Before ASCIIpOrtal came along, it would have been easy to argue that the game play mechanics of portal would have been impossible or at least diminished without 3D graphics; now it is much more difficult to make that argument.
No, actually, Portal: The Flash Version made that point nearly two years ago (the copy on Newgrounds has a submission date on it of October 9, 2007).
Oh, hmm, I also don't remember playing Star Trek: Judgement Rites... I should check if it's on the Interplay 10th Anniversary Collection, which I also have lying around somewhere.
I don't know anything about kernels, but shouldn't they only contain the absolute minimum necessary functions of an operating system? What are the things that can make an OS kernel bloat up to 11 millions lines? Is everything that is in the kernel truly necessary, or could you move some of it to a driver or something?
er... um... drivers are distributed with the kernel and are probably counted in the kernel 11MLOC metric.
Because Apple locked down the iPhone so that you have to apply mods that break one of the many terms of service to access any store other than Apple's.
I played the game at launch... and 3 life bars is about right. If your health, action, or mind bar went below 0 you died and had to reload your clone.
All 3 bars regenerated based on your stats, but you used action and mind points to perform specific actions... oh, those bars could also be damaged directly by other players (in PvP) or specific mobs.
Even better, you needed other players to get rid of any "permanent" damage you took to said bars, which filled part of those bars with black.
The last new character I played in WoW (before quitting yet again) involved doing generally nasty stuff like killing innocents and destroying cities, ending with you attempting to destroy Light's Hope in Eastern Plaguelands (a battle you can't win) and fighting of the boss's from Naxxramus (a battle you can't lose).
Granted, this is only for the newest "heroic" class: Death Knight, which required you to have a level 55 character already. So, you were expected to know most of the game mechanics already, and this just introduced your class's abilities and generally explained how a Death Knight became part of the Alliance/Horde in the first place.
Of course, Blizzard just wrote themselves a blank check when it comes to starting areas with the new expansion... all the areas from the original (pre-expansion) game are being redone. This includes starting areas. Oh, and this change affects everyone, not just those who buy the Cataclysm expansion.
I'm digressing a bit, but surprisingly, class-based multi-player FPS games work fairly well.
Team Fortress 2 being my main example here... it's one of the most popular FPS games on Steam, where it fights Counter-Strike and Counter-Strike: Source for most played multiplayer game.*
Team Fortress 2 doesn't try to balance each class against every other class. Instead, with 9 classes, each class is good at killing 4 classes, and not-so-good at killing 4. Against the same class is an even match. Medic is somewhat exempt from this rule, because even though they are still good at killing certain classes, chances are that they won't be doing that.
For instance... the Spy (one of TF2's more unique classes) has an instant kill backstab, can disguise as the other team, and has an invisibility cloak (can't attack while invisible). His primary role is to sneak behind enemy lines, disguise as the other team, then backstab members of that team. Taking this into account, Spy is:
Not-so-good at killing Scout (Faster than Spy)
Good at killing Soldier (Slower than Spy)
Not-so-good at killing Pyro (Sets Spy on fire; flames are team colored and show while cloaked)
Good at killing Demoman (Slower than Spy; tends to stand in one spot while setting stickybombs)
Good at killing Heavy Weapons Guy (Slower than Spy; Slows down even more while firing Minigun)
Not-so-good at killing Engineer (Stays near sentry gun)
Not-so-good at killing Medic (Faster than Spy; tends to watch for Spies while healing others)
Good at killing Sniper (Tends to stand in one spot; slows down while Sniper Rifle is zoomed)
Essentially, Spies are good at killing slower classes (Soldier, Heavy) and people who stand still (Demoman, Sniper)
Spies are also good at killing Engineer's sentry guns, but they have one less weapon because of it. Also, the Engineer can kill Spy if he knows what he's doing.
Note that this is just the baseline, player skill can turn this around.
*steampowered.com is blocked where I work, or I'd search for the stats page to link here.
I would have pointed out that I was wrong about XP's release month sooner, but Slashdot's idiotic "you can't make another comment so soon!" (in addition to the "you can't edit posts") system prevented me... I didn't come back to it until a bit later.
Really? How often does Apple backport patches from OS X 10.6 to 10.0? You realize that XP is even older than 10.0, right?
I would put [citation needed] but I'd rather just say you're wrong and point out the release dates: OSX 10.0 - released March 2001 OSX 10.1 - released September 2001 Windows XP - released December 2001...and I don't even own a Mac!
Stop beating your straw man to death. Your argument is not only irrelevant, it's completely misleading. Why? Because MS is still selling XP on new computers.
Speaking of straw men, Microsoft doesn't sell computers.
If you could go down to your local Chevy dealer today and buy a brand new 1998 Chevy Impala, and the AC broke on your new Impala Chevrolet the day after you drove it off the lot, General Motors would have to repair the AC under warranty. What's more, they would still have to be manufacturing replacement parts. How long a product has been on the market is irrelevant, if it is still being sold as a new product on a daily basis.
As I understand it, GM has partial ownership in its dealerships. That's why GM is closing down dealerships because it can't meet demands. The dealership I bought my last GM car from is closing... I'm don't remember when, but they sent letters out to all their customers about it.
The above example holds true for XP. I can go down to BB, go online to NewEgg, or to any one of hundreds of different retailers, and buy a brand new netbook with XP on it. That means MS is still selling shiny new copies of XP. That makes the the age of the code in XP irrelevant as XP is still a current product.
See what I said about GM and partial ownership.
Microsoft sells boxed copies to Best Buy and NewEgg. Once they have those copies, they own them until they re-sell them. Under the doctrine of first sale, Microsoft can't say "Stop selling these and throw them away." MS can offer to buy them back, but BB can choose whether or not to do that.
Dell buys licenses in bulk. The same rule as above applies to those. Microsoft can try to pressure them, but Dell is a gigantic company with lots of resources... and lawyers.
Except, I bought a brand new Dell just yesterday that has XP. It's not a netbook either, but a high-end business machine. It's also available in retail boxes at my local Staples store and Wal-Mart, in both Home and Pro versions - even the upgrade versions! It seems if it were old enough not to support then retailers wouldn't still be carrying it. I might not be the greatest businessman, but I know stores don't tend to keep inventory on the shelf that is too "old" to sell.
If a store or company bought X of a product, they're not going to stop selling it just because the manufacturer stopped making it.
Particularly if people are still willing to buy it. They may clearance it to get rid of it if they think it won't sell, but they're not going to just throw it out; they've already paid money for it!
Personally, I think Microsoft should be on the hook to fix it, too, but I at least understand their logic.
Considering XP was released on Dec 31 2001, I'd say they're still 'on the hook' until 2011. They even say "5 years or 2 years after the successor product [Vista] is released, whichever is longer". That makes it 2012. Or "2 years after the second successor product", whichever is longer (2011). And that's just the Mainstream support
Your math is funny.
"5 years or 2 years after the successor product [Vista] is released, whichever is longer".
XP was released in December 2001. Vista was released in January 2007.
2001.12 + 5.0 = 2006.12 2007.01 + 2.0 = 2009.01
2006.12 < 2009.01
In other words, Mainstream support for XP ended back in January 2009.
they say they'll continue with "security patches for 5 years" after mainstream support fades. I would consider remote code execution a security risk, guess Microsoft feels differently.
The extended support phase is currently underway, and will end in... well, lets figure that out really quickly.
2009.01 + 5.0 = 2014.01 2009.10 + 2.0 = 2011.10
2014.01 > 2011.10
Extended support ends in January 2014.
However, this is a DoS attack, which isn't a security problem. It's also mitigated with a firewall.
And I thought Windows XP was based on NT (New Technology). Then why are we talking about code that is 12 to 15 years old in its origin?
Because, despite being released in 1993, Windows NT is still built on newer technology than the existing Windows line of the time. Remember that Windows 95-ME still ran on DOS, even if it was built in and they tried to hide it.
Windows NT 3.1 (the first version of NT) was released in July 1993, making it 16 years old.
You may have time to read this Windows 7 review[fsfe.org] while doing that and deciding if you really want to finish that installation... unless can't browse internet while upgrading windows.
No thanks, I'm trying to cut back on my sodium intake.
Yeah, it's nice that M$ finally got around to incorporating that security constrained sandbox with process isolation to ensure that any vulnerability exploited was mitigated. I mean, all of the other browsers have had that for years!
[citation needed]
I'm aware that Google Chrome implements this, but last time I checked Firefox, Safari, and Opera do not.
"And not exploitable out of the box since SMB and SMBv2 are both firewalled"
What do you mean, is this firewall the software one built into Vista or an external one. If so thn it's relying on the same TCP/IP stack to protect it.
Yes, but SMB2 is a higher level protocol than TCP or IP. In network stacks, received packets are processed from the bottom up.
In OSI terms, received packets are processed like this: physical, data link, network, transport, session, presentation, application. TCP and IP live at the middle layers (3 and 4). SMB lives in the upper layers (5-7).
Slashdot Mirror
No, actually, Portal: The Flash Version made that point nearly two years ago (the copy on Newgrounds has a submission date on it of October 9, 2007).
You have selected the option "none of the above." To confirm this choice, press 4 now.
There is no Linus, only Zuul!
Oh wow, that explains everything!
...who is Vinz Clortho, then? RMS?
Speaking of Star Trek games, Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Final Unity was pretty good too, even if it wasn't by Interplay.
Except for the spaceship battles, which sucked.
Oh, hmm, I also don't remember playing Star Trek: Judgement Rites... I should check if it's on the Interplay 10th Anniversary Collection, which I also have lying around somewhere.
er... um... drivers are distributed with the kernel and are probably counted in the kernel 11MLOC metric.
A miserable little pile of secrets!
To play devil's advocate here:
Because Apple locked down the iPhone so that you have to apply mods that break one of the many terms of service to access any store other than Apple's.
I played the game at launch... and 3 life bars is about right. If your health, action, or mind bar went below 0 you died and had to reload your clone.
All 3 bars regenerated based on your stats, but you used action and mind points to perform specific actions... oh, those bars could also be damaged directly by other players (in PvP) or specific mobs.
Even better, you needed other players to get rid of any "permanent" damage you took to said bars, which filled part of those bars with black.
The last new character I played in WoW (before quitting yet again) involved doing generally nasty stuff like killing innocents and destroying cities, ending with you attempting to destroy Light's Hope in Eastern Plaguelands (a battle you can't win) and fighting of the boss's from Naxxramus (a battle you can't lose).
Granted, this is only for the newest "heroic" class: Death Knight, which required you to have a level 55 character already. So, you were expected to know most of the game mechanics already, and this just introduced your class's abilities and generally explained how a Death Knight became part of the Alliance/Horde in the first place.
Of course, Blizzard just wrote themselves a blank check when it comes to starting areas with the new expansion... all the areas from the original (pre-expansion) game are being redone. This includes starting areas. Oh, and this change affects everyone, not just those who buy the Cataclysm expansion.
I'm digressing a bit, but surprisingly, class-based multi-player FPS games work fairly well.
Team Fortress 2 being my main example here... it's one of the most popular FPS games on Steam, where it fights Counter-Strike and Counter-Strike: Source for most played multiplayer game.*
Team Fortress 2 doesn't try to balance each class against every other class. Instead, with 9 classes, each class is good at killing 4 classes, and not-so-good at killing 4. Against the same class is an even match. Medic is somewhat exempt from this rule, because even though they are still good at killing certain classes, chances are that they won't be doing that.
For instance... the Spy (one of TF2's more unique classes) has an instant kill backstab, can disguise as the other team, and has an invisibility cloak (can't attack while invisible). His primary role is to sneak behind enemy lines, disguise as the other team, then backstab members of that team. Taking this into account, Spy is:
Essentially, Spies are good at killing slower classes (Soldier, Heavy) and people who stand still (Demoman, Sniper)
Spies are also good at killing Engineer's sentry guns, but they have one less weapon because of it. Also, the Engineer can kill Spy if he knows what he's doing.
Note that this is just the baseline, player skill can turn this around.
*steampowered.com is blocked where I work, or I'd search for the stats page to link here.
I would have pointed out that I was wrong about XP's release month sooner, but Slashdot's idiotic "you can't make another comment so soon!" (in addition to the "you can't edit posts") system prevented me... I didn't come back to it until a bit later.
Whoops, XP was released in October 2001, not December 2001. That's what I get for believing another poster... still later than OSX 10.1 though.
I would put [citation needed] but I'd rather just say you're wrong and point out the release dates: ...and I don't even own a Mac!
OSX 10.0 - released March 2001
OSX 10.1 - released September 2001
Windows XP - released December 2001
Speaking of straw men, Microsoft doesn't sell computers.
As I understand it, GM has partial ownership in its dealerships. That's why GM is closing down dealerships because it can't meet demands. The dealership I bought my last GM car from is closing... I'm don't remember when, but they sent letters out to all their customers about it.
See what I said about GM and partial ownership.
Microsoft sells boxed copies to Best Buy and NewEgg. Once they have those copies, they own them until they re-sell them. Under the doctrine of first sale, Microsoft can't say "Stop selling these and throw them away." MS can offer to buy them back, but BB can choose whether or not to do that.
Dell buys licenses in bulk. The same rule as above applies to those. Microsoft can try to pressure them, but Dell is a gigantic company with lots of resources... and lawyers.
If a store or company bought X of a product, they're not going to stop selling it just because the manufacturer stopped making it.
Particularly if people are still willing to buy it. They may clearance it to get rid of it if they think it won't sell, but they're not going to just throw it out; they've already paid money for it!
Personally, I think Microsoft should be on the hook to fix it, too, but I at least understand their logic.
Your math is funny.
"5 years or 2 years after the successor product [Vista] is released, whichever is longer".
XP was released in December 2001.
Vista was released in January 2007.
2001.12 + 5.0 = 2006.12
2007.01 + 2.0 = 2009.01
2006.12 < 2009.01
In other words, Mainstream support for XP ended back in January 2009.
The extended support phase is currently underway, and will end in... well, lets figure that out really quickly.
2009.01 + 5.0 = 2014.01
2009.10 + 2.0 = 2011.10
2014.01 > 2011.10
Extended support ends in January 2014.
However, this is a DoS attack, which isn't a security problem. It's also mitigated with a firewall.
Because, despite being released in 1993, Windows NT is still built on newer technology than the existing Windows line of the time. Remember that Windows 95-ME still ran on DOS, even if it was built in and they tried to hide it.
Windows NT 3.1 (the first version of NT) was released in July 1993, making it 16 years old.
Either that or its sibling Windows Mobile.
No thanks, I'm trying to cut back on my sodium intake.
and I just realized that the GP's post whooshed over my head. Whoops.
[citation needed]
I'm aware that Google Chrome implements this, but last time I checked Firefox, Safari, and Opera do not.
And I say this as a Firefox user!
Last time I checked, Windows 7 was on MSDN and TechNet on August 6th, not August 14th.
You're assuming that they have a sane network routing system that wouldn't uselessly route packets halfway across the continent.
Incidentally, that's what my US ISP used to do. Granted, traffic never left the country...
Are you sure you don't mean dividing by 100 and then rounding? Or are you really taking 40 drinks to buy Boardwalk?
Yes, but SMB2 is a higher level protocol than TCP or IP. In network stacks, received packets are processed from the bottom up.
In OSI terms, received packets are processed like this: physical, data link, network, transport, session, presentation, application. TCP and IP live at the middle layers (3 and 4). SMB lives in the upper layers (5-7).