Modelling human vision accurately, including its limitations and flaws, is probably important for _some_ real-world application somewhere. Just because we can't think of it now doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Perhaps it'll help <a href="http://www.kevinwarwick.com/ICyborg.htm">Kevin Warwick</a> in his quest for cybernetic enhancements. <DARPA>And I'm pretty sure there's a potential weapon in there somewhere.</DARPA>;)
In the strictest sense, wrapper != emulator. I believe the Glide wrappers just "translate" the various Glide API calls to their OpenGL (or D3D) equivalents.
An actual low-level emulator, fully emulating 3DFX Voodoo Graphics hardware doesn't exist to my knowledge.
However, several arcade games were made based on older 3DFX technology in the mid-late 90s. MAME includes emulation for several 3DFX boards that were used in those machines. I have no idea how accurate or how low-level MAME's 3DFX emulation is, but it is there.
I have no idea how feasible full low-level software emulation of first-gen 3DFX hardware is. Maybe someone else can shed some light?
You're absolutely wrong. Most British people are extremely aware they are being ripped off. Hence the term Rip-Off Britain. Trust me, we know and we're as mad about it as anyone.
As for us "not travelling outside our island", I'd like to see where you got that statistic, but I'm fairly certain that most Brits are at least as well-travelled and cosmopolitan as their counterparts throughout the world. I'm willing to be proved wrong.
P.S. You mentioned Spain, so if you are Spanish I concede that you've probably seen tourists representing the very worst that Britain has to offer. Please don't let that cloud your opinion of the vast majority of Brits who are fairly reasonable and intelligent.:)
Yep, looks like the poster didn't actually read the comments of the earlier post, where the general/. consensus was that it was a shitty self-serving article, full of corporate self-interest and lacking in technical merit.
"Most typical Web surfers who install this extension remove it after the novelty wears off."
Did Peter Smith just happen to have the opinion of "most typical Web surfers" at hand? Looks to me like he is writing his own opinions as if they belong to some majority. The article contains several similar lame excuses and generalisations along the lines of "I didn't like this so neither should you.", and it undermines the few reasonable points he makes.
I think "most typical Web surfers" use some form of IE, and those who have chosen Firefox probably did so precisely so they could have more control over their browsing experience, which is exactly what addons like NoScript and AdBlock provide.
For me, that article served to flag computerworld.com and particularly writer Peter Smith as "not worth reading".
So don't "be sure to skip" those extensions, as some of them are amongst the best extensions available for Firefox.
Exactly. I played EvE for a few weeks when it first came out (so this is from imperfect memory), and after a while it occurred to me that it may be the most cynical MMO ever designed. The level of user interaction in the game seemed minimal at best. I didn't even need to play it to progress. That seemed wrong. Still does.
In the early game, as it was then, progression took time. No skill, just time. Someone I know called it "an offline grind" which I think sums it up perfectly. I felt like I was paying to passively watch numbers increase, so naturally I quit.
Maybe the game has completely changed in the 3+ years since I played it. I'm sure it has its appeal at the high-end. I didn't hang around to find out, and I don't regret that decision.
To follow some of your (and a lot of other people in this nation) logic, then the person who sold him the shoes he was wearing as well as his socks, underwear, pants/shorts, shirt, and hat are partially to blame as well. Or who has been selling him food during his time of planning? What about the postal workers that took his mail being sent to NBC? What about the environmentalists that allowed there to be clean air, because if he had lung cancer it might have stopped him...yes, that sounds ridiculous because it IS ridiculous.
Yes. It's ridiculous, but not for the reason you seem to think.
It's ridiculous because you're comparing shoes, socks, underwear, pants, shirt, hat, food and clean air to a gun.
A child could spot the odd one out in that list, but since you're having difficulty I'll help you out.
The first 8 items are items necessary for survival (clothes, food, air).
The final item on the list is a weapon designed to kill.
How can you not see the difference there, except by choosing not to see it? In what universe is that logical? Because it's not in this one.
Seriously, if you're going to criticize an argument as ridiculous, you should have something better than that drivel to counter it.
And here, I thought/. users were against government taking control of everything. More laws! More restrictions! Less freedoms! Less rights!
Well, I think/. users are a fairly diverse group, and many of them are capable of seeing through straw man arguments. I can value greater freedoms when it comes to software, or the media, or personal privacy, but I can also remain in favour of gun control, because buying food and buying a gun are entirely different things.
The implication being that committees make better decisions than individuals? Please, be serious!
I think the implication is that individuals are cheaper to persuade, easier to intimidate, or are simply suspect in the first place because they need not consult anyone else about their decisions or reach a consensus, no matter how evil or ill-advised their decisions may be.
I'm not saying that's the case here, I'm saying that's my understanding of the way the summary is phrased.
Of course, it also serves to mark her as a target for the ire of the OSS community. Microsoft collaborator! Boo! Hiss! etc.
Anyway, committees make decisions just as good or bad as an individual would in most cases, they just take much longer to do it.:P
My guess would be, because in the smart persons search for a greater understanding of the world, that's what their teachers tell them to do.
You must have had great teachers. Mostly, my teachers (I am including my parents and others, i.e. Sunday School teachers in this definition) told me to shut up and learn so I could pass the exam. I don't remember being instructed by anyone to gain a greater understanding of the world beyond the narrow confines of their own subject of study, or system of beliefs. I think truly "smart" people will seek that out of their own volition.
If your understanding of the world is taken from a single source (Bible, etc) or at the very least, heavily influenced or constrained by that source, then what kind of reasoning and understanding can you really have while maintaining your faith? Encounter a scientific or even philosophical argument that contradicts your religious views and you're probably going to reject it, or at least accept it in a debased form to fit your own views. Is that a good way to develop a greater understanding?
Of course, part of ascribing to many religions is that a lot of your understanding of the world and your place in it has already been neatly and conveniently codified in book form (parchment, whatever) thousands of years ago, so you can just accept it and you don't have to think about the hard questions if you don't want to. I'm sure quite a few people fit into the "don't want to" category, even some "smart" ones.
But what do I know? I've been sitting on the fence overlooking both atheism and theism for years now. It looks far too crowded down there.:)
I got my DS-X about a month ago, so I don't know what "batch" it's from but I'd guess it's recent. Both before and after the firmware upgrade it has been fine. I've used it almost every day.
I did have one problem where the FAT managed to get corrupted. The problem seemed to be related to DSOrganise, since it was only after using DSO that the problem occurred. After formatting (and not installing DSO again, I don't use it anyway) it's been ok, although I do now backup the contents of the cart from time to time, just in case.
I do agree the DS-X is quite expensive for what it is.
Oh, it's a gay joke.. no.. no, I get it. Funny. Yeah.
Wait.. perhaps you actually don't know what "twink" means in terms of MMOs, and the homosexual slang is your only reference. That seems quite likely given your "Porn is free as far as I'm concerned" comment.
So, I searched for "everquest twink" in Google (a risky search, I grant you) and the first result defined it. I've seen it used in other MMOs, including WoW.
A Twink - is a secondary character for someone, often with premium equipment that the character would not be able to get on their own for considerable time. I have no idea where the slang of "twink" came from however - It's been around for years...
I have no idea where the slang came from either. It may be a stupid term but it's used quite commonly in MMOs without particularly derogatory meaning.
This argument has been done so many times already, but I'm pretending to work, so I'll bite anyway.;)
Almost all MMO games require a degree of grinding. When you start out you're very weak, with poor equipment. Playing the game "naturally" means spending an inordinate amount of time acquiring game currency or items just to feel like your character can compete. This task is actually often separate from the task of levelling up, at least if you want to make any significant amount of game currency.
Just a few weeks ago I bought a moderate amount of virtual currency to "twink" out a couple of new characters in a certain MMO. I'd never bought virtual currency before, mostly because I thought the currency cost too much. However, the MMO in question isn't exactly cutting-edge anymore, and its subscriber base is dwindling, so the cost of currency has dropped to a level I am comfortable with.
Buying game currency with real money means more time spent doing what you want in the game, rather than what you feel you need to.
Some people argue that it gives an unfair advantage over those who choose not to buy currency. I'd argue that it levels the playing field. By far the most important factor in MMOs is time spent. People who can put 8+ hours a day into the game will always have an advantage over those who can only play more casually. Buying currency means having the resources to keep up with those who would otherwise vastly outpace me.
And to counter the "waste of money" argument: it's just entertainment. Most people are willing to pay for entertainment. Some go to movies, some go to bars, some play sports, some play MMOs. I didn't spend a lot of money on virtual currency - less than 3 months subscription costs to for the game in question - but it has certainly increased my enjoyment, and accelerated my progress, in that game.
The way I see it, better I spend it on this, something I enjoy (for now anyway) than spend it on fast-food and alcohol and get fat(ter) and stupid(er).
If I play another MMO and the price/benefit ratio seems similar, I will definitely do it again.
Not a Windows issue, per se, but the last few versions of Adobe's reader have given me nothing but hassle. Takes forever to load, hogs resources, holds up the system, causes Firefox to freeze, etc.
There's a much better (imho) free (as in beer) PDF reader available for Windows and Linux called Foxit Reader. It is far smaller and faster than the nasty, slow, bloatfest that Adobe offer.
IGN reopened their Dreamcast section at the end of May. Dunno exactly why they reopened it but it's nice to have some Dreamcast news to read, even if it is mostly "funny" retrospectives.
I agree though, the DC absolutely kicks the PS2's ass. The DC games catalogue is better than that of the PS2, imho.. and DC games look better. By all rights the DC should have dominated the PS2, but as everyone knows now the console was too much, too soon.
Nach0king (Ewan Macdonald, 1m milestone poster) will be on BBC News 24 at around 5.50pm GMT talking about Wikipedia. Switch over if you want to watch it (and are in the UK, or receive UK channels:)
I'm not sure if I could hear cheering from his room or not.;)
He was excited and pleased to have posted the millionth article, but it's only one of _many_ articles he's submitted, corrected or restored since becoming a Wikipedian. I think he'd be the first to admit that the millionth article, in itself, isn't that important. It is just a milestone symbolising the massive body of work that he and the other million or so Wikipedians have given and continue to give to the Internet community.
I'll show him this page when he gets up and maybe he'll register an account and post something.:)
Our net connection is up and down this morning thanks to NTL performing "network optimisation" otherwise I'd have posted sooner. When I saw the Slashdot warning on Nach0king's Wikipedia talk page I was pretty surprised.
Slashdot Mirror
Modelling human vision accurately, including its limitations and flaws, is probably important for _some_ real-world application somewhere. Just because we can't think of it now doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
;)
Perhaps it'll help <a href="http://www.kevinwarwick.com/ICyborg.htm">Kevin Warwick</a> in his quest for cybernetic enhancements. <DARPA>And I'm pretty sure there's a potential weapon in there somewhere.</DARPA>
In the strictest sense, wrapper != emulator. I believe the Glide wrappers just "translate" the various Glide API calls to their OpenGL (or D3D) equivalents. An actual low-level emulator, fully emulating 3DFX Voodoo Graphics hardware doesn't exist to my knowledge. However, several arcade games were made based on older 3DFX technology in the mid-late 90s. MAME includes emulation for several 3DFX boards that were used in those machines. I have no idea how accurate or how low-level MAME's 3DFX emulation is, but it is there. I have no idea how feasible full low-level software emulation of first-gen 3DFX hardware is. Maybe someone else can shed some light?
You must be new here.
You're absolutely wrong. Most British people are extremely aware they are being ripped off. Hence the term Rip-Off Britain. Trust me, we know and we're as mad about it as anyone.
As for us "not travelling outside our island", I'd like to see where you got that statistic, but I'm fairly certain that most Brits are at least as well-travelled and cosmopolitan as their counterparts throughout the world. I'm willing to be proved wrong.
P.S. You mentioned Spain, so if you are Spanish I concede that you've probably seen tourists representing the very worst that Britain has to offer. Please don't let that cloud your opinion of the vast majority of Brits who are fairly reasonable and intelligent. :)
Yep, looks like the poster didn't actually read the comments of the earlier post, where the general /. consensus was that it was a shitty self-serving article, full of corporate self-interest and lacking in technical merit.
From that article:
Did Peter Smith just happen to have the opinion of "most typical Web surfers" at hand? Looks to me like he is writing his own opinions as if they belong to some majority. The article contains several similar lame excuses and generalisations along the lines of "I didn't like this so neither should you.", and it undermines the few reasonable points he makes.
I think "most typical Web surfers" use some form of IE, and those who have chosen Firefox probably did so precisely so they could have more control over their browsing experience, which is exactly what addons like NoScript and AdBlock provide.
For me, that article served to flag computerworld.com and particularly writer Peter Smith as "not worth reading".
So don't "be sure to skip" those extensions, as some of them are amongst the best extensions available for Firefox.
Exactly. I played EvE for a few weeks when it first came out (so this is from imperfect memory), and after a while it occurred to me that it may be the most cynical MMO ever designed. The level of user interaction in the game seemed minimal at best. I didn't even need to play it to progress. That seemed wrong. Still does.
In the early game, as it was then, progression took time. No skill, just time. Someone I know called it "an offline grind" which I think sums it up perfectly. I felt like I was paying to passively watch numbers increase, so naturally I quit.
Maybe the game has completely changed in the 3+ years since I played it. I'm sure it has its appeal at the high-end. I didn't hang around to find out, and I don't regret that decision.
Yes. It's ridiculous, but not for the reason you seem to think.
It's ridiculous because you're comparing shoes, socks, underwear, pants, shirt, hat, food and clean air to a gun.
A child could spot the odd one out in that list, but since you're having difficulty I'll help you out.
How can you not see the difference there, except by choosing not to see it? In what universe is that logical? Because it's not in this one.
Seriously, if you're going to criticize an argument as ridiculous, you should have something better than that drivel to counter it.
Well, I think /. users are a fairly diverse group, and many of them are capable of seeing through straw man arguments. I can value greater freedoms when it comes to software, or the media, or personal privacy, but I can also remain in favour of gun control, because buying food and buying a gun are entirely different things.
As it turns out, freedom isn't all-or-nothing.
The implication being that committees make better decisions than individuals? Please, be serious!
I think the implication is that individuals are cheaper to persuade, easier to intimidate, or are simply suspect in the first place because they need not consult anyone else about their decisions or reach a consensus, no matter how evil or ill-advised their decisions may be.
I'm not saying that's the case here, I'm saying that's my understanding of the way the summary is phrased.
Of course, it also serves to mark her as a target for the ire of the OSS community. Microsoft collaborator! Boo! Hiss! etc.
Anyway, committees make decisions just as good or bad as an individual would in most cases, they just take much longer to do it. :P
You must have had great teachers. Mostly, my teachers (I am including my parents and others, i.e. Sunday School teachers in this definition) told me to shut up and learn so I could pass the exam. I don't remember being instructed by anyone to gain a greater understanding of the world beyond the narrow confines of their own subject of study, or system of beliefs. I think truly "smart" people will seek that out of their own volition.
If your understanding of the world is taken from a single source (Bible, etc) or at the very least, heavily influenced or constrained by that source, then what kind of reasoning and understanding can you really have while maintaining your faith? Encounter a scientific or even philosophical argument that contradicts your religious views and you're probably going to reject it, or at least accept it in a debased form to fit your own views. Is that a good way to develop a greater understanding?
Of course, part of ascribing to many religions is that a lot of your understanding of the world and your place in it has already been neatly and conveniently codified in book form (parchment, whatever) thousands of years ago, so you can just accept it and you don't have to think about the hard questions if you don't want to. I'm sure quite a few people fit into the "don't want to" category, even some "smart" ones.
But what do I know? I've been sitting on the fence overlooking both atheism and theism for years now. It looks far too crowded down there. :)
I got my DS-X about a month ago, so I don't know what "batch" it's from but I'd guess it's recent. Both before and after the firmware upgrade it has been fine. I've used it almost every day.
I did have one problem where the FAT managed to get corrupted. The problem seemed to be related to DSOrganise, since it was only after using DSO that the problem occurred. After formatting (and not installing DSO again, I don't use it anyway) it's been ok, although I do now backup the contents of the cart from time to time, just in case.
I do agree the DS-X is quite expensive for what it is.
...and monkeys with four asses.
Oh, it's a gay joke.. no.. no, I get it. Funny. Yeah.
Wait.. perhaps you actually don't know what "twink" means in terms of MMOs, and the homosexual slang is your only reference. That seems quite likely given your "Porn is free as far as I'm concerned" comment.
So, I searched for "everquest twink" in Google (a risky search, I grant you) and the first result defined it. I've seen it used in other MMOs, including WoW.
A Twink - is a secondary character for someone, often with premium equipment that the character would not be able to get on their own for considerable time. I have no idea where the slang of "twink" came from however - It's been around for years...I have no idea where the slang came from either. It may be a stupid term but it's used quite commonly in MMOs without particularly derogatory meaning.
This argument has been done so many times already, but I'm pretending to work, so I'll bite anyway. ;)
Almost all MMO games require a degree of grinding. When you start out you're very weak, with poor equipment. Playing the game "naturally" means spending an inordinate amount of time acquiring game currency or items just to feel like your character can compete. This task is actually often separate from the task of levelling up, at least if you want to make any significant amount of game currency.
Just a few weeks ago I bought a moderate amount of virtual currency to "twink" out a couple of new characters in a certain MMO. I'd never bought virtual currency before, mostly because I thought the currency cost too much. However, the MMO in question isn't exactly cutting-edge anymore, and its subscriber base is dwindling, so the cost of currency has dropped to a level I am comfortable with.
Buying game currency with real money means more time spent doing what you want in the game, rather than what you feel you need to.
Some people argue that it gives an unfair advantage over those who choose not to buy currency. I'd argue that it levels the playing field. By far the most important factor in MMOs is time spent. People who can put 8+ hours a day into the game will always have an advantage over those who can only play more casually. Buying currency means having the resources to keep up with those who would otherwise vastly outpace me.
And to counter the "waste of money" argument: it's just entertainment. Most people are willing to pay for entertainment. Some go to movies, some go to bars, some play sports, some play MMOs. I didn't spend a lot of money on virtual currency - less than 3 months subscription costs to for the game in question - but it has certainly increased my enjoyment, and accelerated my progress, in that game.
The way I see it, better I spend it on this, something I enjoy (for now anyway) than spend it on fast-food and alcohol and get fat(ter) and stupid(er).
If I play another MMO and the price/benefit ratio seems similar, I will definitely do it again.
Not a Windows issue, per se, but the last few versions of Adobe's reader have given me nothing but hassle. Takes forever to load, hogs resources, holds up the system, causes Firefox to freeze, etc.
There's a much better (imho) free (as in beer) PDF reader available for Windows and Linux called Foxit Reader. It is far smaller and faster than the nasty, slow, bloatfest that Adobe offer.
It's not (really) a word!
Sorry, scratch that. Apparently it's been becoming a word since 1912.
It still sucks. Stupid American English. ;)
Sorry. Grammar-nazi compulsion has taken hold... can't... resist...
"irregardless" isn't a word. Possible valid alternatives are "regardless" or "irrespective".
Again, sorry. Back under my rock I crawl.
There are still commercial games being produced for the Dreamcast - but only a couple, and only in Japan.
IGN reopened their Dreamcast section at the end of May. Dunno exactly why they reopened it but it's nice to have some Dreamcast news to read, even if it is mostly "funny" retrospectives.
I agree though, the DC absolutely kicks the PS2's ass. The DC games catalogue is better than that of the PS2, imho.. and DC games look better. By all rights the DC should have dominated the PS2, but as everyone knows now the console was too much, too soon.
Do you realise you lose geek points for linking the word "those" to Steve Jobs but the word "jobs" to OS/2? ;)
I recommend leaving the door unlocked for that extra adrenalin rush. If you're feeling especially kinky, leave it open and shout to passers-by.
Running from the police afterwards is also an excellent natural high.
Ballmer -> HURL!
Chair -> THUD!
Fly -> SPLAT!
Come on.. it's not that hard to understand!When It's Done (tm)
Nach0king (Ewan Macdonald, 1m milestone poster) will be on BBC News 24 at around 5.50pm GMT talking about Wikipedia. Switch over if you want to watch it (and are in the UK, or receive UK channels :)
I fully understood your attempt at humour. Perhaps there are some topics that Wikipedia simply can't teach.
...and I'm not sure he reads Slashdot often, but I'm his brother and I do. He sent me this when he first found out he'd got the millionth post:
m p_(news)#The_millionth_article
;)
:)
[23:11:08] Nachoking: [23:11] [[Jordanhill railway station]] - 23:09, 1 March 2006 Nach0king
[23:11:09] Nachoking: holy shit
[23:11:11] Nachoking: if that's true
[23:11:22] Nachoking: IT IS
[23:11:25] Nach0king: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pu
I'm not sure if I could hear cheering from his room or not.
He was excited and pleased to have posted the millionth article, but it's only one of _many_ articles he's submitted, corrected or restored since becoming a Wikipedian. I think he'd be the first to admit that the millionth article, in itself, isn't that important. It is just a milestone symbolising the massive body of work that he and the other million or so Wikipedians have given and continue to give to the Internet community.
I'll show him this page when he gets up and maybe he'll register an account and post something.
Our net connection is up and down this morning thanks to NTL performing "network optimisation" otherwise I'd have posted sooner. When I saw the Slashdot warning on Nach0king's Wikipedia talk page I was pretty surprised.