My old Tandy 1000TX is on the shelf next to me. (TGA graphics, 720k disk). As a kid, I don't recall using Deskmate much. It had a graphics program that was usually used only to deface the default snowman that it opened with, and a midi-type program so you could use to make full use of the 3-voice speaker by remaking the opening theme to your cartoons.
It strikes me reading this that those poor IBM XT owners have nothing to reminisce about. The Tandy had kewl graphics and sound, Commodore users had Sid voice generation, and nobody dares say anything bad about the Amiga near a user. OTOH, they can probably still run all their old XT software.;-)
I'm shocked no-one else has pointed out the fairly obvious fact that if it's found out that the registry contains every possible number, it won't be used.
I'm not even in the United States, and I'd be disappointed to see something made to be so open and accessible made arcane and difficult just because some delusional script kiddies decided to take advantage of it.
Wow, lookit all the links! I had no idea so many people had created so many SQ games! I'll add this one that was released in 2001, "Space Quest - The Lost Chapter" (Hope he can handle it).
It's meant to fit in between SQ2 and SQ3, and has the interface totally down. I've played it about 1/4 the way through since last week, and so far my only complaints are the spelling errors every dozen messages, the (very) wordy cut scenes, and the way some exits to other screens are totally hidden. (Don't even get me started on the squid). There are hints and walkthroughs available though, and is very welcome to those who miss the text-interface games that made Sierra so popular.
An HB2 now equals overclocking power!
on
Paper Mounted CPUs
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· Score: 1
Sounds great... until your doodle in the corner accidentally overclocks your daily minder, schedules you for lunch with 65536 different people at the same time and bursts into flames.
It's about time someone put a stop to this kind of thing. But it doesn't go far enough; what I find reprehensible is that human genes can be patented. This means yours, BTW. If you have some weird type of cancer, or your ethnic group displays some different trait or whatever, you take a medical test and some drug company can patent your gene and then you don't own your DNA anymore. Your own DNA.
Plus, if the patent owners are busy, they can put the gene in the freezer for years, and nobody else is allowed to use it, even if it'll help them develop a cure.
Nuts man, the whole system is nuts.
In my Computing Ethics class, mention was made of a problem (can't find a source, sorry), where a pipeline had computer controlled valves. There was something like a T-valve, where to switch flow, one valve was closed, and another opened. Since the valves worked slowly, it didn't really matter if you opened one before you closed the other or vice versa. Until the process (which was running as low priority) was interrupted after closing one, and blew out a huge section of pipe.
Also, you might be interested in a book called Normal Accidents that documents similar problems with all sorts of technology. Preventing software problems is good, but preventing entire systems of accidents is better.
Re:A first ever. (Or last ever...)
on
Skydriving
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· Score: 1
"Oh shit, I fell asleep and missed my stop! Can you let me off at the next... uh oh."
This thing has more information available publicly than my car probably has. (Not that I think it shouldn't).
I'll bet if one of the astronauts wanted to sign the external tank, they'd have to test the ink for combustability, and analyse the difference in solar heating.;-)
My favourite quote: "Considering the strong controls and verifications in place, the overall likelihood of occurrence of a catastrophic hazard remains "improbable", and all hazard causes are 'Controlled'"
I seem to remember hearing about this guy a few years ago. He apparently found out that more windings on a motor = more turning power! Wow! Except, of course, that this also adds to the self inductance of the coil, etc. (Meaning it takes more energy, and just because you have a motor with 100000 coils, running on a double A, doesn't mean you've done something cool).
I may have read it in one of Andreas Schroeder's highly entertaining books about outrageous scams and fraud artists.
I suggest you read one of them - this kind of "oh, we were all ready to prove it to the world, and then cruel fate stepped in oh no please send your financial support to..." stuff happens all the time with this kind of stuff. The only time stuff like this doesn't happen is when you aren't allowed to inspect the device afterwards. (ie, it's rigged).
(A side note, what kind of "stress" do banked turns put on a car, anyhow? Answer: None! It relieves stress perpendicular to the motion of travel! Just more crap from this guy).
"...can run coast to coast without ever relying on the battery being charged from an outside source."
and
"The very essence of the technology to be demonstrated is the capability to keep the batteries "topped up" at all times with the "on board" device invented by Carl B. Tilley."
and most importantly
" In fact, as the demonstration will prove, at the end of the allotted time period the battery bank will still register a FULL CHARGE condition!"
This is not a solar vehicle, people. This is a perpetual motion machine, and it's a sham.
That sounds like a talk I would have attended had I been able.
The subject of fitness in the article reminds me of a book called "Starfish" by Peter Watts. (I recommend it highly in my own review of it, BTW).
In it, a type of biological computer has been created, and does stuff integral to the plot. In one sidenote I recall, someone brings up the fact that you don't really know why these types of computers do something, just that they do it. The person talks about some event in a subway, where the system was supposed to run the ventilation fans when trains arrived. It worked, so everyone was happy... until some vandals smashed a clock that was visible to the system through a security camera. The fans weren't being run by a schedule, or by a camera detecting the train, it was being run by the camera seeing the pattern on the clock. So then the people on the train suffocate.
I don't think I would ever feel comfortable with one of these types of computers, unless it was so highly evolved as to be able to tell someone what it was doing and why.
Slashdot Mirror
It strikes me reading this that those poor IBM XT owners have nothing to reminisce about. The Tandy had kewl graphics and sound, Commodore users had Sid voice generation, and nobody dares say anything bad about the Amiga near a user. OTOH, they can probably still run all their old XT software. ;-)
I'm shocked no-one else has pointed out the fairly obvious fact that if it's found out that the registry contains every possible number, it won't be used. I'm not even in the United States, and I'd be disappointed to see something made to be so open and accessible made arcane and difficult just because some delusional script kiddies decided to take advantage of it.
It's meant to fit in between SQ2 and SQ3, and has the interface totally down. I've played it about 1/4 the way through since last week, and so far my only complaints are the spelling errors every dozen messages, the (very) wordy cut scenes, and the way some exits to other screens are totally hidden. (Don't even get me started on the squid). There are hints and walkthroughs available though, and is very welcome to those who miss the text-interface games that made Sierra so popular.
Sounds great... until your doodle in the corner accidentally overclocks your daily minder, schedules you for lunch with 65536 different people at the same time and bursts into flames.
Plus, if the patent owners are busy, they can put the gene in the freezer for years, and nobody else is allowed to use it, even if it'll help them develop a cure.
Nuts man, the whole system is nuts.
In my Computing Ethics class, mention was made of a problem (can't find a source, sorry), where a pipeline had computer controlled valves. There was something like a T-valve, where to switch flow, one valve was closed, and another opened. Since the valves worked slowly, it didn't really matter if you opened one before you closed the other or vice versa. Until the process (which was running as low priority) was interrupted after closing one, and blew out a huge section of pipe.
Also, you might be interested in a book called Normal Accidents that documents similar problems with all sorts of technology. Preventing software problems is good, but preventing entire systems of accidents is better.
"Oh shit, I fell asleep and missed my stop! Can you let me off at the next... uh oh."
This thing has more information available publicly than my car probably has. (Not that I think it shouldn't).
;-)
I'll bet if one of the astronauts wanted to sign the external tank, they'd have to test the ink for combustability, and analyse the difference in solar heating.
My favourite quote: "Considering the strong controls and verifications in place, the overall likelihood of occurrence of a catastrophic hazard remains "improbable", and all hazard causes are 'Controlled'"
I may have read it in one of Andreas Schroeder's highly entertaining books about outrageous scams and fraud artists.
I suggest you read one of them - this kind of "oh, we were all ready to prove it to the world, and then cruel fate stepped in oh no please send your financial support to..." stuff happens all the time with this kind of stuff. The only time stuff like this doesn't happen is when you aren't allowed to inspect the device afterwards. (ie, it's rigged).
(A side note, what kind of "stress" do banked turns put on a car, anyhow? Answer: None! It relieves stress perpendicular to the motion of travel! Just more crap from this guy).
"...can run coast to coast without ever relying on the battery being charged from an outside source."
and
"The very essence of the technology to be demonstrated is the capability to keep the batteries "topped up" at all times with the "on board" device invented by Carl B. Tilley."
and most importantly
" In fact, as the demonstration will prove, at the end of the allotted time period the battery bank will still register a FULL CHARGE condition!"
This is not a solar vehicle, people. This is a perpetual motion machine, and it's a sham.
The subject of fitness in the article reminds me of a book called "Starfish" by Peter Watts. (I recommend it highly in my own review of it, BTW).
In it, a type of biological computer has been created, and does stuff integral to the plot. In one sidenote I recall, someone brings up the fact that you don't really know why these types of computers do something, just that they do it. The person talks about some event in a subway, where the system was supposed to run the ventilation fans when trains arrived. It worked, so everyone was happy... until some vandals smashed a clock that was visible to the system through a security camera. The fans weren't being run by a schedule, or by a camera detecting the train, it was being run by the camera seeing the pattern on the clock. So then the people on the train suffocate.
I don't think I would ever feel comfortable with one of these types of computers, unless it was so highly evolved as to be able to tell someone what it was doing and why.