About the only "light side" thing he does is refuse to strike down Vader. Everything else really seems to go against Yoda's philosopy.
Having Han and Leia fighting against Luke would be interesting... provided that the other luke... LUCAS stayed out of it.
I was going to try for a first post - but the speed of light barrier slowed me down.
I have seen Highlander 2 more times than I have seen Higlander one. Why? Because when it came out on VHS in the 80's my friends and I considered so funny as to be on par with Monty Python movies. The flim is just awful... Which is why I like it so much.
Another movie along the same thread is: Yor, the Hunter from the Future
Absolutely horrible as well. Therefore, I highly reccomend you get a bunch of friends and some beer, and rent this one too while ripping into it.
Try not to have too much of a good time.
I could not agree with your post more. As I play through Doom 3 I keep thinking about Thief 3. "The Cradle" was terrifying - I could not play it at night. It was exceedingly well done.
As you say - the worst happens to you ALL THE TIME. So, it really just becomes a case of "run through level fast - shoot anything that moves".
So, for me, I don't find it scary. Beautiful graphics? Yes. Good voice Acting? Yes.
Interesting? Sorta...
I played the original Half Life single player again over the weekend, and I found that to be a better game too. id has done what they always do with a game. They have produced an excellent engine, and I wonder when someone will make a good game out of it. Half life was excellent, and not always "creepy dark" like Doom 3. Thief 3 was excellent, and mostly "Creepy Dark", but then, that is Thief, and the whole game is based around hiding in the shadows.
I agree with you - after being surprised a few times, it just gets old. I have been "surprised" by monsters more times than I can count now, and I have rarely been startled.
I have not tried the Multiplayer yet, but it should be more rewarding than the massive multiplayer out there. I will enjoy seeing what the Mod scene does with this.
For those who are checking system specs (outside of HardOCP)
I have:
AMD Athlon 2500 Overclocked at 3200
ATI All In Wonder 9800 Pro 128 MB
512 MB Ram
160 GB 7200 8MB Cache Hard Drive
Nforce 2 Chipset with Soundstorm Sound
The game is playable at 1024X768 with High Quality settings, but unfortunately, whenever I approach a door, my framerate drops into 1-2 frames per second or lower. Otherwise, when not loading level sections, the game runs above 30 FPS. Also, when loading certain sounds, the game drops into low framerates.
Generally, I play at 800 X 600 with Medium Quality settings, but this does not totally eliminate the "door issue".