For learning the basics of AND, OR, XOR and NOT logic, along with building basic circuits, you just can't do any better than Robot Odyssey. This is probably the greatest educational game I ever played as a young teenager. I trace my interest in studying, and then making a career out of computer science largely back to this game.
For slightly younger people, there's Rocky's Boots made by the same people (The Learning Company). It teaches a lot of the same things, but in an easier (and cuter) style.
All you need is an Apple II emulator like AppleWin and you're all set!
> Interesting that a columnist for the "Free Republic" would be given the same weight as "Science" magazine.
Uh... friend, you do realize that the column was written for TCS and was just reposted to Free Republic by someone else, right? And that the TCS and Science articles are in agreement about the lack of historical evidence of global warming?
If you want to see some of the outcry of the GIMP developers against GIMPshop, check out this thread where Scott introduced his project to the GIMP mailing list.
Some of the reactions:
"[Y]ou aren't doing anyone a favor by doing this. I'd appreciate if you kept your changes for yourself."
"No, I won't help you. What you are up to is a horrible waste of time and resources."
> Years back they used it at a tv episode sharing website Unfortunately I can't remember the
> name of it though. It was originally a page to archive tv shows like the State and MST3k, and moved
> on to archive other shows... it was eventually shut down though, as it got more popular to share tv
> shows and the authorities started getting involved.
I can't remember what Best Brain's take on that project was, but I believe they got fairly enthusiastic support from MST3K luminaries like Kevin Murphy. The project leaders were very careful not to make available any episode that was available for purchase through Rhino Recordings.
> I just don't get the US's non-participation in this treaty. Cutting pollution is good for the economy.
Then I'll be happy to help explain it. The short version: Kyoto would have required the US to cut its carbon-dioxide emissions by 30-40% over the next 10 years. Cutting CO2 emissions = cutting back on the use of carbon-based fuels like oil, gas, and coal. Those fuels produce over 2/3 of the energy used in the United States. Witness the downturn that the economy took just over the last few months as oil got a bit more expensive and energy production dropped. Now picture another 30-40% drop on top of that. Do you see begin to see how "cutting pollution is good for the economy" is a bit simplistic?
And what would be the end result of the US crippling its economy in this way? Estimates indicate that Kyoto would reduce global temperatures by 0.25 degrees F by the year 2100, and a rise in ocean temperatures of 0.11 degrees C over 40 years (see the journal Science, 4/13/01)
The Kyoto treaty is not the warm-and-fuzzy "save the environment!" treaty you think it is. It's rigid and onerous and gives the UN significant regulatory power over the industries (and economies) of nations that sign it. There's a reason that the Senate decided in a completely bipartisan fashion (95-0) to reject the treaty. It's bad for the US, and it still doesn't solve any global environmental problems.
> It's free, it's well done, and it's science fiction theater? What's not to like?
Exactly! Nobody who played "I Love Bees" for any length of time was unaware of its Halo 2 association. And nobody was scandalized to learn that Microsoft/Bungie were behind it.
So what? Microsoft and Bungie put out Halo 1, and I actually paid money to play it! Does that make me a_pawn of faceless corporate overlords? No, it just means they put out a fun game, and I agreed to give them money so I could play it.
So if that was a reasonable transaction, how much better a deal was it to play "I Love Bees" for $0.00 ? I had fun, they got publicity for Halo 2 - everybody wins!
> This "I love bees" garbage is the new era of advertsing.
Garbage?
For those who participated in it, "I Love Bees" was great fun. You got to solve puzzles, run around answering pay phones to open up more of the story, occasionally talk to the live actors themselves in-charachter, and work with other people piecing the plot together. In the end, ILB was a 5-6 hour drama taking place in the Halo universe, all leading up to the events of Halo 2. If you didn't care about Halo, you probably still could have enjoyed the fun of the game. And if you had any interest in Halo, then it really got you interested in Halo 2.
Was it marketing? Of course! No-one was blind to that. But if you think that should immediately disqualify the game from being any fun, let me ask you this:
Have you ever downloaded a game demo? Did you enjoy playing the 1 or 2 levels they provided for free? Did it make you interested in buying the game?
Well, guess what? You were the victim of marketing! You poor fool - you didn't realize that you were just a pawn of the cynical megagame corporations! You may have thought you were having fun playing a little 1-2 level game, but in reality, you were being used!!!!
Or not. Maybe you were just taking advantage of a freebie given out by a company hoping you'd like it and would then buy the full game.
That's exactly what happened with "I Love Bees". Some of us who played will buy Halo 2. Others who don't really care about computer gaming won't. But everyone had fun. And in the end, it doesn't matter if Microsoft was behind it, or Bungie, or just a couple of guys in a basement. It was fun. That is all.
According to a leaked copy of the script, it appears that in the final scene, just before stepping into the final room full of monsters, The Rock will step up to a computer terminal and type in "idkfa".
Then after picking up all the weapons and ammo that have inexplicably just materialized in front of him, he'll type in "iddqd" followed by "idspispopd".
Then apparently he'll just walk right through the wall and blow the entire room away without taking a single hit!
I needed a way to make a "secure zone" similar to what Lexar was advertising - a place where I could drop files and have them automatically protected. After doing a fair amount of research, I decided to use PGPDisk. It allows you to create a PGP-encrypted file on any device (hard drive, CD, USB key, etc) which "expands" into a virtual drive (e.g. "C:\Private\SecretStuff.dsk" becomes a new "Removable drive G:" in Windows once you enter the password). Anything you drop into the virtual drive becomes encrypted. It uses 128-bit symmetric CAST algorithm, which is plenty strong enough for anything I'd need. (I believe the newest versions may also have a Twofish algorithm option). PGPdisk virtual drives can be up to 4Gig on a FAT32 machine, or unlimited size under NTFS.
You can check out the commercial version at http://www.pgp.com/, but I would also seriously consider PGPckt 6.58, a forked and free version that works just fine under WinXP (and previous versions of Windows). That's the version I've been using.
You know that thing your aunt gave you that you don't know what it is? Put your stuff in it. All your stuff. It'll fit! (well, except the really big stuff). Then throw it away. It'll show up in your hands, your pocket, or at your feet a few moves later.
Voila! No more accursed "Your load is too heavy" message.
Man, what I wouldn't give for something like that!
> Seriously, this was probably the most annoying Infocom game ever published
Oh, I don't know about that. I still don't follow the logic behind the 2-piles-of-cubes puzzle in Spellbreaker. And have you tried "Suspect"? Man!
Well, Ok, you're right about the first 1/3 of HHGTTG. If you haven't gotten everything you need off Earth before it blows up, then you're in trouble (although if you failed to feed the dog, there is a second chance for you later in the game!). And if you don't get the Babel fish before you're hauled off to the poetry slam, then too bad for you.
But once you make it to the Heart of Gold, you're pretty much free to explore without time constraints. Yes, you can "die" in many of the scenarios you'll teleport to with the Improbability Drive, but all that does is send you back to the H.O.G. Then you just try it again.
Best Puzzle: "You can't see anything, smell anything, taste anything, or feel anything..." (etc.) Brilliant.:-)
Worst Puzzle: "put junk mail on satchel". Ok, maybe the three previous steps for getting the fish were somewhat logical, but the "confuse-the-upper-half-of-the-room-robot" step was ridiculous!
On one hand, this could seriously increase the pressure on Congress to pass an INDUCE-style bill to rip the heart out of P2P programs - something that a lot of Democrats and Republicans are eager to do...
... but on the other hand, consumers aren't totally friendless in Congress. Richard Boucher (liberal Democrat) has consistently stood on the side of consumers and is pushing his anti-DMCA bill (the Digital Media Consumer's Rights Act (DMCR)). And Joe Barton (conservative Republican) is the head of the powerful House Energy and Commerce committee. He has publically expressed his opposition to further DMCA/INDUCE-style bills. And since the DMCR is going through his committee, his opinion will count for a lot in this fight.
I only got around to playing Thief 1 and 2 a few months ago - never really thought much about them, but saw them both for about $7/each on the used shelf at EBGames and decided to give them a shot.
I had figured they would be fairly dumb sneaking-type games - rob this house, now rob this larger house with a few guards, now rob this mansion with more alert guards, etc. You know - a dumb shooter turned into a dumb stealth game.
Man was I ever wrong! Thief 1 and 2 have some of the best storylines I have ever, ever encountered in gaming. And yeah, the c.1997 graphics may look a bit clunky to the modern gamer, but they're certainly passable. And in exchange for putting up with that, you'll get some of the best storytelling in the gaming industry (and some great gameplay, too!)
Next, I'm going to find out if System Shock 1 and 2 can stand up to the same scrutiny...
When are they going to upgrade MY shell?
on
Bash 3.0 Released
·
· Score: 4, Funny
Yeah, Bash 3.0 is great and all, but when are the bash people going to upgrade rbash? Man, I can't do anything with that shell!
It seems that far too many times WIPO (the arbritration panel) takes domains from the little guys and hands them to the big guys even if the domains weren't registered in bad faith (one of the requirements for domain transfers).
But now and then they get it right. Here's one such example, which makes for some fun reading (if you can handle a bit of legalese). The domain in question was armani.com, and the Armani corporation was browbeating Mr. A. R. Mani (get it?) and demanding he turn over the domain to them. WIPO denied the request and ended by saying:
The Panel finds the failure of the Complainant in its Complaint to set out any of the clearly lengthy background to this dispute is surprising. The Complainant or entities associated with it have been pursuing the Respondent since 1995, through various representatives. The Panel is left with a strong sense that the reason these actions have led nowhere is because they come up against the same issue as has been identified in these proceedings, namely, the Respondent's legitimate use of a variant of his own name. The Complaint states (at paragraph 20) in accordance with the Policy, that "the Complainant certifies that the information contained in the Complaint is to the best of the Complainant's knowledge complete and accurate". The Panel does not see how that could properly have been said. In the circumstances, the Panel concludes, pursuant of paragraph 15(e) of the Rules, that this Complaint has been brought in bad faith, and that it constitutes an abuse of the administrative proceeding.
Good stuff.:-) www.armani.com now points to the corporate site - one can only hope that Mr. Mani made a bundle of money on the sale to a chastened Armani corporation.
Not sure where you can get the side of the people who have been completely pleased with their surgery, but Clark Howard (who has a nationally syndicated consumer-affairs talk show) recommends you read about what to expect (and some of the possible complications) of laser eye surgery at SurgicalEyes.com.
Hooray! The gd FAQ says that GIF support will be returning to the gd library. Thanks Tom!
Douglas Adams set the precedent himself
on
H2G2 Film Website
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
HHGTTG might be a Hollywood producer's dream book: something that can be adapted and reinterpreted liberally without worrying about staying true to the source material.
After all, IIRC, the plots of the radio series, TV series, books, and text adventure gameall differ from each other, starting sometime after Ford and Arthur arrive on the Heart of Gold.
There's a lot of Gentoo lovin' going on here, and while I am a satisfied Gentoo customer more-or-less, people should realize that Gentoo is a very young and bleeding-edge distro. The good thing about Gentoo is that it'll teach you a huge amount about the inner workings of Linux. The bad news is that you'll be doing that learning as you're pounding your head against a wall trying to fix something that an "emerge -u" broke.
Some Gentoo developers just seem to release stuff without thoroughly testing it out. Here's some examples just from my own experiences over the last 2 months:
"emerge -u openldap" fails. The root cause (at listed in the bug report) is "libiodbc package appears to be badly broken, reported to it's maintainer. problem should go away when it's fixed."
"emerge -u alsa-driver" breaks my ALSA setup (no sound). Updated ALSA library package had a severe bug.
New "hotplug" libraries created a race condition with gentoo's dependency caching program. Result: the/var/lib/init.d/depcache file is written to simultaneously by multiple processes. Result: corrupted file. Result: unpredictable booting, ranging from certain programs not starting to completely unusable bootable state.
tcng program requires certain kernels to be installed (don't know why, but it does). New kernel is released, breaking tcng which does not recognize the new kernel. (new tcng released 2-3 weeks later)
Gentoo can be a very cool distro if you're willing to put up with the annoyances of (IMHO) a somewhat muddled and slipshod update-release process.
Those more interested in the aspects of computers and brute-force calculating power vs. human intuition in games like chess might find this article interesting.
The author predicts that while computers will one day defeat even the greatest chess Grand Masters, they will probably never be able to master the Chinese game of "Go".
Here's a step-by-step guide on how to install RealPlayer 10 with all the nagging features turned off. And the guy who wrote it should know - he's a senior engineer for RealNetworks.
Slashdot Mirror
For slightly younger people, there's Rocky's Boots made by the same people (The Learning Company). It teaches a lot of the same things, but in an easier (and cuter) style.
All you need is an Apple II emulator like AppleWin and you're all set!
Uh... friend, you do realize that the column was written for TCS and was just reposted to Free Republic by someone else, right? And that the TCS and Science articles are in agreement about the lack of historical evidence of global warming?
Some of the reactions:
> name of it though. It was originally a page to archive tv shows like the State and MST3k, and moved
> on to archive other shows... it was eventually shut down though, as it got more popular to share tv
> shows and the authorities started getting involved.
You're referring to the Digital Archive Project, which still exists. The one for MST3K is also still around.
I can't remember what Best Brain's take on that project was, but I believe they got fairly enthusiastic support from MST3K luminaries like Kevin Murphy. The project leaders were very careful not to make available any episode that was available for purchase through Rhino Recordings.
Here's a guy who setup a 20-computer lab with Mandrake Linux, KDE, KTouch, TuxTyping, etc. for his school.
Linux from Kindergarten to High School
Then I'll be happy to help explain it. The short version: Kyoto would have required the US to cut its carbon-dioxide emissions by 30-40% over the next 10 years. Cutting CO2 emissions = cutting back on the use of carbon-based fuels like oil, gas, and coal. Those fuels produce over 2/3 of the energy used in the United States. Witness the downturn that the economy took just over the last few months as oil got a bit more expensive and energy production dropped. Now picture another 30-40% drop on top of that. Do you see begin to see how "cutting pollution is good for the economy" is a bit simplistic?
And what would be the end result of the US crippling its economy in this way? Estimates indicate that Kyoto would reduce global temperatures by 0.25 degrees F by the year 2100, and a rise in ocean temperatures of 0.11 degrees C over 40 years (see the journal Science, 4/13/01)
The Kyoto treaty is not the warm-and-fuzzy "save the environment!" treaty you think it is. It's rigid and onerous and gives the UN significant regulatory power over the industries (and economies) of nations that sign it. There's a reason that the Senate decided in a completely bipartisan fashion (95-0) to reject the treaty. It's bad for the US, and it still doesn't solve any global environmental problems.
Exactly! Nobody who played "I Love Bees" for any length of time was unaware of its Halo 2 association. And nobody was scandalized to learn that Microsoft/Bungie were behind it.
So what? Microsoft and Bungie put out Halo 1, and I actually paid money to play it! Does that make me a_pawn of faceless corporate overlords? No, it just means they put out a fun game, and I agreed to give them money so I could play it.
So if that was a reasonable transaction, how much better a deal was it to play "I Love Bees" for $0.00 ? I had fun, they got publicity for Halo 2 - everybody wins!
> This "I love bees" garbage is the new era of advertsing.
Garbage?
For those who participated in it, "I Love Bees" was great fun. You got to solve puzzles, run around answering pay phones to open up more of the story, occasionally talk to the live actors themselves in-charachter, and work with other people piecing the plot together. In the end, ILB was a 5-6 hour drama taking place in the Halo universe, all leading up to the events of Halo 2. If you didn't care about Halo, you probably still could have enjoyed the fun of the game. And if you had any interest in Halo, then it really got you interested in Halo 2.
Was it marketing? Of course! No-one was blind to that. But if you think that should immediately disqualify the game from being any fun, let me ask you this:
Have you ever downloaded a game demo? Did you enjoy playing the 1 or 2 levels they provided for free? Did it make you interested in buying the game?
Well, guess what? You were the victim of marketing! You poor fool - you didn't realize that you were just a pawn of the cynical megagame corporations! You may have thought you were having fun playing a little 1-2 level game, but in reality, you were being used!!!!
Or not. Maybe you were just taking advantage of a freebie given out by a company hoping you'd like it and would then buy the full game.
That's exactly what happened with "I Love Bees". Some of us who played will buy Halo 2. Others who don't really care about computer gaming won't. But everyone had fun. And in the end, it doesn't matter if Microsoft was behind it, or Bungie, or just a couple of guys in a basement. It was fun. That is all.
Can't say I've ever heard of Aluria's Spyware Eliminator. I've got my triumvirate of anti-spyware tools, and I'm satisfied:
No need to limit yourself to just one, either - run all three!
* WARNING - SPOILER! *
According to a leaked copy of the script, it appears that in the final scene, just before stepping into the final room full of monsters, The Rock will step up to a computer terminal and type in "idkfa".
Then after picking up all the weapons and ammo that have inexplicably just materialized in front of him, he'll type in "iddqd" followed by "idspispopd".
Then apparently he'll just walk right through the wall and blow the entire room away without taking a single hit!
Read the Guide to the game for the backstory on what's been going on over the last three months.
I needed a way to make a "secure zone" similar to what Lexar was advertising - a place where I could drop files and have them automatically protected. After doing a fair amount of research, I decided to use PGPDisk. It allows you to create a PGP-encrypted file on any device (hard drive, CD, USB key, etc) which "expands" into a virtual drive (e.g. "C:\Private\SecretStuff.dsk" becomes a new "Removable drive G:" in Windows once you enter the password). Anything you drop into the virtual drive becomes encrypted. It uses 128-bit symmetric CAST algorithm, which is plenty strong enough for anything I'd need. (I believe the newest versions may also have a Twofish algorithm option). PGPdisk virtual drives can be up to 4Gig on a FAT32 machine, or unlimited size under NTFS.
You can check out the commercial version at http://www.pgp.com/, but I would also seriously consider PGPckt 6.58, a forked and free version that works just fine under WinXP (and previous versions of Windows). That's the version I've been using.
You know that thing your aunt gave you that you don't know what it is? Put your stuff in it. All your stuff. It'll fit! (well, except the really big stuff). Then throw it away. It'll show up in your hands, your pocket, or at your feet a few moves later.
Voila! No more accursed "Your load is too heavy" message.
Man, what I wouldn't give for something like that!
> Seriously, this was probably the most annoying Infocom game ever published
Oh, I don't know about that. I still don't follow the logic behind the 2-piles-of-cubes puzzle in Spellbreaker. And have you tried "Suspect"? Man!
Well, Ok, you're right about the first 1/3 of HHGTTG. If you haven't gotten everything you need off Earth before it blows up, then you're in trouble (although if you failed to feed the dog, there is a second chance for you later in the game!). And if you don't get the Babel fish before you're hauled off to the poetry slam, then too bad for you.
But once you make it to the Heart of Gold, you're pretty much free to explore without time constraints. Yes, you can "die" in many of the scenarios you'll teleport to with the Improbability Drive, but all that does is send you back to the H.O.G. Then you just try it again.
Best Puzzle: "You can't see anything, smell anything, taste anything, or feel anything..." (etc.) Brilliant. :-)
Worst Puzzle: "put junk mail on satchel". Ok, maybe the three previous steps for getting the fish were somewhat logical, but the "confuse-the-upper-half-of-the-room-robot" step was ridiculous!
For those who want to listen to the conference call recording, here it is...
RealPlayer:d emand/040831cald.ra&proto=rtsp
http://play.rbn.com/?url=shareholder/shareholder/
Windows Media Player:e holder/wmdemand/040831cald.asf&proto=mms?mswmext=. asx
http://play.rbn.com/play.asx?url=shareholder/shar
On one hand, this could seriously increase the pressure on Congress to pass an INDUCE-style bill to rip the heart out of P2P programs - something that a lot of Democrats and Republicans are eager to do...
I only got around to playing Thief 1 and 2 a few months ago - never really thought much about them, but saw them both for about $7/each on the used shelf at EBGames and decided to give them a shot.
I had figured they would be fairly dumb sneaking-type games - rob this house, now rob this larger house with a few guards, now rob this mansion with more alert guards, etc. You know - a dumb shooter turned into a dumb stealth game.
Man was I ever wrong! Thief 1 and 2 have some of the best storylines I have ever, ever encountered in gaming. And yeah, the c.1997 graphics may look a bit clunky to the modern gamer, but they're certainly passable. And in exchange for putting up with that, you'll get some of the best storytelling in the gaming industry (and some great gameplay, too!)
Next, I'm going to find out if System Shock 1 and 2 can stand up to the same scrutiny...
Yeah, Bash 3.0 is great and all, but when are the bash people going to upgrade rbash? Man, I can't do anything with that shell!
It seems that far too many times WIPO (the arbritration panel) takes domains from the little guys and hands them to the big guys even if the domains weren't registered in bad faith (one of the requirements for domain transfers).
But now and then they get it right. Here's one such example, which makes for some fun reading (if you can handle a bit of legalese). The domain in question was armani.com, and the Armani corporation was browbeating Mr. A. R. Mani (get it?) and demanding he turn over the domain to them. WIPO denied the request and ended by saying:
The Panel finds the failure of the Complainant in its Complaint to set out any of the clearly lengthy background to this dispute is surprising. The Complainant or entities associated with it have been pursuing the Respondent since 1995, through various representatives. The Panel is left with a strong sense that the reason these actions have led nowhere is because they come up against the same issue as has been identified in these proceedings, namely, the Respondent's legitimate use of a variant of his own name. The Complaint states (at paragraph 20) in accordance with the Policy, that "the Complainant certifies that the information contained in the Complaint is to the best of the Complainant's knowledge complete and accurate". The Panel does not see how that could properly have been said. In the circumstances, the Panel concludes, pursuant of paragraph 15(e) of the Rules, that this Complaint has been brought in bad faith, and that it constitutes an abuse of the administrative proceeding.
Good stuff. :-) www.armani.com now points to the corporate site - one can only hope that Mr. Mani made a bundle of money on the sale to a chastened Armani corporation.
Not sure where you can get the side of the people who have been completely pleased with their surgery, but Clark Howard (who has a nationally syndicated consumer-affairs talk show) recommends you read about what to expect (and some of the possible complications) of laser eye surgery at SurgicalEyes.com.
Hooray! The gd FAQ says that GIF support will be returning to the gd library. Thanks Tom!
HHGTTG might be a Hollywood producer's dream book: something that can be adapted and reinterpreted liberally without worrying about staying true to the source material.
After all, IIRC, the plots of the radio series, TV series, books, and text adventure game all differ from each other, starting sometime after Ford and Arthur arrive on the Heart of Gold.
Some Gentoo developers just seem to release stuff without thoroughly testing it out. Here's some examples just from my own experiences over the last 2 months:
Gentoo can be a very cool distro if you're willing to put up with the annoyances of (IMHO) a somewhat muddled and slipshod update-release process.
Those more interested in the aspects of computers and brute-force calculating power vs. human intuition in games like chess might find this article interesting.
The author predicts that while computers will one day defeat even the greatest chess Grand Masters, they will probably never be able to master the Chinese game of "Go".
Here's a step-by-step guide on how to install RealPlayer 10 with all the nagging features turned off. And the guy who wrote it should know - he's a senior engineer for RealNetworks.