It's not being done by id. Quake 4 it primarily being done by Raven, with id mostly providing the engine (doom 3). I'd say that Raven probably qualify as one of those more creative companies you mentioned.
-ReK
I've managed to do one with a ceramic cpu (old pentium 1, holds the key for my case). Remove all the pins, save for 2 rows on 2 adjacent edges. Place a piece of wire between the rows on each side with a loop sticking off the corner. Fold the pins down over the wire, solder down. Works well with just about any non-slot CPU.
-ReK
I dunno about that... maybe I just haven't been using vi for long enough (2 years at most, so far), but when I switched to dvorak, even vi commands still came naturally, as if I were still typing on qwerty (i.e. they still worked just fine). I don't use the hjkl keys, which would probably have been troublesome, but I never had a problem.
-ReK
I've been using dvorak for about 6 months now on all my computers, and using qwerty occasionally at school... but every now and then I start typing qwerty on one of my home computers. This started very recently, like in the last few weeks. You ever noticed this, or am I just weird?
-ReK
I agree that you should be able to do what you want with your hardware... with the provision that it doesn't infringe on the rights of others. Writing and running homebrew stuff is fine. Piracy is not.
Regarding the specifications bit, I wouldn't say that's fair. You should be *permitted* to do what you want, but I don't see why the company that sold you the device should help you. They want their device used a certain way, and make it easiest for you to use it in that manner. Beyond that, you're own your own.
-ReK
Sony lose money on each PSP, remember? The screen alone probably costs more than US$200. They may be making a profit on the memory sticks, but I'm sure the smart customers are buying Sandisk anyway. With a device with this much potential, if this exploit is real, there are probably going to be a few people buying a PSP with no intention of buying any games, which is where the real profit is.
-ReK
The Namco classic collection thingo pack has pac-man, as well as some other old namco games... I don't know if it's available in the US yet, though.
-ReK
http://www.tadpolecomputer.com/ make laptops, and claim to make them in the US. Although, as far as I'm concerned, they're more interesting because they're SPARC laptops, not intel/amd... Probably not what you're looking for, but cool nonetheless.
-ReK
Microsoft's current document formats are just memory dumps. This is one of the main reasons why Office can save so much faster than OOo - and also why newer versions of Office have trouble with docs from old versions. As you pointed out, with today's CPUs this shouldn't be too much of a problem. (Heck, OOo's save times aren't a problem at all). It's still noticeable, though.
-ReK
2D platformer (well, 3D but played in a 2D style), with good reviews. Sounds like it could be what you're looking for, but I've never played it so I can't say. I'd add that the Devil May Cry games (except DMC2) remind me a lot of Castlevania SOTN - my PS2 died just after I got DMC3 (^#@^%#@^@#), so I went back to playing SOTN on PS1 for a while until I could replace it... after a while they do end up feeling fairly similar. Except that Alucard doesn't have a pair of demonic handguns. And Dante can't turn into a bat.
-ReK
If I hadn't just bought the CDs, this would be enough for me to have some interest in iTunes (ignoring the fact that it's not open in Australia yet...). I strongly recommend the 2 albums (The Black Mages 1 and 2) to anybody - rock arrangements of tracks from across the Final Fantasy series, by Nobuo Uematsu and a couple of other squaresoft musicians. Definitely worth the money.
-ReK
The PSP has movie playing capabilities, wifi, and a bunch of other non-gaming features as well... but wasn't that held against it, instead of being thought of as revolutionary? Time will tell, I guess...
-ReK
Erm... not quite. Someone mentioned (on/., don't know when) that the PS2 dev kit consisted of a PSP without a UMD drive, connected to a Vaio via umbilical cable. The vaio had a UMD drive. That makes much more sense that having to use memory sticks...
-ReK
When I was looking at buying a thinkpad, I contacted IBM and asked if I could buy one with linux, or without an OS, or without a hard drive, or something... The initial response was no, due to ISO testing specifications or some bullshit... after a bit more prodding, I was told that they couldn't do it due to licensing agreements with Microsoft. I ended up buying the laptop (refurb T30) with Windows, then wiping it as soon as I received it. (Hint: a fresh laptop battery doesn't have enough power on it to install slackware. Recharge it first.)
-ReK
I got my PSP a while ago. From a new battery, minimum screen brightness (still very bright, though), headphones at half volume, I could play Ridge Racers (Ridge Racer in the US) for just over 5 hours. I think I've been able to get just over 6 with Lumines and Puyo Pop Fever under the same conditions. I haven't tried music or video, because my memory stick is too small for video (256mb) and I have a 20gb mp3 player.
-ReK
If you don't mind lack of warranty, PSPs don't seem that hard to find. I'm in Singapore at the moment, I managed to pick one up for S$375 (US $230 or so), which wasn't too bad. The only issue is the games being in Japanese, but Ridge Racers isn't a problem (finished it in 5 days), Puyo Pop Fever is in English, and Lumines is mostly in English... If you can be bothered looking there aren't too many barriers to getting one.
Also, regarding some of the hardware issues... My square button is fine, I can't make UMDs shoot out, and I got 5+ hours playing Ridge Racers at min brightness on headphones. Those were my 3 concerns, and none of them occur on my unit (or my brother's, for that matter).
BTW, I'm Australian so if I didn't grab it here I would have to wait until july or august.
-ReK
See the page at http://www.cybersource.com.au/product/safe_interne t_computer/, and look at the pretty S5 slideshow (the screenshots page). It's a Knoppix-based computer (it's branded as a hardware solution) that's been designed to make Windows users feel at home - IceWM with the SilveradoXP theme, OO.O listed as "Word Processor," "Spreadsheet," etc. Users can use the internet safely, and even if something is compromised, it will be gone at reboot. Of course, there are some complications involved with not having any permanent storage, but the system basically works.
Disclaimer: I'm somewhat connected to Cybersource, but I don't have anything to gain from this.
-ReK
A man goes to a doctor for his regular checkup. The doctor tells the man that he has good and bad news. The man is greatly excited when the doctor tells him that his penis will be 3 inches longer and an inch wider. Naturally, the man asks the doctor what the bad news is. He replies, "malignant."
It should be possible to port it to the PSP or something (I'm fairly sure it has the processing power), and I guess that could qualify as a PDA... The problem is just that the sources haven't been released yet. Any day now....
-ReK
The total prize pool is $1,000,000, divided across the four phases and... erm... I can't be bothered counting the categories. The license isn't included in the prize total (the $$$ came from nvidia, the license came from epic).
--ReK
Another free MMORPG - I played it for a while, but the economy is a bit screwy, because cactus is extremely valuable yet easy to harvest. It's fun, though - http://www.eternal-lands.com/. Oh, and don't forget about runescape... urgh.
-ReK
Slashdot Mirror
It's not being done by id. Quake 4 it primarily being done by Raven, with id mostly providing the engine (doom 3). I'd say that Raven probably qualify as one of those more creative companies you mentioned.
-ReK
I've managed to do one with a ceramic cpu (old pentium 1, holds the key for my case). Remove all the pins, save for 2 rows on 2 adjacent edges. Place a piece of wire between the rows on each side with a loop sticking off the corner. Fold the pins down over the wire, solder down. Works well with just about any non-slot CPU.
-ReK
I dunno about that... maybe I just haven't been using vi for long enough (2 years at most, so far), but when I switched to dvorak, even vi commands still came naturally, as if I were still typing on qwerty (i.e. they still worked just fine). I don't use the hjkl keys, which would probably have been troublesome, but I never had a problem.
-ReK
I've been using dvorak for about 6 months now on all my computers, and using qwerty occasionally at school... but every now and then I start typing qwerty on one of my home computers. This started very recently, like in the last few weeks. You ever noticed this, or am I just weird?
-ReK
I agree that you should be able to do what you want with your hardware... with the provision that it doesn't infringe on the rights of others. Writing and running homebrew stuff is fine. Piracy is not.
Regarding the specifications bit, I wouldn't say that's fair. You should be *permitted* to do what you want, but I don't see why the company that sold you the device should help you. They want their device used a certain way, and make it easiest for you to use it in that manner. Beyond that, you're own your own.
-ReK
Sony lose money on each PSP, remember? The screen alone probably costs more than US$200. They may be making a profit on the memory sticks, but I'm sure the smart customers are buying Sandisk anyway. With a device with this much potential, if this exploit is real, there are probably going to be a few people buying a PSP with no intention of buying any games, which is where the real profit is.
-ReK
The Namco classic collection thingo pack has pac-man, as well as some other old namco games... I don't know if it's available in the US yet, though.
-ReK
See?
-ReK
http://www.tadpolecomputer.com/ make laptops, and claim to make them in the US. Although, as far as I'm concerned, they're more interesting because they're SPARC laptops, not intel/amd... Probably not what you're looking for, but cool nonetheless.
-ReK
Microsoft's current document formats are just memory dumps. This is one of the main reasons why Office can save so much faster than OOo - and also why newer versions of Office have trouble with docs from old versions. As you pointed out, with today's CPUs this shouldn't be too much of a problem. (Heck, OOo's save times aren't a problem at all). It's still noticeable, though.
-ReK
2D platformer (well, 3D but played in a 2D style), with good reviews. Sounds like it could be what you're looking for, but I've never played it so I can't say. I'd add that the Devil May Cry games (except DMC2) remind me a lot of Castlevania SOTN - my PS2 died just after I got DMC3 (^#@^%#@^@#), so I went back to playing SOTN on PS1 for a while until I could replace it... after a while they do end up feeling fairly similar. Except that Alucard doesn't have a pair of demonic handguns. And Dante can't turn into a bat.
-ReK
If I hadn't just bought the CDs, this would be enough for me to have some interest in iTunes (ignoring the fact that it's not open in Australia yet...). I strongly recommend the 2 albums (The Black Mages 1 and 2) to anybody - rock arrangements of tracks from across the Final Fantasy series, by Nobuo Uematsu and a couple of other squaresoft musicians. Definitely worth the money.
-ReK
The PSP has movie playing capabilities, wifi, and a bunch of other non-gaming features as well... but wasn't that held against it, instead of being thought of as revolutionary? Time will tell, I guess...
-ReK
Erm... not quite. Someone mentioned (on /., don't know when) that the PS2 dev kit consisted of a PSP without a UMD drive, connected to a Vaio via umbilical cable. The vaio had a UMD drive. That makes much more sense that having to use memory sticks...
-ReK
When I was looking at buying a thinkpad, I contacted IBM and asked if I could buy one with linux, or without an OS, or without a hard drive, or something... The initial response was no, due to ISO testing specifications or some bullshit... after a bit more prodding, I was told that they couldn't do it due to licensing agreements with Microsoft. I ended up buying the laptop (refurb T30) with Windows, then wiping it as soon as I received it. (Hint: a fresh laptop battery doesn't have enough power on it to install slackware. Recharge it first.)
-ReK
Erm... is anyone else having trouble reading this is xpdf? I just get random letters and punctuation everywhere. Gv is fine, though.
-ReK
See here. Some people...
(And before anyone starts getting ideas.... go take judo lessons and learn to do it *safely*)
-ReK
Here. (Yes, it's IGN, but it's not really a serious review.)
-ReK
I got my PSP a while ago. From a new battery, minimum screen brightness (still very bright, though), headphones at half volume, I could play Ridge Racers (Ridge Racer in the US) for just over 5 hours. I think I've been able to get just over 6 with Lumines and Puyo Pop Fever under the same conditions. I haven't tried music or video, because my memory stick is too small for video (256mb) and I have a 20gb mp3 player.
-ReK
If you don't mind lack of warranty, PSPs don't seem that hard to find. I'm in Singapore at the moment, I managed to pick one up for S$375 (US $230 or so), which wasn't too bad. The only issue is the games being in Japanese, but Ridge Racers isn't a problem (finished it in 5 days), Puyo Pop Fever is in English, and Lumines is mostly in English... If you can be bothered looking there aren't too many barriers to getting one.
Also, regarding some of the hardware issues... My square button is fine, I can't make UMDs shoot out, and I got 5+ hours playing Ridge Racers at min brightness on headphones. Those were my 3 concerns, and none of them occur on my unit (or my brother's, for that matter).
BTW, I'm Australian so if I didn't grab it here I would have to wait until july or august.
-ReK
See the page at http://www.cybersource.com.au/product/safe_interne t_computer/, and look at the pretty S5 slideshow (the screenshots page). It's a Knoppix-based computer (it's branded as a hardware solution) that's been designed to make Windows users feel at home - IceWM with the SilveradoXP theme, OO.O listed as "Word Processor," "Spreadsheet," etc. Users can use the internet safely, and even if something is compromised, it will be gone at reboot. Of course, there are some complications involved with not having any permanent storage, but the system basically works.
Disclaimer: I'm somewhat connected to Cybersource, but I don't have anything to gain from this.
-ReK
A man goes to a doctor for his regular checkup. The doctor tells the man that he has good and bad news. The man is greatly excited when the doctor tells him that his penis will be 3 inches longer and an inch wider. Naturally, the man asks the doctor what the bad news is. He replies, "malignant."
It should be possible to port it to the PSP or something (I'm fairly sure it has the processing power), and I guess that could qualify as a PDA... The problem is just that the sources haven't been released yet. Any day now....
-ReK
The total prize pool is $1,000,000, divided across the four phases and... erm... I can't be bothered counting the categories. The license isn't included in the prize total (the $$$ came from nvidia, the license came from epic).
--ReK
Another free MMORPG - I played it for a while, but the economy is a bit screwy, because cactus is extremely valuable yet easy to harvest. It's fun, though - http://www.eternal-lands.com/. Oh, and don't forget about runescape... urgh.
-ReK