Vole issues forth gaming hotfix

Vole issues forth gaming hotfix

So the take away from this would that if you are going to do Vista, do 64-bit Vista. Don't go mucking around with the 32-bit version--stay with XP for that.

I KNOW this doesn't solve the issue of 32-bit games still bumping their heads against the process address space limits, but the game dudes are going to start releasing in 64-bit as well.

More 'Best Of' sugestions

In the spirit of software plugging, I'll also mention a few of the best web sites I use for assorted stuff:

Geek shopping: -> ThinkGeek and Jinx General geek/nerd related gifts. Lot'sa fun.

Best deals: -> Woot! One deal a day (most of the time) and some doozies at that.

A/V Cables, Computer cables etc: -> MonoPrice Simply the cheapest source of cabling whether it be A/V or computer or whatever.

CellPhone related: -> CellPhoneShop Cheapest prices on cell phone acessories.

Blood is thicker than Water by ~jdstone on deviantART

Blood is thicker than Water by ~jdstone on deviantART

OK, for the gamer geeks only.

Annual (or whatever) software suggestions

I figured it is time to update my list of software that I can heartily recommend. In all cases (unless noted) I have no reservations about any of this software and regardless of what awards it (or competitors have won) I have found these to 'just work' and usually for cheap.

In no particular order:


Virtual CD/DVD: -> Daemon Tools
--pros: simply the best and most versatile CD/DVD emulator. Mount images from ANYTHING with ease. Also, free.
--cons: comes with a chunk of adware that can be removed after the fact (or a good antivirus will nuke this as it installs) and it will still run.

PDF Reader: -> Foxit Reader
--pros: this is what Adobe should be. Small, fast and free.
--coms: not damn many, there are some 'pro' features that you can pay for... I don't miss them.

Anti Virus: -> Avast!
--pros: lightweight, yet complete. Free for home use. Does ONLY what you want it to and VERY unobtrusively.
--cons: You have to re-register every so often, but this is free and only takes a minute. I suppose this qualifies as a sort (very slow, infrequent sort) of nagware.

Network utilities: -> Network Magic
--pros: this is an outstanding program. It absolutely simplifies and centralizes all of your network 'stuff'. File and printer sharing, administration, security... everything. This does a lot of what professional network management packages (say from Cisco) do, for a very. very tiny fraction of the cost. "You don't need this" you say? "My network is small" you say? Pffft! Check out the online demo. YOU NEED THIS if you have a network of two or more PCs. It. Is. Cheap.
--cons: not every router is supported (mine happens not to be) however even without being able to remotely manage the router, it does 90% of everything it CAN do.

Web Browser: -> Firefox
--duh.

Bit Torrent client: -> uTorrent
--pros: small, fast, cheap (free)
--cons: not many, but the UI is simplistic--which may be good--and there are the occasional hiccups. Nothing a restart of the program doesn't fix and these are rare.

P2P other: -> Peer Guardian
--pros: simple and effective way to shield your PC from the exposure that a torrent (or any other) open port client causes. Free.
--cons: you REALLY got to remember that it is running. Otherwise life will be sad when connections DO NOT HAPPEN.

Usenet reader: -> Newsbin Pro
--pros: best damn client. Fast, easy and cheap. Too much in the way of features to really go into, but there is a lot.
--cons: not free, but still not outrageous.

Video Conversion: -> ConvertXtoDVD
--pros: fast and lightweight. Cheap. Convert ANYTHING to DVD in a very few clicks, yet still retain the ability to highly customize the output if you want.
--cons: not free, but darn near.

Archiver: -> 7 Zip
--pros: hands down one of the ligtest and fastest archivers. Supports every dang format. Free.
--cons: There are a few annoyances in the UI, but the most recent beta seems to have addressed most of these.

[edit: Almost forgot]

Screen sharing/virtual KVM: -> Synergy
--pros: lets you share a single keyboard and mouse across multiple computers. It allows cut and paste and can be used to simulate dual (or tripple, whatever) headed monitors. Free.
--cons: The setup is a little arcane, but experimentation allows you to quickly sort it out.

Cell phone/Bluetooth Sync: -> Floats Mobile Agent
--pros: professional looking, easy to use, free (did I mention free?) syncs everything. Really, really, cool.
--cons: only works currently with a limited selection of bluetooth enabled phones (but if you have a Sony Erricson you are in luck or one of the other few) you are in luck.

Gross: Cutting Interest Rates Won't Stop the Bleeding - Newsweek Daniel Gross - MSNBC.com

Gross: Cutting Interest Rates Won't Stop the Bleeding - Newsweek Daniel Gross - MSNBC.com: "finance types should know that cheap money, endless leverage, and credit on demand aren’t the cure for a hangover caused by too much cheap money, leverage, and credit on demand."

Shoot, and all this time I was lead to believe that they were 'creating wealth'. Sounds like they are creating something a lot more common (and less in demand) now...fertilizer.

Gomadic's QuadCharge Universal Charging Station

Gomadic's QuadCharge Universal Charging Station

Sweet, my kitchen counter has an assortment of charger cables strewn across it. Mostly for phones (3 people, three totally different phones) and bluetooh headsets.

Phonak Invisity - world’s first in-ear RF receiver - The Red Ferret Journal

Phonak Invisity - world’s first in-ear RF receiver - The Red Ferret Journal

James Bond, eat your heart out.

Use a 360 controller to play games on your modded PSP - Engadget

Use a 360 controller to play games on your modded PSP - Engadget

One console to rule them all

One console to rule them all

DX9 and DX10 performance compared

DX9 and DX10 performance compared:

"So, it seems, there is some difference to crow about - although it is our suspicion that, given the time and inclination, most of the flasher DX10 features could be retro-fitted without much hassle, and the differences are more a product of time and money than capability.

...

The conclusion is that not only do ATI and Nvidia share identical image quality (certainly something to be pleased about) but also that 512MB is swiftly becoming the new minimum spec for cards when talking about DX10 compatibility at any resolution above 1280x1024. All those effects need them some memory space, we suspect."

Intel's answer to AMD Hypertransport will even up the odds

Intel's answer to AMD Hypertransport will even up the odds

Game | Life - Wired Blogs

Game | Life - Wired Blogs: "Return your busted Daddy to 2K, and they will gladly replace it with a new one, throwing in a printed copy of the Breaking the Mold art book for your troubles. Heck, they'll even pay the shipping."

A fine example of real customer service. Doing a little extra to win you bonus points, which in turn leads to bonus sales and dollars, etc.

Doctor Who to meet self in Children in Need special | The Register

Doctor Who to meet self in Children in Need special | The Register: "Peter Davison, who occupied the Tardis from 1982-4 as Doc number five, will appear in the Stephen Moffat-penned episode on 16 November."

Confederate's Renovatio – the handmade American streetbike goes modular - gizmag Image Gallery

Confederate's Renovatio – the handmade American streetbike goes modular - gizmag Image Gallery

Games Radar - XBOX 360 news - Xbox 360 - Unless you read our countdown, this year's best underdogs are doomed to die

Games Radar - XBOX 360 news - Xbox 360 - Unless you read our countdown, this year's best underdogs are doomed to die: "According to publicists, the year 2007 shall bear witness to the 'greatest holiday lineup in videogame history.' Wow. Don't you feel lucky just to be alive? For once, however, the hype machine may be right. This fall is unusually stuffed with almost guaranteed gaming goodness. Microsoft's got Mass Effect, BioShock, Blue Dragon, PGR4 and the unstoppable beast called Halo 3. Nintendo is unleashing three of its most legendary franchises - Mario, Metroid and Smash Bros. - in a row. Even late bloomer Sony has people excited with exclusives like Heavenly Sword and the new Ratchet & Clank. And that's just the first party stuff."

The PC Bioshock demo is here, and boy is it delicious

The PC Bioshock demo is here, and boy is it delicious

The PC Bioshock demo is here, and boy is it delicious

The PC Bioshock demo is here, and boy is it delicious

SynCh Universal Sync Charger for cellphones, iPods, Treos, BlackBerrys, headsets, USB and more

SynCh Universal Sync Charger for cellphones, iPods, Treos, BlackBerrys, headsets, USB and more

An all-in-one unit. Nice.

Why AMD 65 nanometre parts clock low

Why AMD 65 nanometre parts clock low: "The answer is quite simple, but the background to understanding that simple answer is a long and convoluted story."

I did often wonder this myself, it seemed that AMD was slow out of the gate... maybe not.

157mpg Loremo enters Automotive X PRIZE - gizmag Article

157mpg Loremo enters Automotive X PRIZE - gizmag Article

Want. One.

Core77 / design magazine + resource / home

Court acquits allofmp3.com site owner - CNN.com

Court acquits allofmp3.com site owner - CNN.com: "At the beginning of the year global credit card companies stopped allowing customers to pay allofmp3.com for music downloads and by July the Web site had quietly closed down. Kvasov always said he was within the law because the site paid part of its income to ROMS, a Russian organisation which collects and distributes fees for copyright holders. The judge agreed with his defence."

Doctor Who signs up thinking man's crumpet | The Register

Doctor Who signs up thinking man's crumpet | The Register

Damn, more goodness awaits. Come on, April!

Hooked on Heat » Food & Stories from a spice-obsessed writer…

Hooked on Heat » Food & Stories from a spice-obsessed writer…

Very nice food blog. If you are into spicy food (and if not, you should be).

OLE pill bug robot concept could fight forest fires - Engadget

OLE pill bug robot concept could fight forest fires - Engadget: "Were the 'OLE' a real robot, it would be able to scuttle around the forest floor at speeds of around 6 to 12 MPH, using infrared and 'biosensors' to detect fire sources. If it gets into trouble, it can curl up just like a real pill bug and be fully protected thanks to a ceramic-fibre compound shell that can withstand temperature of 1,300 Degrees Centigrade."

Robots Rule.

Mind Hacks: Excellent BBC Brain Story series available online

Mind Hacks: Excellent BBC Brain Story series available online

ThinkGeek :: I void warranties :: Zoom!

ThinkGeek :: I void warranties :: Zoom!

Ooooh, yea. That's me :)

Stranglehold set to strangle PCs

Stranglehold set to strangle PCs: "Sure, it will run on Windows XP, thus avoiding an upgrade to Vista. And, yes, 15GB is a lot of disk space to use, but you do get some John Woo-directed video clips.

But here's the big one. 2GB of RAM is the bare minimum. A dual core CPU is a bare minimum. A GeForce 7800 is the bare minimum. Ouch."

This may actually be a good thing if it pushes gamers to buy some decent hardware. Nothing so far has required dual-core.

Great Hackers

Great Hackers: "I've found that people who are great at something are not so much convinced of their own greatness as mystified at why everyone else seems so incompetent."

Revolution Systems Blog: A Guide to Hiring Programmers: The High Cost of Low Quality

Revolution Systems Blog: A Guide to Hiring Programmers: The High Cost of Low Quality: "Companies need to stop thinking about their developers as cogs in the machine. They are more akin to artists, authors, designers, architects, scientists, or CEOs. Would your HR department rush to find the first person who would willing to take on the role of Chief Scientist, Art Director, or CEO in your company? Of course not, they would spend the time to do a through talent search for just the right candidate, court them, and then compensate them appropriately. They realize that having the wrong person in that seat is much worse than having the seat empty. It is absolutely the same with programming.

Anyonewho has been a developer or managed developers can tell you that an expert can accomplish as much as 10 average developers. However, companies typically pay only a 10-20% premium for an expert over the average programmer. "

+23 Uber Insightful

A guide to recognizing your gamers - chapter 1 :: DESTRUCTOID :: Hardcore video game blog

A guide to recognizing your gamers - chapter 1 :: DESTRUCTOID :: Hardcore video game blog

Single core still rules the gaming world

Single core still rules the gaming world: "Overall, very interesting results, that only speaks of reality of gamers out there. There is big number of users that own mainstream hardware with above-standard Internet connection, and it remains to be seen what publisher on Steam will be the cause to grow the adoption of DirectX 10 API. For now, DX9 is in charge"

Is this really a surprise? For the crowd that Steam caters to, I'd expect them to be hardcore gamers (or wannabes). The broadband part is a 'duh' for online gamers and the hardware no great shock. Most main stream games are still not showing impressive differences with multi-core systems as yet, so the urge to upgrade them is simply not there. Given the ugly performance Vista has show (so far) on games, DX10 not being a big factor also comes as no surprise.

In time all of this will change, Vista will fix the game performance problems and games will start to leverage multi-core heavily. It just hasn't happened yet.

Newegg.com - ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

Newegg.com - ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

This combo'ed with an AMD 64 x2 600)+. 2 GB of 800 mhz ddr2 and an FX8600 board will be the core of John's new game system. Why not pop for the 8800? 'Cuz I'll pop for another 8600 in a few months and SLI the buzzards, that is exactly why.

So far, so good. Had some birth defective parts in the initial shipment, but Newegg (as always) made it right.

The single-core 64 bit Athlon and Gigabyte MB coming out of the existing system will go to power the newest MAME cabinet. More on that later...

Rage rages against the DX10

Rage rages against the DX10: "The biggest news was the announcement of Id's new game, titled Rage. It runs on the Tech 5 engine that was saw demonstrated by Steve Jobs at MacWorld, and it looks awesome. It's what's known in the industry as 'original IP', i.e. isn't an existing franchise, has new characters etc. It's being released across PC, Mac, X360 and PS3 but there is, obviously, no date yet."

Cool, About time someone came out with a new franchise.... and why no Id?

High-tech motorcycle training system puts learner skills under the microscope - gizmag Article

High-tech motorcycle training system puts learner skills under the microscope - gizmag Article

E-Dragsters Go for Gas-Powered Records - washingtonpost.com

E-Dragsters Go for Gas-Powered Records - washingtonpost.com

8.2 in the quarter mile? Sweet.