I have never bought a 'name brand' computer in my life, and I never plan to. Why would I when I can make one myself out of parts I hand-pick to do exactly what I want and at the quality I want?
I'm not big into sound, so a SB Live! 5.1 works just fine (~30 bucks) whereas a Dell will most likely come with a onboard sound chip--unless you ask for a card. Then its a 'custom' system, and it costs tons of money, and it adds time to get it here. Same as a videocard. I'm into games, so I need a high-end videocard. And they jack those prices waaay up, because they know that if someone is buying a 'gaming' system, they have money and won't ask questions. Or there rich and stupid. Either way, they get their money.
Their laptops are good though... I own a C600 that's currently running Fedora, and it rocks. I upgraded the CPU (933mhz) the ram (512MB) and the HD (60gb) so its a very portable little system that allows me to use my GPS or play a quick game of HL (love that game) when it is break.
Take any Dell system, and I bet that I can make a system that's exactly the same for cheaper. You won't get any 'extras' such as a crappy printer/scanner/fax/cheese grater along with it, but you'll get a computer none-the-less.
And who says you need a new computer all the time? Generation Viagra doesn't need the latest-and-greatest... They need something to get on the Internet. Why not use a computer from a used-computer reseller? I work at a place (I won't name names) that sells tons of computers at dirt cheap prices. 2.8GHz machines (SSF, integrated everything) for 300 bucks. Add a Keyboard, monitor and mouse for 50 more bucks. Shipped. Lets see Smell beat that.
And to add to this, there is an encryption plugin for GAIM that uses RSA encryption, end to end. You only have to have it installed once, and then it will work transparently in the background. Nothing special to do on your part, other than clicking a little lock button on your IM window. (the other person has to have it installed too, natch)
Works with all protocols (I've personally tested AIM, Y!, MSN, and ICQ) with no perceptable message delay. The website is:
That's not true. A majority of people can be censors... What I propose is a modified Nelson Raiting system, utilizing the cable boxes in homes.
A simple voting system. Rate what you think the show you just watched should be. Simple. Shows without a rating shouldn't be watched by minors (or without adult supervision and permission) but then again, we can't exactly stop people from letting their kids watch TV. Its their right to let them watch whatever they want.
I personally think this system would be trivial to install. most cable boxes already have the ability to send data back to the cable company (your cable box ID, what PPV you want to watch, etc. etc.) why not have a simple menu with all the ratings at the end of the show, and you pick which one you deem to be the 'right' choice. I say 'right' because its not just you voting, but hundreds of people--and the will of the people will decide what the show is.
I think this could work, because it eliminates the 3 things that go wrong with censorship:
1. You can get 'adult' moments on otherwise 'kid safe' shows. With this system, there is no reason why kids should watch unrated shows.
2. It brings the power back into the people's hands, not the government. I'm all for the government. But it shouldn't decide what I can and cant watch/listen to. It's job is to make sure I have a job (failing) that I can buy food (pretty good) have a place to live (all right) and that I can have kids and raise them in a safe neighborhood (fair to poor, depending on where you live).
3. It's distributed, so that one group of people get up in arms about it, it's not one organization they can petition to... and have their will bent to.
It could work. You know it. Sure, there's flaws--but it's a lot better than what we have now, which is a bunch of grab asses guessing at what the American people want.
Based on the "fact" that most of said "article" is riddled with "quotation marks". not only do they "bother" me, but they make "it" seem like the "entire" "article" was written "without" the "permission" of a boss or "editor", and the quotations were "used" to get around that legal "snafu".
Plus... I don't have any sites which use ActiveX anymore. So its a moot point. for "me" anyway.
Actually... what is more likely to be is that they've simply slapped two GPU's onto a PCB that is electrically the same as two 8x PCI-E slots.
In other words, the cards don't even know there on the same PCB--they are still functioning as two seperate cards for all intents and purporses. Still connected via that "SLI" interface, and with their own memory and everything. At least, that's what i'd do.
Actually, what i'd start to do is make a 'blank' graphics board, and just sell the GPU's as 'upgrades' whenever the next and latest and greatest comes out.
Then you could have onboard video that dosen't suck. Imagine a day when you want to upgrade your CPU and your GPU, and all you have to do is pull the old ones off, and put the new ones on. Why haven't they done this yet? Can anybody answer that, without the standard "'cause they don't want to."
It would be cheaper, it would allow for less 'required' upgrades (like, you have to upgrade to a AGP slot because that's what all the cards are now... And now PCI-E) and would allow for a new nitch--graphics memory SIMMs.
"Oh god, aliens? Your explanation for anything slightly peculiar is aliens, isn't it? You lose your keys - it's aliens. A picture falls off the wall - it's aliens. That time we used up a whole bog-roll in a day - you thought that was aliens as well." -- Lister to Rimmer about the Garbage Pod that Holly brought aboard to mess with Rimmer.
Just make a bookmark called "MirrorDOT" and put that code into the boormark as the URL, and it will find the page (if it has the page) in its database, and then display it on the screen.
Music and mathmatics from one person?
on
The End of Encryption?
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
In an article on TechnologyReview.com, Simson Garfinkel spells out the real-world consequences of this mathematical conundrum.
Who else read that as Simon Garfunkle? Come on... I couldn't be the only person here, could I?
And besides... if you want real security, just do double encryption. use two common, off-the-shelf encryption methods, one encrypting the other's data and your data is now as safe as it can get. further encryptions in encryptions will only add to bloat and time to decrypt.
I also agree with what your saying. The real problem lies in not the game developers, but the publishers.
The developers, while money is always welcome, mostly just want to see their game played. And, if there really nice, their game modified and kept 'current' so it can 'live' forever. The whole Quake->HL->CS Mod thing.
Its the publishers that want the game to make the most money. And rightly so: they've put a lot of money into advertising and keeping those developers happy with their coding, just to get the game out.
So its really two different angles out there. You got the developers who just want their game to be played--much like a kindergarten teacher, who just wants to see their students grow up and become famous... and the Publisher, who wants to make as much money as (in)humanly possible from the game--much like a overbearing parent, forcing their children to do insane things to become famous and bring home money for them.
AFAIK, the game developers don't want to have any more hassle than they need to, when programming the game. Anyone remember the "KISS" rule? Keep It Simple Stupid? That's what most programmers _live_ by... as simple code is easy to debug code. Which we all know is really the best kind of code.
The only time I've ever used a actual game CD is when I'm installing them. And even then, most of the time I don't. I just make an image of them in Alcohol120%, and mount them using DaemonTools so I can install them from my HD.
The basic procedure is put in the Retail CD, and open Alcohol. Copy the game based on its copy protection scheme (easy enough to google to find) and select the settings for the most exact backup for your CD-ROM. Save the MDS and Image file for all the discs (takes about 45 minutes for a 4 disc set, if you've got a decent computer, and a good CD-ROM) and then mount the first disc in DaemonTools, and install as normal. 90% of the time, I don't even need to find the NOCD crack, as the copy protection is 'emulated' in DaemonTools, and therefore the game runs as coded.
I'm not condoning piracy. What I am condoning is having a backup of all your games on your HD so that you can play them without having the discs on you (good for you laptop-gamers--battery life is extended, because there's no CD to spin) and so that you have a backup in the case of catastrophic damage to them (such as little children, tornados, or Gridbugs) and so that you can keep your game in its box, in mint condition, forever.
Some would argue that what I'm doing is illegal. I'm 'modifying' the game in someway... I look at it like this: I've paid my 54-dollars-and-ninty-four-cents for my game--I can play it any damn way I please.
And does anyone know if these new NVidia cards will be hot-swappable?
I belive that PCI-Express is, in fact, hot swappable.
*Checks google*
Yes. It is infact hotplug/hotswap capable. I dunno how good your os (*cough*windows*cough*) will react to you unplugging the VC though... I'm sure that Linux will have wonky support for it initially, eventually getting stable and usable support about the time that PCI-Express will be obsolete...;)
I'm just worried about when someone actually gets in one of their own personal roman candles, hoping to make it to the edge of space they will find themselves going home in a body bag.
Umm... Unless you saw another crash other than the one I did, they'd be going home in a chinese take-out box, rather than a body bag...
I didn't say that it would be possible tomorrow--I'm saying that when you program in some of the more base physics, then the other stuff kinda falls into place.
having friction and gravity present in a world will allow a tire to push/pull a cart along, without any additional 'vehicle' code whatsoever. Just like if you have air density, and the physics of the interaction of that air to surfaces, then aircraft become available. Jet engines would react like a jet engine, and a propeller engine would react like a propeller engine.
Ask any pilot if there's a difference between those two, and if any flight simulator comes close to what either of those feel like in the game... Chances are, they are going to say "well yea, nothing feels like the real thing!" but what if it could?
I mean, the propellers aren't going to be perfectly aligned on those planes... so there going to wobble a bit. what if the vibration was made from the actual propellers on the engine, it travelled through the framework of the aircraft, to arrive at the controls to cause the vibration--all the while, making sounds as it went, because of the vibration.
I truly think that the next "Big Blur" as I call it in video games will come at the addition of Real Time sounds, and lower level physics added to the game.
Imagine pneumatics acting like pneumatics, with a bit of natural give in their travel... gears and pulleys acting like themselves... levers of all classes acting like real levers.
They have to code that all in now, or do some hacks with scripted events to make it look like its supposed to... but then the game will always be the same in those parts. Guys will always run out from around that corner... Your gun will always fire the bullets in the same grouping formation... the car will always have a maximum speed... etc. etc. Oh well--were getting waaaay OT here.
Oh, and one final thing: You'll note that I never mentioned anything close to what kind of system would be required to play this. I simply said that it would be very cool to see it done.
You can at least agree with me that it might be possible to simulate one waterfall on Titan with realistic sound based on physics of sound with the current hardware of today, right? Much like raytracing, this 'soundtracing' would take some time, but it'd be possible.
Seriously though... this is interesting stuff. I mean, if we can simulate physics for the earth, and its weather patterns... then why couldn't we simulate the physics of sound?
Sound is, after all, just vibrations from things hitting/passing each other... One would think that on a powerful enough computer, you could simulate the liquid methane flowing down over and crashing into... whatever.
I mean, I'd for one like to see a game where the sound wasn't pre-recorded stuff played when two objects collide their meshes together... Could you imagine having a game engine advanced enough where depending on what kind of shoes your wearing--and how fast your walking/running--the sound would change automatically from click-click on tile to the soft pad on carpet? All without any programming?
And then there's the whole car crashes, and gunshots, and echoes... That stuff's hard to program normally. And the best thing is, because its all generated at 'runtime' if you will... the sounds never get repetitive. Its always exactly how its supposed to sound, for exactly where you are.
I mean, seriously--I want to play HL2, and I'm going to buy whatever it runs on so that I can. If that was the only thing that played the game at acceptable levels of Frames Per Second, then I'd buy that. but it can't--ever--so I won't.
Linux might run the best, and is the most reliable, never needs to be rebooted, yadda yadda yadda...
But you ain't got shit until you got games that work as easily as they do on Windows.
Period.
That's why there's so many people running windows, and that's why there's always gonna be so many people running windows.
If there was a port of CS over to Linux that came on a distro that its entire purpose was to _play that one game_ and it never crashed... ran on any hardware on the planet... and always worked... you'd make millions. Yes, you would. iD would be wise to release a bootable game CD that would run Doom3 if they want to prove me right.
IIRC, you just kinda plug them into your computer and it works... At least, kinda. I'm not sure, as I've only played with one for approximately 45 seconds, and then I was thrown out of the Apple store for wearing my WindowsXP shirt... But I digress.
Here's some software that appears to do what you want, I think.
Full control over zoom and stuff like that. It looks pretty neat. I think I'll look up cheap firew-*ahem*-1394 cameras (now that I have my 1394 port of my own.) on one of those online-auction places.
What would be brilliant would be if you would post this with the equivalent Windows commands for those who have been waiting for the release of 10 for all the fixes it contains for our hardware...
My guess would be that you use something like WinISO to get inside the images, copy the stuff over to a directory, and then copy the boot sector using WinISO and make a new iso with all the new stuff.
And just to clarify, I'm guessing here. I really don't have a clue as to how you would do this.
This is exactly right. The problem is that your cat is trying to communicate with you. Its basically saying, "You spend a lot of time in here, so therefore I should destroy what is taking you away from me--so you can play with me instead!" Getting another cat will undoutedbly take its attention away from the cables behind your computer, and instead focus on the other animal in the apartment.
The other solution is to (gasp!) actually play with your cat. I mean, how hard is it to get a laser pointer and send your cat tearing about the place like a nitro-funnycar? Might I suggest the Green Laser Pointer from Thinkgeek.com?
I play on Passworded servers, most of the time. Keeping the players to a 'elite few' allows for quite a different game than on the public servers.
Actually, this is the main reason Clans are formed. There just a bunch of people who want to play together, without all the idiots on the server with them. That, and the fact that if you play with the same people enough, you get to know who is good at what--and who to stay away from.
Also, having a teamspeak server helps out--as having private and secure comms between teammates (and not having it sound like crap) helps out a bunch. I can't tell you how much better my game is, when I have a mic and all my teammates do too. Having them listen to you helps, but at least this way you can yell to your teammates when a sniper is around the corner. And that isn't cheating. It happens in real combat all the time. duh.
Anyway... I think that the solution isn't having another client to check the client, but checking who you play with first.
Sheesh... Proofs? Thread? Now I know the 'editors' don't really edit bupkis.
Oh, and just so I don't get a OT mod...
These types of viruses will never die/go away. we'll keep seeing virus after virus come out, and each one will be "the fastest spreading to date" until everyone runs Linux... And then it'll get worse. I mean, running windows updates every day is one thing, but compiling my own kernel after applying the daily patch just gets boring after a bit... I mean, even if I could write a script to automate the process, and do it at 2am every day...
And then they'd patch the patches, and hack the hacks, and bla bla bla. I have ignored just about every single 'new virus' alert out there because its just stupid. I don't get any of the viruses, because by the time you hear about them you've already gotten about 50-million in your box, and your ignoring them already. That, or your virus scanner that updates every day already has the update against it, so its pointless.
Oh, and I run OS2/Warp as well. so I guess I'm safe, eh?
Use a Virtually Indestructible Keyboard which is just about the coolest thing on the planet. I've been using one at home (and, on the road--its a treat in cars/trucks where coffee can spill 'cause its 99.999% waterproof/coffeeproof) and I've never looked back. the only thing it doesn't do good is gaming. the keys are too mushy, and sometimes they stick for just a microsecond too long, and you end up doing a sidestep when you wanted to do a spin-move... but I digress. its almost silent. there's no plastic keys to 'click' and the contacts inside are a thin plastic which makes almost no sound at all when the keys are pressed. there's a very soft 'thoop' when the silicone is pressed, but you'd be hard pressed to have that make more noise than the fans inside the computer. (more on that later.)
And for the mouse... well, a touchpad comes to mind. yes, using keyboard 'shortcuts' (the keyboard came before the mouse, remember? There not 'shortcuts' there the original way you did those things.) is a better answer, especially with the quieter keyboard... but sometimes its just easier to use a mouse.
The ultimate solution would be a eye-tracking, headmounted unit where you'd just have to look at the icon/button/text and it would be clicked/pushed/selected... Or a Datajack and a Deck... but that's a few years off, yet... or not, if the/. community really put their collective beans together.;)
Slashdot Mirror
Don't you mean 'Meat Shield(s)' helping me out?
I have never bought a 'name brand' computer in my life, and I never plan to. Why would I when I can make one myself out of parts I hand-pick to do exactly what I want and at the quality I want?
I'm not big into sound, so a SB Live! 5.1 works just fine (~30 bucks) whereas a Dell will most likely come with a onboard sound chip--unless you ask for a card. Then its a 'custom' system, and it costs tons of money, and it adds time to get it here. Same as a videocard. I'm into games, so I need a high-end videocard. And they jack those prices waaay up, because they know that if someone is buying a 'gaming' system, they have money and won't ask questions. Or there rich and stupid. Either way, they get their money.
Their laptops are good though... I own a C600 that's currently running Fedora, and it rocks. I upgraded the CPU (933mhz) the ram (512MB) and the HD (60gb) so its a very portable little system that allows me to use my GPS or play a quick game of HL (love that game) when it is break.
Take any Dell system, and I bet that I can make a system that's exactly the same for cheaper. You won't get any 'extras' such as a crappy printer/scanner/fax/cheese grater along with it, but you'll get a computer none-the-less.
And who says you need a new computer all the time? Generation Viagra doesn't need the latest-and-greatest... They need something to get on the Internet. Why not use a computer from a used-computer reseller? I work at a place (I won't name names) that sells tons of computers at dirt cheap prices. 2.8GHz machines (SSF, integrated everything) for 300 bucks. Add a Keyboard, monitor and mouse for 50 more bucks. Shipped. Lets see Smell beat that.
Heard that. I give it a month before they revert back to their intel ways...
And to add to this, there is an encryption plugin for GAIM that uses RSA encryption, end to end. You only have to have it installed once, and then it will work transparently in the background. Nothing special to do on your part, other than clicking a little lock button on your IM window. (the other person has to have it installed too, natch)
Works with all protocols (I've personally tested AIM, Y!, MSN, and ICQ) with no perceptable message delay. The website is:
http://gaim-encryption.sourceforge.net/
If PGP/GPG is your thing, then you can try GAIM-e... which appears to be down. but its URL is:
http://gaim-encryption.sourceforge.net/
That's not true. A majority of people can be censors... What I propose is a modified Nelson Raiting system, utilizing the cable boxes in homes.
A simple voting system. Rate what you think the show you just watched should be. Simple. Shows without a rating shouldn't be watched by minors (or without adult supervision and permission) but then again, we can't exactly stop people from letting their kids watch TV. Its their right to let them watch whatever they want.
I personally think this system would be trivial to install. most cable boxes already have the ability to send data back to the cable company (your cable box ID, what PPV you want to watch, etc. etc.) why not have a simple menu with all the ratings at the end of the show, and you pick which one you deem to be the 'right' choice. I say 'right' because its not just you voting, but hundreds of people--and the will of the people will decide what the show is.
I think this could work, because it eliminates the 3 things that go wrong with censorship:
1. You can get 'adult' moments on otherwise 'kid safe' shows. With this system, there is no reason why kids should watch unrated shows.
2. It brings the power back into the people's hands, not the government. I'm all for the government. But it shouldn't decide what I can and cant watch/listen to. It's job is to make sure I have a job (failing) that I can buy food (pretty good) have a place to live (all right) and that I can have kids and raise them in a safe neighborhood (fair to poor, depending on where you live).
3. It's distributed, so that one group of people get up in arms about it, it's not one organization they can petition to... and have their will bent to.
It could work. You know it. Sure, there's flaws--but it's a lot better than what we have now, which is a bunch of grab asses guessing at what the American people want.
Based on the "fact" that most of said "article" is riddled with "quotation marks". not only do they "bother" me, but they make "it" seem like the "entire" "article" was written "without" the "permission" of a boss or "editor", and the quotations were "used" to get around that legal "snafu".
Plus... I don't have any sites which use ActiveX anymore. So its a moot point. for "me" anyway.
Actually... what is more likely to be is that they've simply slapped two GPU's onto a PCB that is electrically the same as two 8x PCI-E slots.
In other words, the cards don't even know there on the same PCB--they are still functioning as two seperate cards for all intents and purporses. Still connected via that "SLI" interface, and with their own memory and everything. At least, that's what i'd do.
Actually, what i'd start to do is make a 'blank' graphics board, and just sell the GPU's as 'upgrades' whenever the next and latest and greatest comes out.
Then you could have onboard video that dosen't suck. Imagine a day when you want to upgrade your CPU and your GPU, and all you have to do is pull the old ones off, and put the new ones on. Why haven't they done this yet? Can anybody answer that, without the standard "'cause they don't want to."
It would be cheaper, it would allow for less 'required' upgrades (like, you have to upgrade to a AGP slot because that's what all the cards are now... And now PCI-E) and would allow for a new nitch--graphics memory SIMMs.
Obligatory Red Dwarf Quote:
"Oh god, aliens? Your explanation for anything slightly peculiar is aliens, isn't it? You lose your keys - it's aliens. A picture falls off the wall - it's aliens. That time we used up a whole bog-roll in a day - you thought that was aliens as well."
-- Lister to Rimmer about the Garbage Pod that Holly brought aboard to mess with Rimmer.
Oh... My bad. Airlines.
Move along... Nothing to see here.
In an article on TechnologyReview.com, Simson Garfinkel spells out the real-world consequences of this mathematical conundrum.
Who else read that as Simon Garfunkle? Come on... I couldn't be the only person here, could I?
And besides... if you want real security, just do double encryption. use two common, off-the-shelf encryption methods, one encrypting the other's data and your data is now as safe as it can get. further encryptions in encryptions will only add to bloat and time to decrypt.
I thought our fearless idi^H^H^H leader already talked with god?
I also agree with what your saying. The real problem lies in not the game developers, but the publishers.
The developers, while money is always welcome, mostly just want to see their game played. And, if there really nice, their game modified and kept 'current' so it can 'live' forever. The whole Quake->HL->CS Mod thing.
Its the publishers that want the game to make the most money. And rightly so: they've put a lot of money into advertising and keeping those developers happy with their coding, just to get the game out.
So its really two different angles out there. You got the developers who just want their game to be played--much like a kindergarten teacher, who just wants to see their students grow up and become famous... and the Publisher, who wants to make as much money as (in)humanly possible from the game--much like a overbearing parent, forcing their children to do insane things to become famous and bring home money for them.
AFAIK, the game developers don't want to have any more hassle than they need to, when programming the game. Anyone remember the "KISS" rule? Keep It Simple Stupid? That's what most programmers _live_ by... as simple code is easy to debug code. Which we all know is really the best kind of code.
The only time I've ever used a actual game CD is when I'm installing them. And even then, most of the time I don't. I just make an image of them in Alcohol120%, and mount them using DaemonTools so I can install them from my HD.
The basic procedure is put in the Retail CD, and open Alcohol. Copy the game based on its copy protection scheme (easy enough to google to find) and select the settings for the most exact backup for your CD-ROM. Save the MDS and Image file for all the discs (takes about 45 minutes for a 4 disc set, if you've got a decent computer, and a good CD-ROM) and then mount the first disc in DaemonTools, and install as normal. 90% of the time, I don't even need to find the NOCD crack, as the copy protection is 'emulated' in DaemonTools, and therefore the game runs as coded.
I'm not condoning piracy. What I am condoning is having a backup of all your games on your HD so that you can play them without having the discs on you (good for you laptop-gamers--battery life is extended, because there's no CD to spin) and so that you have a backup in the case of catastrophic damage to them (such as little children, tornados, or Gridbugs) and so that you can keep your game in its box, in mint condition, forever.
Some would argue that what I'm doing is illegal. I'm 'modifying' the game in someway... I look at it like this: I've paid my 54-dollars-and-ninty-four-cents for my game--I can play it any damn way I please.
Later.
P.s. Half-Life2 is going to rock the cashbah!
And does anyone know if these new NVidia cards will be hot-swappable?
;)
I belive that PCI-Express is, in fact, hot swappable.
*Checks google*
Yes. It is infact hotplug/hotswap capable. I dunno how good your os (*cough*windows*cough*) will react to you unplugging the VC though... I'm sure that Linux will have wonky support for it initially, eventually getting stable and usable support about the time that PCI-Express will be obsolete...
I'm just worried about when someone actually gets in one of their own personal roman candles, hoping to make it to the edge of space they will find themselves going home in a body bag.
Umm... Unless you saw another crash other than the one I did, they'd be going home in a chinese take-out box, rather than a body bag...
I didn't say that it would be possible tomorrow--I'm saying that when you program in some of the more base physics, then the other stuff kinda falls into place.
having friction and gravity present in a world will allow a tire to push/pull a cart along, without any additional 'vehicle' code whatsoever. Just like if you have air density, and the physics of the interaction of that air to surfaces, then aircraft become available. Jet engines would react like a jet engine, and a propeller engine would react like a propeller engine.
Ask any pilot if there's a difference between those two, and if any flight simulator comes close to what either of those feel like in the game... Chances are, they are going to say "well yea, nothing feels like the real thing!" but what if it could?
I mean, the propellers aren't going to be perfectly aligned on those planes... so there going to wobble a bit. what if the vibration was made from the actual propellers on the engine, it travelled through the framework of the aircraft, to arrive at the controls to cause the vibration--all the while, making sounds as it went, because of the vibration.
I truly think that the next "Big Blur" as I call it in video games will come at the addition of Real Time sounds, and lower level physics added to the game.
Imagine pneumatics acting like pneumatics, with a bit of natural give in their travel... gears and pulleys acting like themselves... levers of all classes acting like real levers.
They have to code that all in now, or do some hacks with scripted events to make it look like its supposed to... but then the game will always be the same in those parts. Guys will always run out from around that corner... Your gun will always fire the bullets in the same grouping formation... the car will always have a maximum speed... etc. etc. Oh well--were getting waaaay OT here.
Oh, and one final thing: You'll note that I never mentioned anything close to what kind of system would be required to play this. I simply said that it would be very cool to see it done.
You can at least agree with me that it might be possible to simulate one waterfall on Titan with realistic sound based on physics of sound with the current hardware of today, right? Much like raytracing, this 'soundtracing' would take some time, but it'd be possible.
chipmunks on speed, gnawing away at my eardrums.
Seriously though... this is interesting stuff. I mean, if we can simulate physics for the earth, and its weather patterns... then why couldn't we simulate the physics of sound?
Sound is, after all, just vibrations from things hitting/passing each other... One would think that on a powerful enough computer, you could simulate the liquid methane flowing down over and crashing into... whatever.
I mean, I'd for one like to see a game where the sound wasn't pre-recorded stuff played when two objects collide their meshes together... Could you imagine having a game engine advanced enough where depending on what kind of shoes your wearing--and how fast your walking/running--the sound would change automatically from click-click on tile to the soft pad on carpet? All without any programming?
And then there's the whole car crashes, and gunshots, and echoes... That stuff's hard to program normally. And the best thing is, because its all generated at 'runtime' if you will... the sounds never get repetitive. Its always exactly how its supposed to sound, for exactly where you are.
But what the heck can it do?
I mean, seriously--I want to play HL2, and I'm going to buy whatever it runs on so that I can. If that was the only thing that played the game at acceptable levels of Frames Per Second, then I'd buy that. but it can't--ever--so I won't.
Linux might run the best, and is the most reliable, never needs to be rebooted, yadda yadda yadda...
But you ain't got shit until you got games that work as easily as they do on Windows.
Period.
That's why there's so many people running windows, and that's why there's always gonna be so many people running windows.
If there was a port of CS over to Linux that came on a distro that its entire purpose was to _play that one game_ and it never crashed... ran on any hardware on the planet... and always worked... you'd make millions. Yes, you would. iD would be wise to release a bootable game CD that would run Doom3 if they want to prove me right.
VIZZINI: He didn't fall? Incredible!!
INIGO (whirling on Vizzini): You keep using that word--I do not think it means what you think it means.
IIRC, you just kinda plug them into your computer and it works... At least, kinda. I'm not sure, as I've only played with one for approximately 45 seconds, and then I was thrown out of the Apple store for wearing my WindowsXP shirt... But I digress.
Here's some software that appears to do what you want, I think.
Orangemicro.com
Full control over zoom and stuff like that. It looks pretty neat. I think I'll look up cheap firew-*ahem*-1394 cameras (now that I have my 1394 port of my own.) on one of those online-auction places.
A winner is you!
What would be brilliant would be if you would post this with the equivalent Windows commands for those who have been waiting for the release of 10 for all the fixes it contains for our hardware...
My guess would be that you use something like WinISO to get inside the images, copy the stuff over to a directory, and then copy the boot sector using WinISO and make a new iso with all the new stuff.
And just to clarify, I'm guessing here. I really don't have a clue as to how you would do this.
This is exactly right. The problem is that your cat is trying to communicate with you. Its basically saying, "You spend a lot of time in here, so therefore I should destroy what is taking you away from me--so you can play with me instead!" Getting another cat will undoutedbly take its attention away from the cables behind your computer, and instead focus on the other animal in the apartment.
The other solution is to (gasp!) actually play with your cat. I mean, how hard is it to get a laser pointer and send your cat tearing about the place like a nitro-funnycar? Might I suggest the Green Laser Pointer from Thinkgeek.com?
Or you could always call Confuse-A-Cat LTD...
I play on Passworded servers, most of the time. Keeping the players to a 'elite few' allows for quite a different game than on the public servers.
Actually, this is the main reason Clans are formed. There just a bunch of people who want to play together, without all the idiots on the server with them. That, and the fact that if you play with the same people enough, you get to know who is good at what--and who to stay away from.
Also, having a teamspeak server helps out--as having private and secure comms between teammates (and not having it sound like crap) helps out a bunch. I can't tell you how much better my game is, when I have a mic and all my teammates do too. Having them listen to you helps, but at least this way you can yell to your teammates when a sniper is around the corner. And that isn't cheating. It happens in real combat all the time. duh.
Anyway... I think that the solution isn't having another client to check the client, but checking who you play with first.
Sheesh... Proofs? Thread? Now I know the 'editors' don't really edit bupkis.
Oh, and just so I don't get a OT mod...
These types of viruses will never die/go away. we'll keep seeing virus after virus come out, and each one will be "the fastest spreading to date" until everyone runs Linux... And then it'll get worse. I mean, running windows updates every day is one thing, but compiling my own kernel after applying the daily patch just gets boring after a bit... I mean, even if I could write a script to automate the process, and do it at 2am every day...
And then they'd patch the patches, and hack the hacks, and bla bla bla. I have ignored just about every single 'new virus' alert out there because its just stupid. I don't get any of the viruses, because by the time you hear about them you've already gotten about 50-million in your box, and your ignoring them already. That, or your virus scanner that updates every day already has the update against it, so its pointless.
Oh, and I run OS2/Warp as well. so I guess I'm safe, eh?
Use a Virtually Indestructible Keyboard which is just about the coolest thing on the planet. I've been using one at home (and, on the road--its a treat in cars/trucks where coffee can spill 'cause its 99.999% waterproof/coffeeproof) and I've never looked back. the only thing it doesn't do good is gaming. the keys are too mushy, and sometimes they stick for just a microsecond too long, and you end up doing a sidestep when you wanted to do a spin-move... but I digress. its almost silent. there's no plastic keys to 'click' and the contacts inside are a thin plastic which makes almost no sound at all when the keys are pressed. there's a very soft 'thoop' when the silicone is pressed, but you'd be hard pressed to have that make more noise than the fans inside the computer. (more on that later.)
/. community really put their collective beans together. ;)
And for the mouse... well, a touchpad comes to mind. yes, using keyboard 'shortcuts' (the keyboard came before the mouse, remember? There not 'shortcuts' there the original way you did those things.) is a better answer, especially with the quieter keyboard... but sometimes its just easier to use a mouse.
The ultimate solution would be a eye-tracking, headmounted unit where you'd just have to look at the icon/button/text and it would be clicked/pushed/selected... Or a Datajack and a Deck... but that's a few years off, yet... or not, if the