So most spiffy new games require spiffy new and FAST computers. Most new fast computers have a baseline noise level which is not so quiet, expecially after you drop in your turbine powered GPU.
Most audiophile-type distinctions in terms of fine quality can only be made in relative silence. I am not an audiophile, but I can tell a nice system when I hear it, but only with no background noise.
Therefore, for most people not blessed with silent hardcore gaming PCs (and even those who are but live in loud areas), the distinction is virtually impossible to make without the sound turned up so far that neighbors in the next zip code are complaining.
This is exactly why when I went to visit someone and they had an $8,000 plasma TV with a cooling fan I thought it was the dumbest thing ever. It totally defeated the purpose of the $5,000 sound system's capabilities.
I saw a DeLorean with Back to the Future trimmings on the road a few months ago. It was in Boston on Mass Ave headed north. In that direction lies MIT, where a DeLorean may indeed be considered a babe magnet.
So in some contexts, and dependig on what babes you are looking for...
Here in Boston the most common phone I see is the cheap motorola phones that you get for $40 with a Verizon contract. Before that it was the cheap ?samsung phone that you got with the Sprint contract.
maybe that's just those of us who aren't into the bling factor.
I think I remember seeing somewhere that there's a hotkey to switch between apps, but I haven't used that in over a decade in any serious fashion on any OS, so I never took note.
Those of us who play games using Directx / whatever in windows use keyboard app switching all the time, since the start menu is hidden from us in whatever mode the game decides to put the graphics card.
Also, when I used to code, it was lots faster than reaching for the mouse, which I think was actually some sort of sin among the Unix programming circles back in the day.
all those mods where the pedestrians were fat / huge / suicidal / extra bloody / extra chunky / bobble-head / whatever plus the powerup where the car had springs that sprung out and killed all the nearby pedestrians
It was a big step up that they were actually polygons and not sprites like Carma I, and they rendered awesome on my Voodoo Banshee! Anyone who comes out with a Carma II mod for GTA:VC feel free to ask me for donations...
The Disney Sound Source allowed me to play Return to Zork - which absolutely required a sound card (no subtitles as I recall) - for the additional cost of a $20 device. Everything else mom could find was $60 or more back then.
Mind you, the sound quality did suck, and I don't recall ever using it again, but it had its place. One of our neighbors was quite happy to get it when we gave it to them. For us it was the affordable next step up from PC speakers. I still had the old SoundBlaster 16 ISA cards that replaced it up until a year ago.
The tinfoil hat is so (s)he can get WiFi from the convention center. The cardboard box is to protect the mobile beowulf cluster of recycled Sparcstations cast off from MIT.
Discalimer: This is all pure speculation (oh wait, forgot where I was, nevermind)
I can't imagine there isn't some enterprising individual in europe somewhere with some nice minty IP addys that wouldn't sell you some access via some type of IP tunneling protocol.
In case there aren't:
1. Sell IP tunneling to non-spammers
2. Make sure of (1.) via some easy monitoring of stats
3. Profit.
It would be far more effective to simply drop any SMTP connections from networks in Brazil or China
(sarcasm)That way we can be sure not to hear anything about human rights violations in China as well. That stuff is even worse than spam. Who wants to hear it? Not me. Pesky dissidents trying to send messages out of the country.(/sarcasm)
And god forbid anyone in china or brazil should try to conduct business with the US (just assuming here). Like our trade deficit wasn't enough already.
"I don't drive my huge F250 like I do my Boxster..."
Sir,
I do not doubt your ownership of said automobiles, since I know better of this world than to assume. Neither would I want to imply that I am maligning your character, since I do not know you personally and cannot judge, but one must admit that statistically speaking a "Slashdotter" would be exaggerating a bit to say this.
And personally, if I had a Boxster I'd be out driving that bitch!
Anyone that does not immediately run away screaming from a "linuxy PDA" will certainly not be stopped by replacing any battery that doesn't have the CPU embedded at its center.
Besides, some of us would take that as a fun challenge. The true challenge, however, would be to port windows to it.
Right, and the next time I buy 512MB of ram and get 512,000,000 bytes worth because someone is skimping and using the new legal definition, I'll be really happy about the new system.
I'll be extra super happy when I (as many slashdotters do) have do deal with it when other people make these mistakes too.
I agree that kb=1000 bytes may be the solution, lets be explicit and make sure not to set ourselves up for a similar situation with RAM 3 years down the road. Throw-away example 1,024 bytes = 1 k2b 2*10^6 bytes = 1 m2b.
The reason open source is supposed to be better is that when lots more people (like 15% market share worth) run linux, then there will be more resources being used to update and error check open source software - theoretically. Comparing Linux with a small market share to windows with a large market share in terms of bugs is not appropriate, and considering the paid resources available (but maybe not used?) to Microsoft, it is amazing that open source even compares.
Not to knock Volunteers at all, but if every company who used open source in a major way paid for 1-2 full time programmers, which is a relatively small expense, maybe Linux would have an even better security track record. Microsoft can't get much bigger, and their software maintenance model has still proven itself unworthy.
So was the female in your room imaginary, or was the fact that she was "coming" in your room imaginary?
I hate to say this, but maybe you could stand to surf maybe just a little pr0n on your wall-screens. As an educational tool. Just remember to erase it or the presence of the female will also be imaginary.
The sexing of toads is expressly prohibited within the bounds of this post.
Be careful, the driver won't let you remap axes, which is a problem for some games. You can do registry hacks to remap the axes with the directinput stuff or some such, but you cannot reverse directions of axes. I put my solution on usenet if you're curious. (grand theft auto vice city pc ps2 controller)
The best solution I found for GTA3 was ps2 controller for driving and ps2 controller + trackball for walking.
DSL has been in Boston for a while, but I know first hand that you could not get a cable modem in the some sections of the city of Boston (yes, actually in the city proper - suffolk county) until at most two months ago.
Just goes to show that even in urban areas if there's scary old infrastructure you might still be out of luck. Any experience with this in NYC?
Keep in mind that this is the neighborhood where every five years a transformer within a 3 block radius explodes. Very exciting.
Slashdot Mirror
So most spiffy new games require spiffy new and FAST computers. Most new fast computers have a baseline noise level which is not so quiet, expecially after you drop in your turbine powered GPU.
Most audiophile-type distinctions in terms of fine quality can only be made in relative silence. I am not an audiophile, but I can tell a nice system when I hear it, but only with no background noise.
Therefore, for most people not blessed with silent hardcore gaming PCs (and even those who are but live in loud areas), the distinction is virtually impossible to make without the sound turned up so far that neighbors in the next zip code are complaining.
This is exactly why when I went to visit someone and they had an $8,000 plasma TV with a cooling fan I thought it was the dumbest thing ever. It totally defeated the purpose of the $5,000 sound system's capabilities.
I saw a DeLorean with Back to the Future trimmings on the road a few months ago. It was in Boston on Mass Ave headed north. In that direction lies MIT, where a DeLorean may indeed be considered a babe magnet.
So in some contexts, and dependig on what babes you are looking for...
What's a girl?
If there was ever an area where Slashdotters were in need of some improved standards...
I don't think you can blame this one on Microsoft. Bill Gates himself maybe, but Microsoft no.
you forget
Danger Mouse! Power House!
(and this was on in the US for a time)
Here in Boston the most common phone I see is the cheap motorola phones that you get for $40 with a Verizon contract. Before that it was the cheap ?samsung phone that you got with the Sprint contract.
maybe that's just those of us who aren't into the bling factor.
I think I remember seeing somewhere that there's a hotkey to switch between apps, but I haven't used that in over a decade in any serious fashion on any OS, so I never took note.
Those of us who play games using Directx / whatever in windows use keyboard app switching all the time, since the start menu is hidden from us in whatever mode the game decides to put the graphics card.
Also, when I used to code, it was lots faster than reaching for the mouse, which I think was actually some sort of sin among the Unix programming circles back in the day.
Carmageddon II
all those mods where the pedestrians were fat / huge / suicidal / extra bloody / extra chunky / bobble-head / whatever plus the powerup where the car had springs that sprung out and killed all the nearby pedestrians
It was a big step up that they were actually polygons and not sprites like Carma I, and they rendered awesome on my Voodoo Banshee! Anyone who comes out with a Carma II mod for GTA:VC feel free to ask me for donations...
I thought the iTunes hardware (aka iPod) was the only part Apple was making money on...
Oh yeah: in other news Apple has made it a requirement that Apple itself will do all battery servicing for iTunes compatible devices. (that's better!)
The Disney Sound Source allowed me to play Return to Zork - which absolutely required a sound card (no subtitles as I recall) - for the additional cost of a $20 device. Everything else mom could find was $60 or more back then.
Mind you, the sound quality did suck, and I don't recall ever using it again, but it had its place. One of our neighbors was quite happy to get it when we gave it to them. For us it was the affordable next step up from PC speakers. I still had the old SoundBlaster 16 ISA cards that replaced it up until a year ago.
The tinfoil hat is so (s)he can get WiFi from the convention center. The cardboard box is to protect the mobile beowulf cluster of recycled Sparcstations cast off from MIT.
What were you guys thinking?
Discalimer: This is all pure speculation (oh wait, forgot where I was, nevermind)
I can't imagine there isn't some enterprising individual in europe somewhere with some nice minty IP addys that wouldn't sell you some access via some type of IP tunneling protocol.
In case there aren't:
1. Sell IP tunneling to non-spammers
2. Make sure of (1.) via some easy monitoring of stats
3. Profit.
All steps filled in, there ya go.
It would be far more effective to simply drop any SMTP connections from networks in Brazil or China
(sarcasm)That way we can be sure not to hear anything about human rights violations in China as well. That stuff is even worse than spam. Who wants to hear it? Not me. Pesky dissidents trying to send messages out of the country.(/sarcasm)
And god forbid anyone in china or brazil should try to conduct business with the US (just assuming here). Like our trade deficit wasn't enough already.
"I don't drive my huge F250 like I do my Boxster..."
Sir,
I do not doubt your ownership of said automobiles, since I know better of this world than to assume. Neither would I want to imply that I am maligning your character, since I do not know you personally and cannot judge, but one must admit that statistically speaking a "Slashdotter" would be exaggerating a bit to say this.
And personally, if I had a Boxster I'd be out driving that bitch!
Regards,
Anyone that does not immediately run away screaming from a "linuxy PDA" will certainly not be stopped by replacing any battery that doesn't have the CPU embedded at its center.
Besides, some of us would take that as a fun challenge. The true challenge, however, would be to port windows to it.
Right, and the next time I buy 512MB of ram and get 512,000,000 bytes worth because someone is skimping and using the new legal definition, I'll be really happy about the new system.
I'll be extra super happy when I (as many slashdotters do) have do deal with it when other people make these mistakes too.
I agree that kb=1000 bytes may be the solution, lets be explicit and make sure not to set ourselves up for a similar situation with RAM 3 years down the road. Throw-away example 1,024 bytes = 1 k2b 2*10^6 bytes = 1 m2b.
Just because I burned copied of the OpenCD (www.theopencd.org) last night.
Open source bastards wasting natural resources!
I'm going back to Microsoft.
Didn't I see the guy from Max Payne in one of those "It's not delivery, it's DiGiorno" commercials? The one set in Phoenix or some such?
Life kinda sucks for video game actors huh? Maybe that's why hes older and wiser/
Immediate term bashing aside
The reason open source is supposed to be better is that when lots more people (like 15% market share worth) run linux, then there will be more resources being used to update and error check open source software - theoretically. Comparing Linux with a small market share to windows with a large market share in terms of bugs is not appropriate, and considering the paid resources available (but maybe not used?) to Microsoft, it is amazing that open source even compares.
Not to knock Volunteers at all, but if every company who used open source in a major way paid for 1-2 full time programmers, which is a relatively small expense, maybe Linux would have an even better security track record. Microsoft can't get much bigger, and their software maintenance model has still proven itself unworthy.
Wait, I'm confused...
So was the female in your room imaginary, or was the fact that she was "coming" in your room imaginary?
I hate to say this, but maybe you could stand to surf maybe just a little pr0n on your wall-screens. As an educational tool. Just remember to erase it or the presence of the female will also be imaginary.
The sexing of toads is expressly prohibited within the bounds of this post.
I bought a Soyo Kiky-X to play GTA3-VC on PC.
Be careful, the driver won't let you remap axes, which is a problem for some games. You can do registry hacks to remap the axes with the directinput stuff or some such, but you cannot reverse directions of axes. I put my solution on usenet if you're curious. (grand theft auto vice city pc ps2 controller)
The best solution I found for GTA3 was ps2 controller for driving and ps2 controller + trackball for walking.
Actually it wasn't flamebait. It's worth $490 just to play with my cordless trackman wheel. (well, if you include HL2 for an extra $50)
cheers
new CPU - $100
new mobo - $120
new RAM - $80
new graphics card - $140
deus ex 2 for PC preordered - $50
Paying $490 to play Deus Ex 2 on an PC with Windows 2000 because I hate microsoft and therefore won't buy an XBox - priceless?
DSL has been in Boston for a while, but I know first hand that you could not get a cable modem in the some sections of the city of Boston (yes, actually in the city proper - suffolk county) until at most two months ago.
Just goes to show that even in urban areas if there's scary old infrastructure you might still be out of luck. Any experience with this in NYC?
Keep in mind that this is the neighborhood where every five years a transformer within a 3 block radius explodes. Very exciting.
`tellme root`
last I knew any logged in user could run that and get the password...
Grand Theft Auto 4 will support skateboards. In combination with some better city design, the Tony Hawk series is rendered unnecessary.
Or maybe the two games could combine. What's the bonus for a 720 while carrying a rocket launcher?