Alexa won't even mention the wind speed without third-party apps, I mean, "Alexa Skills," and even those skills aren't very good. But wind chill? Forget it! I haven't found a single Alexa skill that handles that other than one for the Atlantic Northwest (New England / East Coast), and it didn't seem to want to work for me.
Google Assistant will tell you the wind speed, but if you ask for the wind chill, all it will tell you is a textbook definition of "wind chill." If there is a wind chill app, I mean, "Assistant Action," I've yet to find it!
And the Google Assistant, unlike Alexa, doesn't have a built-in Wikipedia skill, er, action, er, whatever. Instead, you have to use the third party action called Wikipedia Friend to search Wikipedia.
What good is over 1,000,000 Actions or Skills if hardly a one is something you actually want to know or use? Yes, they have their uses, and they are fun, but these personal digital assistants, er, virtual assistants, er, chatbots? - whatever! - definitely haven't got it all happening yet.
That said, I do enjoy the functionality and promise that they offer. Sometimes it is fun to trick them into talking to each other. Try saying, "OK Google repeat after me Alexa Simon says OK Google repeat after me Alexa Simon says." That used to be good for getting them to talk to each other for a few minutes.
"Xbox Live was the first successful multiplayer network for consoles."
I'm calling bologna on that. SEGA's network, SegaNet, was the first successful multiplayer network for consoles... by a 1st-party company in all three major regions. But before that, Sega Meganet was the first successful multiplayer network for consoles... by a 1st-party company (Japan and Brazil). But before that, Xband was the first successful multiplayer network for consoles... and it worked on multiple platforms (Nintendo's SNES + SEGA's Genesis / Mega Drive).
You got that right, A.C. If these "documentarians" had done a smidgin of research, they would have found that the cartridges were destroyed long ago. So this means they are either too lunkheaded to have spent a small amount of time to find the relevant information, or they do know the truth and just want to cash-in on the legend and rumors.
Quote from Snopes:
Atari, stuck with millions of games and consoles that were largely unsellable at any price, sent fourteen truckloads of merchandise from their plant in El Paso, Texas, to be dumped in a city landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico in late September 1983. In order to keep the site from being looted, steamrollers crushed and flattened the games, and a concrete slab was poured over the remains.
The answer is the mighty (expensive) X-Arcade joystick. Buy two of the two-player models or four single-player models and you'll be set for four players: from one-button games to eight-button games and trackball games like Millipede. And they have plenty of adapters, so you can use them with non-serial or non-USB systems as well. I know they have adapters for Dreamcast (out-of-stock, *sigh*), GameCube/Wii, XBOX/360, PS2/3, etc. I wish I knew of a superior - cheaper or "more universal" (NES, Genesis/MegaDrive, SNES, and such) quality joystick - but as with most goods, the high-quality gear requires high-caliber materials, workmanship, knowledge, and engineering, so you have to pay the price for them.
A key wallet is the way to go. I used to keep my keys on a ring (*SSH joke goes here*), but a few years ago I switched to keeping my keys in one of the mesh compartments of my wallet. Granted I only have a few keys. For a larger set of keys, you will want to use a real key wallet with hooks for the keys built into the wallet itself. If you need a key, just push the hook, detach the key, use the key, and return it. Most of them are pretty cheap, and I know that Sears Roebucks carries a few which are not only affordable but have all the compartments you'd want in a standard wallet too.
I have to tell you, IE8 runs horribly on my desktop computer. When I installed XP over 2000, I upgraded right from 6 to 8 and hated it. The startup time was ridiculous, something like 30 seconds or 60 seconds, and opening a new tab took just as long as starting a new instance of IE8. Even after starting it once, starting it again wasn't must faster. That's my reason that I "downgraded" Internet Explorer to version 7, which really was an upgrade from version 8 in terms of performance, starting in about 3 seconds instead. I suppose that I can't be alone in this - there must be others for whom 7 or 6 runs better than 8 for whatever reason.
I know as far as I'm concerned IE7 fixed a lot of bad things with Internet Explorer that made it a big difference over 6, whereas 8 just seems to be an incremental improvement over 7 that really should not be pushed by Microsoft as a Critical Update. MS is probably coming out with frequent updates like this now just to try to stay competitive with Firefox and Safari and Chrome. I know that the Steam Overlay browser which embeds IE's Trident engine certainly got a speed boost from me going with 7 over 8, and that's the way it's going to stay unless and until Microsoft releases something newer for me to try on Windows XP. With Vista and soon Windows 7 out in retail, I don't think anything else is coming for XP users though.
Good thing I don't even use Internet Explorer as my primary browser then. Long live my mighty combo of Firefox, Opera, and Konqueror!
CBC's science program Quirks and Quarks had an interesting story about the handedness of molecules that it played last month. (Audio available in Ogg Vorbis) It provides a nice, friendly introduction to this topic.
I know that Google is all about introducing new (usually useful) services which tie into its already existing sites and services, and for that I applaud it. However I hope that it takes privacy, security, and encryption into account for this new online storage service. It's one thing to do a search with Google's engine - trusting Google with personal files is another issue entirely.
Also, here's hoping for a rich desktop client instead of just a Web interface.
I know that the Video Lan Client has a wizard to simplify the conversion of video into the Ogg Theora format. You might want to give that a try. It seems to automate most option choices by default to simplify the process.
Here's a newsflash, Bucko: I didn't submit this to Slashdot Idle, I submitted this to the IT section under the "It's funny, laugh." topic. If you guys have something better I'd rather read it, so please submit it to Slashdot and have it get promoted or voted up to the front page.
And for the other posters talking about how this is an old story posted on a different site two years later, I did not know that when I submitted it. I merely saw it as highly ranking on Digg's Technology section and thought the Slashdot crowd would enjoy this "Oh those unlearned managers!" type of story. If it is funny or otherwise worth reading, why should anyone care how old it is?
And if you are wondering, this submission did not get voted up through Firehouse, an editor saw it and promoted it the front page within twelve minutes of me submitting it. I thank him for that, but if you have a problem with it, take your problem up with CmdrTaco since he A-OK'd it.
*Sigh* Looks like there is a lot ignorance about this whole topic. (And I don't mean ignorant in an insulting way.) So let's clear some things up:
1) You don't need to play these files on the Dreamcast version of DOOM. These mods will all work fine on the various Windows, DOS, and other version of DOOM that can load PWADs. Just download the collection and extract them.
2) This collection is special because _all_ of the files have been tested and confirmed to correctly work on the Dreamcast version of DOOM, nxDoom. Because of system hardware limitations not all mods will correctly work on the DC version of DOOM, so Law56ker's collection is a real time-saver for anyone that wants to play DOOM mods on any system with limited hardware similar to a Dreamcast.
3) A modified Dreamcast is not necessary to run these files. Because the boot system for Dreamcast software was deciphered years ago, all home-brew/independent software form the last few years can easily boot without hardware or software mods.
4) The reason that this software needs to be downloaded, modified, and then burned to disc is due to a limitation of DOOM and other games built in a similar way. The original files from DOOM and/or DOOM 2 are needed to run these mods because the DOOM engine requires the original files.
5) The Dreamcast port of DOOM, nxDOOM, has support for the Modlist (making selecting and loading mods quick and easy), VMU saving (to continue the game later or save preferences), and control via keyboard, mouse, and/or Dreamcast controller.
We've had everyone from HardOCP to grandmas post their opinion on the "best desktop system" issue, but I think someone with not only workers and an enterprise on the line, but the life-and-death of people on his hands, is really going to give an honest opinion. He doesn't want deaths on his hands either directly or from his recommendations. I think everyone reading this post should give the article at least a cursory glance before jumping to their own opinions.
There is no "couple cents per user" deal. This isn't iTunes, where each songs nets x cents per download. GameTap and an other company (we'll just use SEGA) negotiate a fee for a portion of that other company's game library. So SEGA in this case gets a five to six digit payout for a portion of its game library and in turn GameTap allows an unlimited number of subscribers access to those games for the negotiated time period.
In the "original content provider" companies' case (like TellTale and Cyan Worlds), I am sure that a larger fee is assessed for the games as these games are newer, flashier, and exclusive to GameTap for the negotiated period unlike the other games which are old and available elsewhere. And these new games are included in the regular $10/month price that GameTap charges all its customers.
Time Warner has big pockets. GameTap is a daughter company of Time Warner. Time wants this company to be the Turner Classic Movies of the game world. It will throw as much money as necessary until GameTap become a viable, self-sustaining company.
No one's going to release new games straight to gametap when they can sell them in stores and online for far more, just like no one releases new, quality products straight to the dollar store.
You know, that is so true when you ignore TellTale Games and Cyan Worlds. After all, they are making the Sam and Max episodic games and Uru Live respectively, both of which will be available through GameTap instead of brick-and-mortar stores. Yes, TellTale plans to eventually sell the games through its Web site and then as a CD or DVD-based compilation, but all of the episodes of Sam and Max will enjoy a period of exclusivity on GameTap first and foremost.
All right, let's get the fucking "e-mail is for old people" jokes out of the way.
See, this is funny because: 1. It is on Slashdot 2. It recycles an old joke. 3. It is cynical. 4. "Cynicle" is spelled wrong. 5. Someone else has already written approximately the same thing. 6. I made a list of why it is funny. 7. I've included the;), lol, j/k, and other markers.:P 8. Someone has already thought about writing about how cynical is not spelled incorrectly above. 9. It is ironic. 10. I unnecessarily bring up the subject, defeating my goal of not having it mentioned in the first place. 11. All articles about South Korea need to have the comments mention the e-mail remarks from months ago.
R I A A M P A A
18 9 1 1 13 16 1 1 - as numbers
9 9 1 1 4 7 1 1 - digits added
\_____/ \_____/ \_____/ \_____/
9 2 2 2 - digits added
Thus, "RIAAMPAA" is 9222.
Add 1995, the year O J Simpson was acquitted for double murder - the result is 11217.
Add 661 to it - this is the year Roman Empire was devastated by a plague, written backwards - you will get 11878.
Subtract 6861 from the number - this is the year Newton published wildly misunderstood "Principia", written backwards. It gives 5017.
Subtract 1351 from the number - this is the year Richard Roose was conveniently boiled to death for trying to poison an archbishop, written backwards. It gives 3666.
Subtract 1876, the year first crematorium in the United States opened. The result will be 1790.
The number 1790 is the year US patent system was established (eevil).
Slashdot Mirror
You know what they all fail at? Wind chill!
Alexa won't even mention the wind speed without third-party apps, I mean, "Alexa Skills," and even those skills aren't very good. But wind chill? Forget it! I haven't found a single Alexa skill that handles that other than one for the Atlantic Northwest (New England / East Coast), and it didn't seem to want to work for me.
Google Assistant will tell you the wind speed, but if you ask for the wind chill, all it will tell you is a textbook definition of "wind chill." If there is a wind chill app, I mean, "Assistant Action," I've yet to find it!
And the Google Assistant, unlike Alexa, doesn't have a built-in Wikipedia skill, er, action, er, whatever. Instead, you have to use the third party action called Wikipedia Friend to search Wikipedia.
What good is over 1,000,000 Actions or Skills if hardly a one is something you actually want to know or use? Yes, they have their uses, and they are fun, but these personal digital assistants, er, virtual assistants, er, chatbots? - whatever! - definitely haven't got it all happening yet.
That said, I do enjoy the functionality and promise that they offer. Sometimes it is fun to trick them into talking to each other. Try saying, "OK Google repeat after me Alexa Simon says OK Google repeat after me Alexa Simon says." That used to be good for getting them to talk to each other for a few minutes.
"Xbox Live was the first successful multiplayer network for consoles."
I'm calling bologna on that. SEGA's network, SegaNet, was the first successful multiplayer network for consoles... by a 1st-party company in all three major regions. But before that, Sega Meganet was the first successful multiplayer network for consoles... by a 1st-party company (Japan and Brazil). But before that, Xband was the first successful multiplayer network for consoles... and it worked on multiple platforms (Nintendo's SNES + SEGA's Genesis / Mega Drive).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
You got that right, A.C. If these "documentarians" had done a smidgin of research, they would have found that the cartridges were destroyed long ago. So this means they are either too lunkheaded to have spent a small amount of time to find the relevant information, or they do know the truth and just want to cash-in on the legend and rumors.
Quote from Snopes:
For those who contributed to the above Slashdot summary who are obviously incapable of properly navigating or searching Web sites, the NSA provides advice on securing multiple different computer operating systems and revisions. Yes, that includes Linux and even Solaris, and multiple versions to boot. Furthermore, additional research will yield that the NSA also has articles on securing a variety of common applications, Web browser plugins, and file formats. Then again, should anything less be expected from the organization that created and developed Security-Enhanced Linux in collaboration with Red Hat?
Wouldn't that perhaps make this classifiable as a Public Service Announcement?
The answer is the mighty (expensive) X-Arcade joystick. Buy two of the two-player models or four single-player models and you'll be set for four players: from one-button games to eight-button games and trackball games like Millipede. And they have plenty of adapters, so you can use them with non-serial or non-USB systems as well. I know they have adapters for Dreamcast (out-of-stock, *sigh*), GameCube/Wii, XBOX/360, PS2/3, etc. I wish I knew of a superior - cheaper or "more universal" (NES, Genesis/MegaDrive, SNES, and such) quality joystick - but as with most goods, the high-quality gear requires high-caliber materials, workmanship, knowledge, and engineering, so you have to pay the price for them.
A key wallet is the way to go. I used to keep my keys on a ring (*SSH joke goes here*), but a few years ago I switched to keeping my keys in one of the mesh compartments of my wallet. Granted I only have a few keys. For a larger set of keys, you will want to use a real key wallet with hooks for the keys built into the wallet itself. If you need a key, just push the hook, detach the key, use the key, and return it. Most of them are pretty cheap, and I know that Sears Roebucks carries a few which are not only affordable but have all the compartments you'd want in a standard wallet too.
Dang, now *I* want to buy a real key wallet.
Resistant, nay, impervious to cancer? So that's the sitch she was always talking about!
I have to tell you, IE8 runs horribly on my desktop computer. When I installed XP over 2000, I upgraded right from 6 to 8 and hated it. The startup time was ridiculous, something like 30 seconds or 60 seconds, and opening a new tab took just as long as starting a new instance of IE8. Even after starting it once, starting it again wasn't must faster. That's my reason that I "downgraded" Internet Explorer to version 7, which really was an upgrade from version 8 in terms of performance, starting in about 3 seconds instead. I suppose that I can't be alone in this - there must be others for whom 7 or 6 runs better than 8 for whatever reason.
I know as far as I'm concerned IE7 fixed a lot of bad things with Internet Explorer that made it a big difference over 6, whereas 8 just seems to be an incremental improvement over 7 that really should not be pushed by Microsoft as a Critical Update. MS is probably coming out with frequent updates like this now just to try to stay competitive with Firefox and Safari and Chrome. I know that the Steam Overlay browser which embeds IE's Trident engine certainly got a speed boost from me going with 7 over 8, and that's the way it's going to stay unless and until Microsoft releases something newer for me to try on Windows XP. With Vista and soon Windows 7 out in retail, I don't think anything else is coming for XP users though.
Good thing I don't even use Internet Explorer as my primary browser then. Long live my mighty combo of Firefox, Opera, and Konqueror!
CBC's science program Quirks and Quarks had an interesting story about the handedness of molecules that it played last month. (Audio available in Ogg Vorbis) It provides a nice, friendly introduction to this topic.
That's OK - there's always another achievement to miss out on anyways. ;)
I know that Google is all about introducing new (usually useful) services which tie into its already existing sites and services, and for that I applaud it. However I hope that it takes privacy, security, and encryption into account for this new online storage service. It's one thing to do a search with Google's engine - trusting Google with personal files is another issue entirely.
Also, here's hoping for a rich desktop client instead of just a Web interface.
I know that the Video Lan Client has a wizard to simplify the conversion of video into the Ogg Theora format. You might want to give that a try. It seems to automate most option choices by default to simplify the process.
In this context, DM stands for Dungeon Master. This is the master and story teller in a role playing game such as "Dungeons & Dragons".
Here's a newsflash, Bucko: I didn't submit this to Slashdot Idle, I submitted this to the IT section under the "It's funny, laugh." topic. If you guys have something better I'd rather read it, so please submit it to Slashdot and have it get promoted or voted up to the front page.
And for the other posters talking about how this is an old story posted on a different site two years later, I did not know that when I submitted it. I merely saw it as highly ranking on Digg's Technology section and thought the Slashdot crowd would enjoy this "Oh those unlearned managers!" type of story. If it is funny or otherwise worth reading, why should anyone care how old it is?
And if you are wondering, this submission did not get voted up through Firehouse, an editor saw it and promoted it the front page within twelve minutes of me submitting it. I thank him for that, but if you have a problem with it, take your problem up with CmdrTaco since he A-OK'd it.
6) Absolutely no registration is required to download this collection of DOOM files.
*Sigh* Looks like there is a lot ignorance about this whole topic. (And I don't mean ignorant in an insulting way.) So let's clear some things up:
1) You don't need to play these files on the Dreamcast version of DOOM. These mods will all work fine on the various Windows, DOS, and other version of DOOM that can load PWADs. Just download the collection and extract them.
2) This collection is special because _all_ of the files have been tested and confirmed to correctly work on the Dreamcast version of DOOM, nxDoom. Because of system hardware limitations not all mods will correctly work on the DC version of DOOM, so Law56ker's collection is a real time-saver for anyone that wants to play DOOM mods on any system with limited hardware similar to a Dreamcast.
3) A modified Dreamcast is not necessary to run these files. Because the boot system for Dreamcast software was deciphered years ago, all home-brew/independent software form the last few years can easily boot without hardware or software mods.
4) The reason that this software needs to be downloaded, modified, and then burned to disc is due to a limitation of DOOM and other games built in a similar way. The original files from DOOM and/or DOOM 2 are needed to run these mods because the DOOM engine requires the original files.
5) The Dreamcast port of DOOM, nxDOOM, has support for the Modlist (making selecting and loading mods quick and easy), VMU saving (to continue the game later or save preferences), and control via keyboard, mouse, and/or Dreamcast controller.
I hope this clears up any misunderstandings.
Am I the only one who at first glance read the title as "Sweet Ducks May Act As Antenna For Lie Detection"?
We've had everyone from HardOCP to grandmas post their opinion on the "best desktop system" issue, but I think someone with not only workers and an enterprise on the line, but the life-and-death of people on his hands, is really going to give an honest opinion. He doesn't want deaths on his hands either directly or from his recommendations. I think everyone reading this post should give the article at least a cursory glance before jumping to their own opinions.
Dude, if you want to know answers do research.
There is no "couple cents per user" deal. This isn't iTunes, where each songs nets x cents per download. GameTap and an other company (we'll just use SEGA) negotiate a fee for a portion of that other company's game library. So SEGA in this case gets a five to six digit payout for a portion of its game library and in turn GameTap allows an unlimited number of subscribers access to those games for the negotiated time period.
In the "original content provider" companies' case (like TellTale and Cyan Worlds), I am sure that a larger fee is assessed for the games as these games are newer, flashier, and exclusive to GameTap for the negotiated period unlike the other games which are old and available elsewhere. And these new games are included in the regular $10/month price that GameTap charges all its customers.
Time Warner has big pockets. GameTap is a daughter company of Time Warner. Time wants this company to be the Turner Classic Movies of the game world. It will throw as much money as necessary until GameTap become a viable, self-sustaining company.
You know, that is so true when you ignore TellTale Games and Cyan Worlds. After all, they are making the Sam and Max episodic games and Uru Live respectively, both of which will be available through GameTap instead of brick-and-mortar stores. Yes, TellTale plans to eventually sell the games through its Web site and then as a CD or DVD-based compilation, but all of the episodes of Sam and Max will enjoy a period of exclusivity on GameTap first and foremost.
Shouldn't that be the "can't-keep-an-old-Famicom-down dept." because the NES is called the Nintendo Family Computer in Japan?
Wikipedia Famicom article
All right, let's get the fucking "e-mail is for old people" jokes out of the way.
;), lol, j/k, and other markers. :P
See, this is funny because:
1. It is on Slashdot
2. It recycles an old joke.
3. It is cynical.
4. "Cynicle" is spelled wrong.
5. Someone else has already written approximately the same thing.
6. I made a list of why it is funny.
7. I've included the
8. Someone has already thought about writing about how cynical is not spelled incorrectly above.
9. It is ironic.
10. I unnecessarily bring up the subject, defeating my goal of not having it mentioned in the first place.
11. All articles about South Korea need to have the comments mention the e-mail remarks from months ago.
Damn am I jaded.
Any recommendations?
Yes, read what was said about taxes on Slashdot back in January and March of this same year in the Ask Slashdot section.
**** THE PROOF THAT RIAA/MPAA IS EVIL ****
R I A A M P A A
18 9 1 1 13 16 1 1 - as numbers
9 9 1 1 4 7 1 1 - digits added
\_____/ \_____/ \_____/ \_____/
9 2 2 2 - digits added
Thus, "RIAAMPAA" is 9222.
Add 1995, the year O J Simpson was acquitted for double murder - the result is 11217.
Add 661 to it - this is the year Roman Empire was devastated by a plague, written backwards - you will get 11878.
Subtract 6861 from the number - this is the year Newton published wildly misunderstood "Principia", written backwards. It gives 5017.
Subtract 1351 from the number - this is the year Richard Roose was conveniently boiled to death for trying to poison an archbishop, written backwards. It gives 3666.
Subtract 1876, the year first crematorium in the United States opened. The result will be 1790.
The number 1790 is the year US patent system was established (eevil).
This clearly proves how evil the subject is. QED.
Courtesy of Evilfinder:
http://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/evilfinder/ef.shtml