I played the original TTD for years and on odd occasions I dig out OpenTTD for a quick spin.
However, despite also owning the game guide for the original game, I have never been able to work out how to do track splits and signals correctly to get multiple trains running properly on single track spans.
I shall endeavour to finally master the technique in celebration of the 1.0 release!
It has been 100% playable for years, 1.0 is more of a milestone than anything.
I also find it very difficult taking anyone seriously who has the audacity to criticise other people who give their time freely into completing a project, whether it's a computer program or anything else in life.
It's not as though trolls like you who have no doubt been sat on their fat backsides moaning at everyone else for 15 years have tried to make any valid contribution in the project - so kindly climb back into your dark little hole and be miserable on your own, because none of the rest of us give a toss about your griping.
Re:Still not worth purchasing
on
iPad Jailbroken
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· Score: 1
Like I said already, if I ring HP and tell them some part of my HP laptop hardware doesn't run under Linux, they will tell me to go away until I prove it also doesn't work on the default Windows installation that they sent out on the laptop.
But that is not the same as the warranty being voided because I installed Linux on it (and how the hell could they tell that anyway if they'd expect it returned with the default installation in place?)
Re:Location services to work on a WiFi-only iPad
on
iPad Review
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· Score: 0, Troll
On the other hand, had you looked up from your iTouch screen for a few minutes and maybe read a few street signs or, heaven forbid, spoke to a mere mortal and asked him/her where you were, you could have found out where you were on your own without needing to suckle at Jobs' milky teat.
The iPad was officially released two days ago yet Jobs was waffling on about it in January in "Keynote" speeches, or whatever it is marketing types call them.
I used to do a lot of archiving to DVD-R disks but discovered that despite being stored in disk cases away from the light and day-to-day use, they still developed read errors within a couple of years of having been written - yet I also have a large music CD collection stored in a similar fashion but have music CDs that are 20 years old that still play absolutely fine. I know for a fact it wasn't a particular brand of DVD-R with the read error problems because I used to make two backup copies to different disk brands....
Yes, a hard disk in regular use is probably going to start failing within a couple of years also - but it's much quicker to slot in a new 1TB hard disk and backup to it than it is to burn about another 200 DVD-R disks to store the same amount of data...
Your statement totally applies to the existing DVD and Blu-Ray formats, I fail to see how additional licensing restrictions might be applied to a new writable format that is unlikely to see widespread adoption anyway since, byte for byte, it will work out to be far more expensive than a hard disk or thumb drive.
MS has primarily been a software company as far as PCs go. Users wind up buying primarily a hardware system, that typically has MS on it.
Apple does not make hardware, it merely creates hardware specifications that are manufactured in Chinese factories just like they are for PCs. The only real difference between OS X and Windows is that OS X is designed to work only on a much more limited range of hardware than does Windows.
MS winds up being limited by the innovation of its "partners". Apple has profited from being vertically integrated making both hardware & software.
Once again, an empty meaningless statement typical of the Apple fanboi...
The PC is itself a limited specification platform but Windows is theoretically designed to work on any PC provided that the hardware creators create drivers in the format that Microsoft expects to see for Windows. If anything, the evolution of that hardware, and the drivers for that hardware, allow Microsoft to create new Windows iterations that can take advantage of that hardware - surely therefore that is just the *opposite* of being limited by innovation of hardware partners?
Question: Does Ballmer have a strategy to break out of the partner limitations?
Why should he care? His company's OS runs on at least 90% of the world's desktops with no sign that's going to change any time soon.
As software and programming become more routine, will Dell, HP, Sony, Toshiba and others finally pick open source?
Sorry, this statement makes no sense whatsoever. If programming is becoming *more* routine, then surely that's because of both free Open Source developer tools as well as those made available by Microsoft - so if anything it strengthens the position of both of those, whereas Apple deliberately controls very tightly what can be developed on its platforms and marketed through its Apple Store.
And, yes, as an Open Source and Linux user, I'd love to see Dell, HP, Sony, etc. picking more Open Source but as a pragmatist, I don't see that happening any time soon. However, that's not the core issue anyway since Open Source can take care of itself, provided the hardware manufacturers publish open specifications that allow the Open Source community to develop their own drivers for that hardware.
Warren Buffett once said in an answer to a reporter's question, that he wouldn't invest in MS because he couldn't see the long term investment strategy of basing a business on PC software. That seems to be an indication of a conundrum for MS./
This is a moot point since I know of nowhere where Warren Buffett has said he *would* invest in Apple either.
But why do you need a new format just to be able to do that? It's already the case with CDs and DVDs that you don't get replacements free.
And whilst I do know what havoc kids can cause to digital media, this is still an extreme case - I would imagine the number of parents who re-buy movies because their kids destroyed the disks are a very small minority of the overall consumer base.
Why would you rent out a physical disk that can only be played on *one* player? Surely you're going to focus on DRM-ing an Internet movie download so that it becomes unplayable after so many views or so many days?
I seem to recall a planned DVD disk format that was supposed to degrade of its own accord within a week or two but that died a death as quickly as it was suggested.
Likewise, why risk writing to an optical disk that could be placed into another machine and be cracked open by some wiley hacker?
I can still run ancient versions of Linux too, you don't see me bragging.
This is also a worthless anecdote, unfortunately.
There's nothing stopping you running the latest Linux kernel on a really old 386 PC along with the latest versions of Apache web server, sshd or countless other Linux-related applications, including a really light window manager.
Sure, desktop environments like the latest Gnome and KDE won't run on it, but I'm pretty sure most distros will allow you not to install those if you don't want to.
Aren't writable optical disks pretty much dead these days?
I've not used anything Blu-Ray yet but pretty much every PC and DVD player these days has USB ports into which you can plug thumb drives or external USB hard disks.
And even for DVD-R disks, gigabyte for gigabyte hard disks are still cheaper, let alone for a new disk format where writable media is bound to be at a premium price initially.
Would you care to provide some actual examples of acquisitions by both companies that reinforce your argument?
This will in turn stop me from making my usual sweeping statement that Apple fanbois make too many sweeping statements without the ability to justify them.
Good luck removing your iPad from your anus if you happen to be sat there next to me on an airliner trying to read your iPad in the dark while I am trying to sleep.
They also make these things called "cigarettes" that can give you heart disease and lung cancer if you smoke enough of them - so the solution is I don't smoke.
I don't own any IP-enabled household appliances as I've yet to be convinced about the merits of them over just writing a proper shopping list or remembering to set the TV recorder correctly before you go out.
Just because I read Slashdot does not automatically imply that I buy every new gadget that comes out.
Re:one handed navigation is iffy
on
iPad Jailbroken
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· Score: 0, Troll
Apple fanbois have so much money to waste they can afford to hire servants to hold their iPads while they enjoy their iWanks.
I think you need to go back to your parallel universe in Middle Earth or wherever the hell it is you come from.
Because anyone who's been on Slashdot longer than five minutes knows that a constant complaint levied at Linux by the whining maggots is the *lack" of feedback and documentation.
Re:Still not worth purchasing
on
iPad Jailbroken
·
· Score: 1
Installing not-windows on your HP voids warranties too, as stupid as that sounds, which is the exact type of thing the GP is wanting in his hardware.
Absolute drivel!
My wife works for HP, I bought a discounted laptop from HP about six months ago that came with Vista pre-installed that I bought specifically to use with Linux. Before I bought it I ask about this very same warranty issue and got told by HP's support that in the case of a hardware problem, they'd act more quickly on it if the laptop was sent back to them with the default system image installed back on it - and to be perfectly honest, if it wasn't a major hardware issue with the laptop that I wasn't 100% sure about, then I'd throw the Vista image back onto it just to test it.
But when I told them I would be running Linux on it, they said there was no effect on the hardware warranty whatsoever - they merely said they would not support Linux on that hardware, which I knew was the case from the outset.
So stop with the childish FUD.
Re:While you're bemoaning the closed Ipad
on
iPad Jailbroken
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· Score: 2
This is why, as a security professional, I have a real problem with you Apple fanbois...
Firstly, a locked down device is not immune to vulnerabilities or attacks - *any* device that has *any* connectivity to the public Internet is potentially susceptible to some form of attack, even if it's just a case of pounding it with a Denial of Service attack that means it ends up spending far more time processing the IP packets in that attack rather than doing what it should be doing.
Secondly, on a more open system (yes, I definitely mean Linux and also include Windows in that to degree), you can install updates to counteract security vulnerabilities but you can also control the services and applications running on your system to make yourself more secure - therefore, for example, if you ditch IE and Outlook on Windows and run, say, Firefox and Thunderbird instead, then you immediately close your system down to a lot of Trojan and backdoor programs that make use of the heavy integration and high permissions that both the former have in Windows. However, in the Apple iPad world, you're stuck with Safari as a browser, and the particularly poor track record that Apple has in fixing security holes in it.
Thirdly, if "special" means that I take the time to understand how a computer OS works and how I am responsible for the security of my data and information within that OS, then, yes, I'm "special", and happily so.
It could be argued that the reason why there are so many viruses and Trojans on Windows is because Microsoft did a very good marketing job at convincing inexperienced people that you don't need much in the way of computer skills to use a PC - and this is why those same people don't update their systems, don't check what's running on their systems and don't stay away from parts of the Internet where there's a high risk they can download something nasty onto their PCs.
Apple have gone a stage further and done something ten times worse now. They're more than happy for you people to buy their products on the basis that you don't like Windows, want to stand out from the crowd yet cannot be bothered to spend any time learning how a computer works. Along with Apple's "locked down to all vulnerabilities" hype, that makes you even more dangerous...
I would rather remind you to get yourself a backbone so you find enough strength of character to stand by your convictions and neither buy the game nor pirate it.
Slashdot Mirror
I played the original TTD for years and on odd occasions I dig out OpenTTD for a quick spin.
However, despite also owning the game guide for the original game, I have never been able to work out how to do track splits and signals correctly to get multiple trains running properly on single track spans.
I shall endeavour to finally master the technique in celebration of the 1.0 release!
It has been 100% playable for years, 1.0 is more of a milestone than anything.
I also find it very difficult taking anyone seriously who has the audacity to criticise other people who give their time freely into completing a project, whether it's a computer program or anything else in life.
It's not as though trolls like you who have no doubt been sat on their fat backsides moaning at everyone else for 15 years have tried to make any valid contribution in the project - so kindly climb back into your dark little hole and be miserable on your own, because none of the rest of us give a toss about your griping.
Like I said already, if I ring HP and tell them some part of my HP laptop hardware doesn't run under Linux, they will tell me to go away until I prove it also doesn't work on the default Windows installation that they sent out on the laptop.
But that is not the same as the warranty being voided because I installed Linux on it (and how the hell could they tell that anyway if they'd expect it returned with the default installation in place?)
On the other hand, had you looked up from your iTouch screen for a few minutes and maybe read a few street signs or, heaven forbid, spoke to a mere mortal and asked him/her where you were, you could have found out where you were on your own without needing to suckle at Jobs' milky teat.
The iPad was officially released two days ago yet Jobs was waffling on about it in January in "Keynote" speeches, or whatever it is marketing types call them.
I used to do a lot of archiving to DVD-R disks but discovered that despite being stored in disk cases away from the light and day-to-day use, they still developed read errors within a couple of years of having been written - yet I also have a large music CD collection stored in a similar fashion but have music CDs that are 20 years old that still play absolutely fine. I know for a fact it wasn't a particular brand of DVD-R with the read error problems because I used to make two backup copies to different disk brands....
Yes, a hard disk in regular use is probably going to start failing within a couple of years also - but it's much quicker to slot in a new 1TB hard disk and backup to it than it is to burn about another 200 DVD-R disks to store the same amount of data...
Yes, but you are still missing my point.
Your statement totally applies to the existing DVD and Blu-Ray formats, I fail to see how additional licensing restrictions might be applied to a new writable format that is unlikely to see widespread adoption anyway since, byte for byte, it will work out to be far more expensive than a hard disk or thumb drive.
MS has primarily been a software company as far as PCs go. Users wind up buying primarily a hardware system, that typically has MS on it.
Apple does not make hardware, it merely creates hardware specifications that are manufactured in Chinese factories just like they are for PCs. The only real difference between OS X and Windows is that OS X is designed to work only on a much more limited range of hardware than does Windows.
MS winds up being limited by the innovation of its "partners". Apple has profited from being vertically integrated making both hardware & software.
Once again, an empty meaningless statement typical of the Apple fanboi...
The PC is itself a limited specification platform but Windows is theoretically designed to work on any PC provided that the hardware creators create drivers in the format that Microsoft expects to see for Windows. If anything, the evolution of that hardware, and the drivers for that hardware, allow Microsoft to create new Windows iterations that can take advantage of that hardware - surely therefore that is just the *opposite* of being limited by innovation of hardware partners?
Question: Does Ballmer have a strategy to break out of the partner limitations?
Why should he care? His company's OS runs on at least 90% of the world's desktops with no sign that's going to change any time soon.
As software and programming become more routine, will Dell, HP, Sony, Toshiba and others finally pick open source?
Sorry, this statement makes no sense whatsoever. If programming is becoming *more* routine, then surely that's because of both free Open Source developer tools as well as those made available by Microsoft - so if anything it strengthens the position of both of those, whereas Apple deliberately controls very tightly what can be developed on its platforms and marketed through its Apple Store.
And, yes, as an Open Source and Linux user, I'd love to see Dell, HP, Sony, etc. picking more Open Source but as a pragmatist, I don't see that happening any time soon. However, that's not the core issue anyway since Open Source can take care of itself, provided the hardware manufacturers publish open specifications that allow the Open Source community to develop their own drivers for that hardware.
Warren Buffett once said in an answer to a reporter's question, that he wouldn't invest in MS because he couldn't see the long term investment strategy of basing a business on PC software. That seems to be an indication of a conundrum for MS./
This is a moot point since I know of nowhere where Warren Buffett has said he *would* invest in Apple either.
But why do you need a new format just to be able to do that? It's already the case with CDs and DVDs that you don't get replacements free.
And whilst I do know what havoc kids can cause to digital media, this is still an extreme case - I would imagine the number of parents who re-buy movies because their kids destroyed the disks are a very small minority of the overall consumer base.
Sorry, this doesn't make any sense to me.
Why would you rent out a physical disk that can only be played on *one* player? Surely you're going to focus on DRM-ing an Internet movie download so that it becomes unplayable after so many views or so many days?
I seem to recall a planned DVD disk format that was supposed to degrade of its own accord within a week or two but that died a death as quickly as it was suggested.
Likewise, why risk writing to an optical disk that could be placed into another machine and be cracked open by some wiley hacker?
I've yet to find a place where you can (legally anyway) rent movies on writable optical media.
I can still run ancient versions of Linux too, you don't see me bragging.
This is also a worthless anecdote, unfortunately.
There's nothing stopping you running the latest Linux kernel on a really old 386 PC along with the latest versions of Apache web server, sshd or countless other Linux-related applications, including a really light window manager.
Sure, desktop environments like the latest Gnome and KDE won't run on it, but I'm pretty sure most distros will allow you not to install those if you don't want to.
Aren't writable optical disks pretty much dead these days?
I've not used anything Blu-Ray yet but pretty much every PC and DVD player these days has USB ports into which you can plug thumb drives or external USB hard disks.
And even for DVD-R disks, gigabyte for gigabyte hard disks are still cheaper, let alone for a new disk format where writable media is bound to be at a premium price initially.
Would you care to provide some actual examples of acquisitions by both companies that reinforce your argument?
This will in turn stop me from making my usual sweeping statement that Apple fanbois make too many sweeping statements without the ability to justify them.
"Vendor lock-in"?
"Closed technologies"?
It took me precisely 200 milliseconds to come up with those two, I'm sure there's more commonalities if I can be bothered to think about them.
...but I seem to recall Microsoft having to prop Apple up with an input of cash, not the other way around.
Oh yeah? So for how many months were Apple waffling on about the iPad before it was finally released?
Good luck removing your iPad from your anus if you happen to be sat there next to me on an airliner trying to read your iPad in the dark while I am trying to sleep.
They also make these things called "cigarettes" that can give you heart disease and lung cancer if you smoke enough of them - so the solution is I don't smoke.
I don't own any IP-enabled household appliances as I've yet to be convinced about the merits of them over just writing a proper shopping list or remembering to set the TV recorder correctly before you go out.
Just because I read Slashdot does not automatically imply that I buy every new gadget that comes out.
Apple fanbois have so much money to waste they can afford to hire servants to hold their iPads while they enjoy their iWanks.
Dear Gandalf Greyhame
I think you need to go back to your parallel universe in Middle Earth or wherever the hell it is you come from.
Because anyone who's been on Slashdot longer than five minutes knows that a constant complaint levied at Linux by the whining maggots is the *lack" of feedback and documentation.
Installing not-windows on your HP voids warranties too, as stupid as that sounds, which is the exact type of thing the GP is wanting in his hardware.
Absolute drivel!
My wife works for HP, I bought a discounted laptop from HP about six months ago that came with Vista pre-installed that I bought specifically to use with Linux. Before I bought it I ask about this very same warranty issue and got told by HP's support that in the case of a hardware problem, they'd act more quickly on it if the laptop was sent back to them with the default system image installed back on it - and to be perfectly honest, if it wasn't a major hardware issue with the laptop that I wasn't 100% sure about, then I'd throw the Vista image back onto it just to test it.
But when I told them I would be running Linux on it, they said there was no effect on the hardware warranty whatsoever - they merely said they would not support Linux on that hardware, which I knew was the case from the outset.
So stop with the childish FUD.
This is why, as a security professional, I have a real problem with you Apple fanbois...
Firstly, a locked down device is not immune to vulnerabilities or attacks - *any* device that has *any* connectivity to the public Internet is potentially susceptible to some form of attack, even if it's just a case of pounding it with a Denial of Service attack that means it ends up spending far more time processing the IP packets in that attack rather than doing what it should be doing.
Secondly, on a more open system (yes, I definitely mean Linux and also include Windows in that to degree), you can install updates to counteract security vulnerabilities but you can also control the services and applications running on your system to make yourself more secure - therefore, for example, if you ditch IE and Outlook on Windows and run, say, Firefox and Thunderbird instead, then you immediately close your system down to a lot of Trojan and backdoor programs that make use of the heavy integration and high permissions that both the former have in Windows. However, in the Apple iPad world, you're stuck with Safari as a browser, and the particularly poor track record that Apple has in fixing security holes in it.
Thirdly, if "special" means that I take the time to understand how a computer OS works and how I am responsible for the security of my data and information within that OS, then, yes, I'm "special", and happily so.
It could be argued that the reason why there are so many viruses and Trojans on Windows is because Microsoft did a very good marketing job at convincing inexperienced people that you don't need much in the way of computer skills to use a PC - and this is why those same people don't update their systems, don't check what's running on their systems and don't stay away from parts of the Internet where there's a high risk they can download something nasty onto their PCs.
Apple have gone a stage further and done something ten times worse now. They're more than happy for you people to buy their products on the basis that you don't like Windows, want to stand out from the crowd yet cannot be bothered to spend any time learning how a computer works. Along with Apple's "locked down to all vulnerabilities" hype, that makes you even more dangerous...
As long as the kernel developers focus on the vagina support and not mouth support for the next kernel release, I can wait.
I would rather remind you to get yourself a backbone so you find enough strength of character to stand by your convictions and neither buy the game nor pirate it.