Combat, New Blogger And A Farewell...

A farewell to Windows that is. Which I removed now from my laptop (since I'm so pleased with Ubuntu).

Of course I still have Windows on my gaming-slash-desktop machine. Playing a bit of Flatout 2 lately. I tried to download the F.E.A.R. Combat installer (multiplayer component of F.E.A.R. which is now released for free). But after installing and trying to run it quit with a nice ugly error... so no Combat for me until I sort this out.

I've been reading about the new Blogger and their closed beta. Pity for me. Until today: I accidently logged in with my Google account name and password and *poof*: it gave me an option to migrate. I picked a new template to try some things (I actually like this one now). The new templating system is quite cool: it is really easy to arrange items and pick fonts and colors.

I see that there is now an option set labels too for a post (which is a fancy name for "tags") which means I don't have to use the Technorati ones anymore...

That was all folks... more later.

Thinkpad Stories (5 already): "Bluetooth and Nokia phones."

Story number 5 already.

Here is the background talk: now that I finally have bluetooth support (I never had an USB dongle) I could finally copy my pictures over from my Nokia phone (since I don't want to invest in an expensive non-standard USB cable).

I followed some advices from the forums and other Internet resources... here is how I did it.

Make sure the following packages are installed on your system:
sudo apt-get install gnome-bluetooth
sudo apt-get install obexserver
sudo apt-get install bluez-utils

Then load the following modules into the kernel (I could skip this step).
sudo modprobe l2cap
sudo modprobe rfcomm

Also, start your bluez-utils:
sudo /etc/init.d/bluez-utils start

Since I am using my Thinkpad, I active the integrated bluetooth device:
sudo su
echo enable > /proc/acpi/ibm/bluetooth

Activate bluetooth in your phone. Make sure it is visible to other devices.

Now do:
hcitool scan
You should see something like this:
Scanning ...
00:11:22:DD:EE:FF YOUR_PHONE_NAME
Copy the address to the clipboard, you'll use it later.

Now we edit a simple configuration file:
sudo gedit /etc/bluetooth/rfcomm.conf
And save this (use your own address, leave the channel to 10):
rfcomm0 {
device ADDRESS_OF_YOUR_PHONE;
channel 10;
comment "Your description";
}

You may wonder how we got this channel, you can find out by entering this command:
sdptool browse ADDRESS_OF_YOUR_PHONE

Somewhere in the output you find the following:
Service Name: OBEX File Transfer
Service RecHandle: 0x1000f
Service Class ID List:
"OBEX File Transfer" (0x1106)
Protocol Descriptor List:
"L2CAP" (0x0100)
"RFCOMM" (0x0003)
Channel: 10
"OBEX" (0x0008)
Language Base Attr List:
code_ISO639: 0x656e
encoding: 0x6a
base_offset: 0x100
Profile Descriptor List:
"OBEX File Transfer" (0x1106)
Version: 0x0100

See?

Now add the Nokia channel to communicate with the phone:
sudo sdptool add --channel=10 OPUSH

And bind it with rfcomm:
sudo rfcomm bind /dev/rfcomm0 ADDRESS_OF_YOUR_PHONE 10

You're all set up... now you can:

• Send a file from your phone:
  (1) Start the obexserver with
  (stores files in /tmp, you must enter this command after every file send):
  obexserver
  or (stays open, should store in your home dir, but didn't work with me):
  gnome-obex-server
  
  (2) Use your phone, select a picture or video file, then Options -> Send -> Via Bluetooth, it should find your PC.
• Send a file to your phone:
  (1) gnome-obex-send /path/to/file
  It should find your phone and prompt you.

Don't forget that you must use these commands every reboot again (or you could make a script):
sudo modprobe l2cap
sudo modprobe rfcomm
sudo /etc/init.d/bluez-utils (re)start (if necessary)
echo enable > /proc/acpi/ibm/bluetooth
sudo mknod /dev/rfcomm0 c 216 0
sdptool add --channel=10 OPUSH
sudo rfcomm bind /dev/rfcomm0 YOUR_PHONE_ADDRESS 10

When you're done, I find it neat the disable the integrated bluetooth device (let's conserve power) this is easy as pie:
echo disable > /proc/acpi/ibm/bluetooth
and you could also stop bluez-utils:
sudo /etc/init.d/bluez-utils stop
if you want.

This was one of my reasons why I kept a Windows partition. Now that I have figured out how to do this in Ubuntu, one partition has a greater change of being wiped and merged...

Happy bluetoothing ;).

Tags: Laptop, Thinkpad, IBM, Lenovo, Ubuntu, Bluetooth.

Realtime Monitoring With PHP

If you're a Digger, you'll probably know the Digg Labs: the site where you can track how users are digging stories. In realtime.

Most of you will know that Digg is programmed in PHP. The two Flash applications provided in Digg labs have to get their data from somewhere. I was wondering how to achieve a similar type of result within one of my own Intranet applications I am writing.

Of course, it would not be an exact copy, this is what I wanted to do:

• User tracking in realtime.
• Query execution tracking in realtime.
• Making an interface for administrators to see this, not using Flash.

So no digging stories, and no Flash. Because Flash is heavy and I am not a very experienced Flash programmer.

Of course, this functionality can be split up into three parts:

1. The main "server": the page or piece of software which tracks all the incoming messages, and sends them to all the monitoring users.
2. The monitor: the ones who view all the activity and receive messages from the server.
3. The sender: the page or function or class or whatever which sends the actual messages to the server. E.g.: "User 123 has logged in into the system."

How would I achieve this. One possible way would be using files. But that's a big no-no because yo have to implement file locking and all kinds of timestamp-magic to quickly retrieve the latest messages to make it realtime-ish.
Another way is using a database. Databases are fine for logging stuff but this would also not work because the amount of inserts and selects would quickly become too large (slowing down the user experience) and it would also be not really realtime.

Why would these two options not be realtime? Consider that all your visiting clients are putting messages into the database. These are given a timestamp. Now consider your monitoring application. You would have to retrieve all the latest messages every X seconds (only retrieving the ones you haven't retrieved before of course). So it would not be realtime, but "intervalled".
Of course: this can be a valid solution too, but I wanted something real-realtime.

So I decided I would be using a real client/server system. Using PHP's socket support.

The first script I wrote was the main server. This process would continue forever and handle all the incoming connections and commands. You can run this script in a browser on the server, but I advise running it from the command line (convert all the
's to \n for extra commandline-ness).

I downloaded some chat server script a while ago and edited that. You can find the complete source code here.

Then I wrote a small function for connecting, authenticating and sending messages. You could also write this as a class of course.
I used this function in every important event I wanted to log and monitor e.g. when loading a page I sent "User X has entered page {$_SERVER['PHP_SELF']}".

You can download that function here.

To finish of, you can download the monitoring script, using Javascript and output buffering, you can see all the messages in real time. The interface is very crude but provides a good starting point for more neat looks and ideas. You could even connect using telnet and see the messages there.

Now: start socketserver.php on your server, you'll see "Running" if everything is OK.
Then, include the function from socketsender.php and sprinkle it all over your scripts...
Then use socketmonitor.php to see stuff happening in realtime.

Tags: PHP, Monitoring, Programming, Sockets, Realtime.

Thinkpad Stories 4: "Render it dammit!"

i810... glxinfo | grep direct nothing. Not enabled because it has problems. (Something about 1.5.0 expected but 1.4.? found. I cannot remember it anymore but you will find users with similar problems on the forums).

Anyhow: I could not get it to work. It seemed fine however, but glgears proved otherwise: slow as hell.

I was giving up on it and decided to try and install AIGLX, so I followed the first steps on the forums: add this to /etc/apt/sources.list:

deb http://xgl.compiz.info/ dapper aiglx
deb http://xgl.compiz.info/ dapper main

then do an

sudo apt-get update

I was reading on what to do now when suddenly the "There are updates" notifier came up: I looked at it and it showed some ATI and Intel driver updates for my i910...

Why not? Install.

Then someone on the forums said doing an dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg could help. I did and followed all the steps (answering default, 1024x768 and 24bit, leaving everything else like it was). But pay extra attention when it asks you about kernel frame buffering (it is a yes or no question). It seems sometimes it works without it and sometimes with it. I went with what looked best and choose yes.
Then I restarted my x-server (ctrl-alt-backspace). Did a glxinfo | grep direct again and ("what the hell?") direct rendering is enabled. Glgears goes really fast now too ;).

All this without really installing AIGLX nor manual editing my xorg config. You should try it too.

Now I'm completely happy, ACPI works like it should too, with a nice icon in the taskbar and all.

I also installed SciTE (use apt-get) and Aptana as my favorite editors.

Be warned when you use Aptana in Ubuntu (see their docs). I wrote a script like this:
#!/bin/sh
export MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME=/usr/lib/mozilla
./aptana
And execute that when I want to start Aptana.

Simple stuff - I know, but as a Linux/Ubuntu noob (well, not a complete noob but fairly noobish) I am proud that I have accomplished all this. It looks and runs nice and fast now, playing music in the background, a nice theme, a nice login screen... I'm loving Ubuntu in general and looking at my Windows desktop on my other computer just looks... ugly...

I should still install Flash Player tho. But I'll probably wait until Player 8 (or was that 9 already?) finally gets released (hurry up guys).

Well there it is: my "switching" story. That's right, this will be the first time I actually will use Linux for a desktop pc for more than a few days... I'm looking forward to it.

Tags: Laptop, Thinkpad, IBM, Lenovo, Ubuntu.

Thinkpad Stories 3: "Now for some colours..."

Ubuntu's finished installing. It all looks nice.

I picked a nice wallpaper, set my workspaces to 8, and installed gnome-art (sudo apt-get install gnome-art). Picked some nice decorations (I like the Human theme but not that much) and sat back for a few seconds to admire my new desktop.

Then: I installed Automatix. Automatix had a reputation of being intrusive and all, but is very well maintained these days and I hadn't had the slightest problem. (Easyubuntu gave an error, and less options to install. Don't want to flame though: it's good too and my previous favorite.)

This took a while.

There were to other things I wanted to solve before being completely satisfied.

The first was WPA support since my home network uses that.
I found a lot of information on the forums, configure this and write that, but here is the most easy way to do it:

• Make sure wpa-supplier and gnome-network-tools are installed.
• sudo gedit /etc/network/interfaces. Uncomment everything except local loopback entries.
• Note: you can use commands like
  /wpa_supplicant -w -i eth1 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -D wext
  and write a configuration as following in /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf:
  network={
  ssid="TYPEHERE"
  scan_ssid=1
  proto=WPA
  key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
  pairwise=TKIP
  group=TKIP
  psk="TYPEHERE"
  }
  (It didn't work for me without the pairwise and group settings.)
  But you do not have to. Read on...
• sudo gedit /etc/default/wpasupplicant and just enter this:
  ENABLED=0
• Reboot probably (or re-init).
• I now see an eth0 icon in my Gnome taskbar. I also see an icon were I can choose from available wireless connections. I pick mine, enter my WPA password and set type to TKIP. I also have to enter a keyring password for gnome.
  Waiting... authenticating... assigning address... done! I disconnect my network cable.

See next post for my second problem.

Tags: Laptop, Thinkpad, IBM, Lenovo, Ubuntu.

Thinkpad Stories 2: "Partitioning woes."

It was getting late when I finally figured out how to properly boot. Now: it was time for the actual install...

Of course: I had to partition, but I wanted to keep Windows XP (on a smaller partition) and my Recovery partition. I was happy to see a resize option for my Windows XP drive, I picked it and try to execute.

Nothing happens...

Again? Nothing! Oh well, I had expected this. NTFS always gives me headaches in Linux (reading, writing, resizing, the works...).

So I want to boot back into Windows and try some resizing tool.

No operating system

Great, the partition is messed up. Ah well, back to Ubuntu installer and execute plan B, I partition my harddrive as following:

First - 40 GB, FAT32: Windows XP, no mount point, bootable.
Second - 50 GB, ext3: Ubuntu, mount point /, bootable.
Third - MAX GB (around 4 GB), swap.
Last - remaining size, my recovery partition: remains untouched.

Save and format / and swap. Exit installer, and press the ThinkVantage button.

Yes: the recovery partition still works. File recovery, back to factory settings ("oh no it is going to wipe my partitions"), keep nothing.

"Do you want to install on C:\ and format. Or do you want to format the whole hard driver?"

Yes! Only C:\ of course (the FAT32 partition I made in Ubuntu installer).

Okay: this takes a lot of time. Really a lot. The first steps go fast (I was happy) but after that it has to perform a truckload of post-installation installs (that bullshitware again). It's passed midnight...

Done: I wipe the crapware and go back to Ubuntu.

boot:

I type "server" and press enter. I'm tired and fetching all that stuff now over the Internet will take too long. It installs. Grub's being nice and detects both my Windows XP and Recovery partition.

I went to bed (2 am). And did a

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

this morning.

Tags: Laptop, Thinkpad, IBM, Lenovo, Ubuntu.

Thinkpad Stories 1: "So ya wanna boot Ubuntu?"

After quickly setting up Windows XP and removing all the unnecessary bullsh...soft-ware (who wants Symantec for God's sake?) it was time to think about booting the Ubuntu installer.

This would be a non-trivial task for me, because my CD/DVD-burner/reader has not arrived yet and I could not wait (who could), I would have to do a PXE or network-install.

Logically, you need a client (the PC you want to install Ubuntu on), and a server. In my case, the server would be my Windows XP x64 machine.

This Ubuntu Wiki entry gives a good starting point for setting up your server. But some things could be a bit clearer... let me drill down the steps:

1. Is your client able to do a PXE boot? My Thinkpad is (most of them are). (When showing the splash screen, press F12 to show a boot device list, pick the network PXE one.) So no floppies needed here.
   
2. On your server: create a folder like C:\cp or C:\ubuntu to store all the needed server stuff.
3. Download Tftpd32.exe and place it in the folder you just created.
4. The Wiki entry advices to download a netbootkit, but since I already had my Dapper ISOs, I did it myself: go to the Dapper CD you want to use (this actually doesn't matter, but I picked the alternate-install CD). (You don't need to burn it: WinRAR can open ISO images or you can mount them with DaemonTools.)
   Then go to the folder CD:\install\netboot\ubuntu-installer\i386\ (replace CD with your drive letter) and copy all the contents to FOLDER\netboot\ (replace FOLDER with the folder you created in step 2, and create the netboot folder). You may also use another location to put these files, but it's neat to put them in one spot under our working directory.
   Note: don't be stupid (as I first was). Do NOT copy CD:\install\netboot! Yes, there is a pxelinux.0 file in that folder, but it will not work (it is 0 bytes large), you must copy the files from the location above.
   Update: it seems you have to be extra careful. Apparently, you do not only have to copy the contents of CD:\install\netboot\ubuntu-installer\i386\, but also the directory itself CD:\install\netboot\ubuntu-installer\ (the directory itself, not the contents!) to FOLDER\netboot\. This is probably not the best method, but works...
5. That was easy, right? Now open Tftpd32.exe. Here is were it got a bit tricky...
   - Click the DHCP server tab. Yes we will configure this. I was wondering if this was necessary because my router-slash-firewall already has a DHCP server built in. The answer is: yes you have to do it!
   - Set up the following fields:
   
   • IP pool starting address: I picked 192.168.111.5. (My gateway is at 192.168.111.1.) Figure out what your gateway is, you can do that by running ipconfig from a Windows Command Line.
   • Size of pool: 5, more than large enough.
   • Boot file: in this example, I picked \netboot\pxelinux.0, but you could have placed it at another location.
   • WINS/DNS Server: your gateway, in my case: 192.168.111.1.
   • Default router: also your gateway.
   • Mask: probably 255.255.255.0.
   • Domain Name and Additional Option: leave all as is (blank).
   - Press Save to save.
   - Then press the Settings button. Make sure PXE Compatabilty, Translate Unix file names and Allow '\' As Virtual Root are enabled. Also, I had to enable Use Tftpd32 only on this interface: 192.168.111.2 because I have two network adapters (just to be safe).
   - Press OK.
6. Done, restart Tftpd32.exe if that is necessary (it warns you).
7. Now: I had to disable my second network adapter. I went to Network Connections, right clicked and choose disable. This might not be necessary but better be safe...
8. Tutorials say you have to disable your router's DHCP server. This might be true! I did not have to do it but I advice to do it anyway so the network boot will surely use your server for DHCP/PXE booting. I cannot explain this process here, as it differs from router to router and from firewall to firewall. Consult your manuals or Google if you need to.
9. You're all set: boot your client into network boot. If you're lucky and did everything correctly, it gets assigned a DHCP address (you will see this in the Tftpd32 event list on your server). Then Tftpd32 will sent a few files over (you will see the process bars) and Ubuntu will splash. Press enter to begin install.
10. Important: a few users have had problems on the Ubuntuforums with the following. After the Pick a mirror step Ubuntu will not be able to connect. Here's how to solve it: when you are in the first installer steps (before setting up network with autodetect!) you must close Tftpd32 on the serverside. You must also again enable your router's DHCP server. Then let Ubuntu discover the network settings. It will not get an address from your router and go out on the Internet: the mirrors will be resolved now, and you can continue installation.
    You don't need Tftpd32 anymore unless you want to start over. Just start Tftpd32 again and disable the router's DHCP server (again: I did not have to do this).
    I hope that solves some of my fellow Ubuntu-ers' problems...

Up next: partitioning woes.
Tags: Laptop, Thinkpad, IBM, Lenovo.

Welcome Thinkpad X60

Good news everyone: yesterday my Thinkpad X60 arrived. I toyed a little bit but had already decided I wanted to put Ubuntu on it.

I encountered some (small) problems on my way to my perfect Ubuntu setup, but I've been able to solve them. In the following posts I will tell you a little bit about my Thinkpad setup.

First things first: the security of this machine is very tight. I've set up a bios supervisor password coupled to the fingerprint reader. So nobody can boot the machine except me: I love it.

Be warned though: when you forget your supervisor password you are, in fact, doomed. Lenovo will have to replace your main board (quoting the documentation) and whatnot and it will cost you...

I'm also loving the IBM-logo. Now that the Thinkpad production is outsourced to Lenovo it won't be very long until the Lenovo logo starts showing up on the laptops themselves (which is already the case with the power adapters). I love IBM and their products so it's nice to have a "last-generation" machine.

Read on for more Thinkpad stories.

Tags: Laptop, Thinkpad, IBM, Lenovo.

Tests

A few days ago on Digg (and still a bit slow): http://www.likebetter.com/, a website where you click on pictures you like better (as the name suggests), and after a while, it will try to figure out your personality (click the brain icon).

Here's mine:

• You're a guy. Correct.
  
• You like to plan things in advance. I like to think so, but probably not in all cases. But I consider this one correct too.
  
• You are fine with fuzzy or incomplete facts. Certainly not.
  
• You're the kind of person who thinks first and acts later. Again: most of the time: indeed.
  
• You often employ emotion in your decision-making. What is "often"? I would say yes, but again: not always.
  
• You're a night person. Certainly correct...
  
• You study/work better with music playing in the background. Since I have DI.fm or some of my own MP3s running in the background all the time: correctomundo.
  
• You're not very religious. Correct. I have a certain interest in religion and spirituality but I do not believe it (in do believe in believing tho).
  
• Your desk is a complete mess right now. I try to avoid it, but at the moment: indeed.
  
• I bet you find it easy to empathize with other people. Sometimes.
  
• When it comes to politics, you're liberal. Since I do not live in America and we have a more diverse system than liberal vs. conservative here, I can not really answer this question. However, I consider myself more conservative so: incorrect.
  
• You're a teenager. Slightly incorrect (20).
  
• You communicate best one-on-one. Most of the time: correct, but I like speaking to groups too.
  
• You feel energized by meeting lots of new people. Correct.
  
• You are right-handed. Correct.
  

If you vote more you will get more results, you can also send the test to your friends and compare the results.

A user on Digg commented on the site and gave the following link: http://www.colorquiz.com/. Another site which tries to guess your personality. Without asking 200 questions like others do. You just pick colors. I was amazed at the results:

Your Existing Situation
Acts calmly, with the minimum of upset, in order to handle existing relationships. Likes to feel relaxed and at ease with his associates and those close to him.

Wow! Already correct.

Your Stress Sources
Suppresses his innate enthusiasm and imaginative nature, for fear that he might be carried away by it only to find himself pursuing some will-o'-the-wisp. Feels he has been misled and abused and has withdrawn to hold himself cautiously aloof from others. Keeps a careful and critical watch to see whether motives towards him are sincere--a watchfulness which easily develops into suspicion and distrust.

I don't like to admit it... but this thing is close again.

Your Restrained Characteristics
Feels that he cannot do much about his existing problems and difficulties and that he must make the best of things as they are. Able to achieve satisfaction through sexual activity.

That's me.

Trying to calm down and unwind after a period of over-agitation which has left him listless and devoid of energy. In need of peace and quiet; becomes irritable if this is denied him.

Amazing!

Your Desired Objective
Feels the situation is hopeless. Strongly resists things which he finds disagreeable. Tries to shield himself from anything which might irritate him or make him feel more depressed.

Not completely correct (I think). I don't feel any situation is hopeless (or do I?). I do resist disagreeable things.

Your Actual Problem
Disappointment and the fear that there is no point in formulating fresh goals have led to anxiety, emptiness, and an unadmitted self-contempt. His refusal to admit this leads to his adopting a headstrong and defiant attitude.

This might be true. I do have a headstrong attitude. But I don't (didn't) know that was the cause...

Your Actual Problem #2
His natural ability to examine everything with critical discrimination has been distorted into an attitude of harsh disapproval, which opposes and denigrates without regard to the real facts.

Ah this is certainly true again. I do love to examine everything. I my disapproval can be very harsh indeed. On the other hand: I think my approval can be very rewarding and caring...

Aah, these tests are a nice way to kill some time. It was certainly more correct and more fun than that Scientology test I took online: 300 boring questions with a crazy result: I'm an unstable depressed nervous aggressive irresponsible critical accord-lacking and withdrawn non-believer... Attention urgent, unacceptable state. Hehe...

More posts coming...

Tags: Tests, Quiz, Personality.

WGA From Hell

If you have installed the Windows Genuine Advantage validation checks and are regretting it now (for whatever reason), I have something for you.

We all know that there are a lot of cracked .dll's around. But you could have run into the following problem while trying to copy/overwrite the files: "Can not delete folder: It is being used by another person or program." or some message like that. Basically, it means that Windows won't let go of the file.

Booting into safe mode doesn't help, the problem is still there.

Luckily there are some "Unlocking"-tools which will resolve the problem.

I have downloaded a nice little package with a batch script which tries to automate the process. I have completed this with the newest .dll-files, and automatic unlocking. Just extract and run execute.cmd. Enjoy.

Note: there is nothing harmfull in this script, in fact: why not open it in Notepad and check it out for yourself.
Another note: I have tested this multiple times, but I will not held responsible for any damage done. Running this script is completely up to you. If it doesn't work, you can still unlock and copy-paste the files manually.

Tags: WGA, Tool, Hacking.

Devhook 0.45 Out

Read all about it here (watch out though, the site is getting Dugg).

Guide on how to do it can be found here. This is great news, Devhook is the reward we 1.50 users get for being patient such a long time. (A shame for the people who bought a 2.50+ PSP...)

Tags: PSP, Homebrew, Hacking, Devhook.

Headlines Of Today

Actually: make that yesterday (15th). It's late again.

I'm going to post a link dump below. If you follow the news a bit you will probably know all of these already. Still there might be some surprises.

I'm not trying to replace your favorite newssite nor your RSS reader by doing this, it's just something I would like to post a bit more from more on...

• IBM To Support Xen Virtualization Software For Suse 10 Linux (from Digg): just nice and interesting.
• Gnome 2.15.4 Release (various sources): I really like Gnome (next to xfce) so this is always good news. Can't wait for 2.16 though.
• Framework Performance: Rails, Django and Symfony (various sources). I'm experimenting with various frameworks so this is an interesting read. Although not very detailed in describing the process or configuration used.
• Google Spreadsheets getting charts (various sources): this would be ultracool/helpful. This stays an impressive application. People seem to forget that it is not easy to build such a webapp which works on various browsers and that it's free.
• (From Digg and Slashdot.) NTFS-3G writes and reads to NTFS partitions in Linux! Awesome news! (although it seems the driver can only successfully create around 10 files in each directory. Still: the fact that is doesn't corrupt your drive and that this is still a beta is something a lot of people have been waiting for.)
• How A Scanner Darkly (film) was done. Really interesting if you're into this or just like the movie. (You should definitely try watching some trailers and the movie itself once it's out. Also: watch the movie Waking Life.)
  

Tags: News, Headlines, Overview.

Game: Prey

So, Prey it is: the newest first person action game from 3D Realms (that's right, the same guys who'll hopefully deliver Duke Nukem Forever at some point in time).

As always, I'll keep it short since you probably know enough about this game already. As always: check out the Gamespot Review for a full quality in-depth review.

I've been playing this game for a few hours now, and after finishing a few levels it leaves me with mixed feelings... (So no Pro's and Con's this time, but slightly different: using "feelings".)

Feeling 1: "Wow, this runs smooth!" It runs smoother than Quake 4 and especially Doom 3, it looks better too in my opinion. Although everything still looks like it's made from plastic.

Feeling 2: "Oh there's a story?" But it's a FPS-one, so it tries to throw in some Cherokee-mysteries in the mix together with an alien invasion (woops, was that a spoiler?). So you'll probably end up ignoring the story and blasting stuff. Which doesn't have to be a bad thing.

Feeling 3: "Oooh, weapons!" And they're nice, they're just your basic rifle/sniper/bazooka/grenade/yadda yadda type of stuff, but instead of the basic "marine"-look they come with a nice "alien-technology"-outfit, since you steal them from fallen enemies.

Feeling 4: "Portals are wicked." They are, you might have seen the trailer/review where you can see a supercool-looking portal effect in action (you shrink and walk on a sphere, I'm not going to spoil more here, since you have to see that for yourself). Another thing worth mentioning is that the transition from area to area through the portal is unbelievably fast. I would like to know how these things were implemented technically.

Feeling 5: "Gravity is wicked, too." There are some gravity-based puzzles and traps. Also the walkways provide some interesting gameplay opportunities ("Am I walking on the ceiling?") and looks amazing. People who get sick fast: be warned, it looks real and there are people who do get sick from the views.

Feeling 6: "The main character uses other words to describe the above." Instead of "wicked" you hear "This is really fucked up!" from some weird voice actor. This is definitely 3D Realms here, all their game characters talk like they have been listening to Nukem too much, which is somewhat funny.

Feeling 7: "And now you shoot, again." This was my main problem with Quake 4 and Doom 3 too: since there is no real compelling story (like in Half Life), you get bored with shooting stuff quite easy. The game itself however is more than long enough for real action fans to enjoy thoroughly.

Well, that's about it. If you're a fan of good action shooters, you should consider picking up this game. If you must choose between Prey, Doom 3 and Quake 4, choose Prey. Throw F.E.A.R. in the list and the choose might get more difficult (depends if you like scary stuff or prefer shooting aliens or commandos). Finally: if you add Half Life 2 (Episode 1) to the list: my choose is quickly made...

Tags: Games, First Person Shooter, Review.

Sacrifice RAM Problem (Or: Fixing An Old Game)

Update: check out new post with updated instructions over here.

Recently I found back my copy of Sacrifice (Gamespot link). I really like this game because it reminds me of Jullian Gollop's Chaos. (Has anyone ever played this game on the Spectrum?) It's a bunch of wizards fighting it out.
The graphics are not that amazing anymore as they used to be.
But who cares about that if you get a great gameplay experience (running at 120fps)?

So I decided to install this game... on Windows XP... with more that 4Ghz processing power... and 4GB RAM... You could say this meets the minimum requirements.

Install went fine, I start the game and... I get an error thrown into my face. "Not enough Virtual Memory" or something like that (I should actually write the exact error message down so people googling for a fix will find the following solution).

After reading on various message boards I found that the best solution someone could come up with was: "completely disable all virtual memory". So I did, and now the game worked. But I did not want to sacrifice (pun intended if you will) my virtual memory. And thus I did not play the game for another week or so.

I was just about to uninstall it when a friend of mine tried to install another old game on a fairly new machine: Championship Manager 01-02, which also gave an "hey you do not have enough RAM"-error.

So back to the message boards, where I now found that people had been using an advanced compatibility tool from Microsoft. Which gave a lot more options than those you get when doing "Properties -> Compatibility". It's called QFixApp. And it lives in your Windows XP CD under \Support\Tools\act20.exe. After running it you had to follow the following steps:

Open QFixApp.


On Layers select ProfilesSetup.


On Fixes select GlobalMemoryStatusLie (check it).


Now from the browse button select cm0102.exe.


Click on Run.


Play the game.

And:

After you have checked the box click the advanced button and then click the create fix support button it will then ask if you want to install the fix click yes compatibilitye permanently implemented into a fixes database so cm will run every time, the compatability in the properties of an application are only basic the appwizard gives more detailed options.

This situation, of course, reminded me of my own Sacrifice-experience, so I tried to hunt down the program. ("Where's that damned XP CD!") Only to download it a few minutes later of eMule (just search for "QFixApp" or drop me an e-mail).

After setting up the options and checking "GlobalMemoryStatusLie" and "GlobalMemoryStatusTrim" too (!), Sacrifice worked and now runs like a dream.

There are a lot of other fixes too (who knew Microsoft had released such a helpful tool) so why not try it on some older programs which refuse to run on XP.

The "not enough RAM while I do have enough" is quite old. In fact, I remember trying to install Duke Nukem 3D Plutonium Pack on my new Pentium machine back in the day. (Which had, what: 133 Mhz and 32 MB RAM?) The installer threw a nice error out saying "You need at least XX or more memory!" while I had plenty... A pity that Internet wasn't that common in those days.

Tags: Games, Oldskool, Fix.

Back For More

Hello all.

It's been a while, so I'm sorry for not posting any updates recently. I've been buried with work lately, but now I'm off to a (well-deserved ?) vacation.

I've been watching some movies and playing some games, about which I will make some posts in the near future. Also, I've been checking out and learning various web frameworks, so expect some programming/development posts soon too.

So see you very soon...

Tags: Personal, Blog.

Game: Half Life 2 Episode 1

Well I purchased HL2 Episode 1 last night and finished it at 03 (that's am). Starting from around 11 pm. So yes you whiners: the game is quite short...

But - and that's a ‘but’ with a capital 'B' - the game was really enjoyable... And I'm still enjoying it now that I'm redoing it with the commentaries (I really love audio commentaries in movies and I'm really appreciating them in this game too).

The graphics are really nice... especially a few... what, years (?) after Half Life 2... I'm capable of running it at 1600x1200 with every detail on maximum: absolutely lovable with HDR too!

There are downsides too... I don't really like (watch out you spoilerwhiners, there might be one up ahead!) dark or citadel environments so... I did like it later on in City 17. And the end cinematic was way cool: can't wait for Episode 2.

Another positive point: better AI (especially Alyx is cool since you don't have to baby-sit her). There are also a few humorous parts in the game which you'll all like.

So yeah: a mixed feeling here, why did this game cost $ 20 instead of 15 bucks? We would all have been much happier. So put a little more story and length in Episode 2, or reduce the price just a little bit... but I still like you Valve :).

Should you pick this up? If you loved HL2 and have a few bucks to spare: certainly.

Technorati Tags: Games, Half Life, Review.

How Many Steps Should This Take?

Deleting a shortcut in Windows Vista Beta 2 (saw on Signal Vs Noise).

Count with me please...

Technorati Tags: Vista, funny, Image.

The Pirate Bay Raided!

It seems to spread all over the web... so I'm not going to cover the whole story here. If you do not yet know what is going on and want the bones of the tale, check out this article.

Awful news for 'us file sharers', but I suppose this state of affairs will not last forever: a few weeks, maybe a month and they'll be back. It will not be another Suprnova or - even worse - Lokitorrent. Or so I (and Diggnation too) hope.

Edit: their site now states: SITE DOWN - WILL BE UP AND FULLY FUNCTIONAL WITHIN A DAY OR TWO... Sa-weet.

Technorati Tags: News, TPB, Bittorrent.

Game: Hitman Blood Money

Woohoo another game up for review.

I've never actually played any other game from the series, but this one seemed really good so I had to pick it up and try it.

Story-wise I think the game is great. The atmosphere and locations are really cool. And the assignments you have to fullfill are really original too (GTA for grown-ups if you will).

Pros:

• Graphics are nice.
• Story is cool, nice movies and great objectives.
• Music is good but nothing special.

Cons:

• You might not like the genre: not enough action maybe?
• You might not like hitmen...

Technorati Tags: Games, Action, Stealth, Review.

Chop The Head Off

I've changed my header image... I like this one better. Of course, the image was stolen somewhere from the Internet (sorry Internet guy who made this). The title however was added by myself and my mad MSPaintzor skills.

Lots of fun.

Technorati Tags: Personal Blog Design.

Game: Rise Of Nations: Rise Of Legends

I finally got the chance to play a bit Rise Of Legends (ROL) this week. This game had a lot of expectations to it... but was it worth the wait? (This sounds real reviewy doesn't it?)

The answer is yes and no: first, the story... it's not a story that will draw you in from the very beginning. The music is supports the gameplay but does not feel epic or anything.

The graphics and atmosphere however: are great. The combination between fantasy and science fiction works nice in my opinion. The three races are all unique enough to offer an interesting perspective on the game.

If you have played the first RoN games, you will not really be surprised: gameplay and strategy have been polished up here and there, but can still provide amusing and fun game sessions.

To sum the lot up:

Pros:

• Great art design and graphics!
• Balanced and cool gameplay.
• Cool units and tech trees.
• Tactical map in the campaign is nice but not overdone.
• Multiplayer is nice.

Cons:

• Please give us a better soundtrack.
• You will need a fairly bad-ass machine to run it.
• It's not very different from the original or ground-breaking in general.

If you were not a fan of the original games or RTS games in general, you should not pick up this one. If you loved the first games or you like nice art consider it a good choice.

Technorati Tags: Games, RTS, Review.

Game: Heroes Of Might And Magic 5

I must admit that I never played any other game from the HHOMM series before. (Except maybe number two or three at a friends house for a few hours). But I have played another game from the same developer: Etherlords 2, which I liked quite a lot. (Well: I liked to duels.)

HHOMM 5 (notice the Copyright 2005 in the footer) looked like much more of the same, but in fact it is a nice game. Especially recommended if you're a fan of turn-based strategy, tactics and previous HHOMM games.

So again: a quick rundown:

Pros:

• Nice graphics (you need a fairly strong rig to run it).
• Nice gameplay.
• variety in the units.
• Strategic battles.
• Can be very difficult.
• Not your average RTS game.

Cons:

• Not your average RTS game.
• Can be very difficult.
• May get boring after a while.
• You might not like the genre.

P.S.: Remember GTA SA MP? It is not very good. Lags like a bitch. Check out the video's at MTA. Will be much better in my humble opinion.

Technorati Tags: Games, RTS, Review, Turn Based.

SA: MP Out

The first public official version of SA: MP (a multiplayer mod for GTA: San Andreas) has been released. Their website is being digged at the moment but you can download it from a mirror.

I'm going to post about this a little more later. When there are more servers online.

MTA, you have been beaten. How long before these guys release their deathmatch client... shouldn't be long now I recon.

Technorati Tags: Games, Multiplayer, GTA, Software.

VLC 0.8.5 Released

Just saw this on Digg: best media player just got an update.

Technorati Tags: Multimedia Player, Open Source, VLC.

Motherboard Woes

Recenty I added a second Opteron CPU and 2Gb more RAM to my Tyan Thunder motherboard, bringing the total to 4Gb.

Windows however, decided that it would only detect 2,75Gb. While booting, the BIOS nicely displayed 4Gb. What the...?

Booting with Linux live CD: same problem.

Searching a lot with Google: 'memory hole' setting in the 'hammer configuration'. A lot of people are having this problem and proposing various solutions.

What worked for me: (1) flash motherboard to latest version, finding a working Win98 boot disk was a real pain. (2) If your CPU has a stepping 'Cx' ('x' standing for any letter), put 'memory hole' option in BIOS on 'software', otherwise, put it on 'hardware'.

After booting Windows XP Professional: same problem. Trying with an Ubuntu 64 bit live CD... it works! (3) Installing Windows x64. Now it works in Windows too.

So main problem was a 32 bit OS. Bottom line: if you have a 64bit CPU, do not bother to install a 32 bit OS anymore (like I did), even if the emulation is perfect etcetera...

I hope my experience was useful to anyone (I had a much nicer post written out, but due to Internet Explorer popup blocker while spell-checking, I've lost it. Firefox' blocker is much better, it doesn't automatically reloads the page after allowing popups, but silently waits until you try again.)

P.S.: indeed, my Windows x64 came with pre-baked SP2... Damn. Patching TCP half-open connection limit, completely disabling security center. Stupid new Internet Explorer settings... I hate SP2.
I also had to but the 'MAC LAN Bridge' options to 'Enable' in the BIOS for the Windows drivers to detect my ethernet controllers. I had not to do this in Windows XP (32 bit).

Technorati Tags: Motherboard, Troubleshooting, Hardware, Howto.

Game: Dreamfall: The Longest Journey

I've finished Dreamfall yesterday (after a long-night-session). It was great.

I am not going to give any spoilers, but if you like science-fiction, fantasy, adventure games, or even movies (since you will feel you are playing a movie) you should pick up this game and play it until you see the (fantastic) ending.

The graphics are great too. Be warned though that you need a farely recent PC to be able to play it. Various users have reported graphical glitches. I haven't had any problems with it however (running in 1600x1200 in full AA and quality).

The music is amazing too. There might be a soundtrack out soon, but until then I've been ripping the 300Mb worth of MP3 music out of the PAK files (use Dragon Unpacker 5 with Hyperripper).

I have provided a mirror for Zoe's ringtone. (The last 4 hex values were added: the ringtone will loop and play correctly.)

If you want a full, better-written review, check out Greg Kasavin's article.

As you can notice, I've added a small video advertisement on the right, there even is a Spread Dreamfall website, you should help them sell 500 000 copies!

Pros:

• Amazing story, you will play this from beginning to end with awe.
• Beautiful setting and graphics. You will want to live in Casablanca of the future.
• Music is fantastic (some of it by the group Magnet). I've spend the whole afternoon extracting it from the game, and I will certainly buy the soundtrack.
• Finally: another good adventure game.

Cons:

• You may experience graphical glitches.
• You need a lot of space on your main partition (probable C:) if you're running Windows x64, this is a known bug and will probably be patched.
• It's not an action game, it may not be your thing.
• A tad short, alas.
• A lot of questions remain unanswered, so we will have to wait until the third (and probably final) part comes out... the waiting will be hard.

Technorati Tags: Games, Adventure, Review, Dreamfall.

Hello Again

Hello there. It's been a few (three, four?) weeks since my last post, sorry for not updating more but I've been quite busy lately. (More posts about those things later prolly...)

First of all, I've been enjoying my two weeks vacation. Or at least one week: I got sick in the first week forcing me to stay in bed and watch movies. (Which is not that bad.)

Speaking of movies, I've seen a few recently. I can recommend V For Vendetta if you haven't seen it yet. Lord Of War is nice but not that special. Ice Age 2 is still cute. I'm also expending my video-collecting with philosophical movies. I Heart Huckabees for example, was a really good movie. If you're in into lucid dreaming (which I am trying to learn): you might like Waking Life.

I've also been fiddling around with Imagemagick and other image manipulation problems in PHP, more about that later... Heck, I even experimented with Ruby On Rails.

Gameswise: I've played the San Andreas Multiplayer (SA:MP) betas, which were running surpisingly smoothly with 90 player at once. I've also played a little MTA: race again.
I also picked up Dreamfall 2 and I am really sorry I've just begun to play it. The story is incredibly cool (especially considering the lucid dreaming topic I became interested in, but no spoilers). The graphics really create a supporting atmosphere and look nice. This really may be called an adventure. Or even better: interactive movie (although that term has been used to describe games since what... 1995). It stands together with Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) on my list of favorite modern adventure games!
I will probably finish Dreamfall this weekend, I have to :p.

So there you have it: a quick update. I will post full reviews and news in the near future. But now: I'm off to bed (just had a long Dreamfall session)...

Night.

Technorati Tags: Personal, Update, various.

Dualscreen Glory

Becoming annoyed by the lack of real screen estate, I decided to add a second screen to my rig (still CRT though). This brings my total resolution up to 3200x1200, which is nice.

Configuring the thing however was a real pain. nView (that stupid bloatware you get with the nVidia drivers) decided to make Windows believe that I only have one monitor, which happens to have a fat-ass resolution of 3200x1200. So e.g. all my games decided it was time to kick those normal resolutions out of the door. Oblivion for example, did this by crashing when I wanted to play on 1280x1024 (my normal resolution).

A few click later, I was looking at this (bad quality, sorry). Nice view but both my eyes and especially my XFX 7800GTX card couldn't handle the load. I wanted to play on one screen while keeping an eye on my RSS feeds and mail on the other.

Solution: completely disabling nView. (Services, msconfig,...) And eureka: Windows recognizes my screens as two separate ones.

Why this long rant? I'm making a point here: driver vendors: stop including bloatware! Please.

Another example: people who have tried to install drivers on the otherwise very nice IBM^H^H^H Lenovo Thinkpad laptops will know what I mean: all those toys and tools completely cripple your machine. A taskbar with 20 unnecessary icons is just plain annoying...

But since everything is working now, I'm quite happy. I only wish I didn't have to spend the 15 minutes on it.

Technorati Tags: Technology, dualscreen.

OMG!!! Ponies!!!

It's the first of April and the Internet surely has noticed it.

A few of the greatest jokes today:

http://slashdot.org/articles/06/03/31/1644225.shtml: slashdot changes design for wider appeal. From now on, all article titles must contain "OMG", "!!!" and caps.
It went well until this article came along ;).

For the ones feeling lucky today: try out Google's new service (their blogpost), be sure to take the tour! Also, this is hilarious:

Profile Upload Rejected
[...]
...ha ha, wasn't that amusing and harmless and mostly in good taste and not
all psychologically damaging under various and sundry aspects of contemporary
tort law, please don't sue us; and/or
[...]

Priceless!

Maybe you're also interested in working at Google, learning about the technology behind it or trying a new kind of search. Have a beverage[1] while you're at it. And if you're using Google Earth: watch out for visitors from above.

By the way: if you're in the hacking scene, check out this new exploit for openSSH!

Wikipedia also has a comprehensive list about April 1st.

Of course, one can go on and on. Check out Matt Cutts' post about April Fools.

[1]: I would really like to have a sip from the Sero-Tonic-Water, it looks delicious!

P.S.: Yahoo just bought all the Web2.0 companies.

Technorati Tags: April Fools, jokes, teh funniez.

Game: Oblivion

I've been playing quite a lot of Oblivion the last few weeks. And I must say I'm quite pleased with it. There are some problems however, like crashes or graphical glitches, but overall the game is running smoothly.

I'm quickly finishing the main quest so I can explore all the other lands/cities/dungeons/... afterwards.

In short (very quick because I want to go back to the game):
Pros:

• Beautiful graphics! Really.
• Huge map. Some people are whining about the fact Morrowind was bigger, but in Morrowind you had to look at the same textureset for ages.
• Radiant AI: it's not fantastic like the marketers said, but it's good enough and offers some surprising situations from time to time.
• Story. I love the fact that there is a main quest (which you can ignore). It allows me to get to know the game a bit before exploring totally on my own. (I was completely lost in Oblivion).
• Having a horse is cool.
• Still a lot of classes and stats.

Cons:

• Physics are great, but you can't perfectly drop your items where you want them anymore.
• You need a fat-ass machine.
• Occasional bug from time to time.
• There could've been more enemies.
• I don't like the Oblivion-plane.
• I want dual-wielding classes...
• Xbox 360 lamers. The community is quite friendly, but the Xbox owners are a pain in the ass (most of them). It has to do a lot with the fact that most of them are under 12, and that they have to constantly lie to themselves about the fact that "their system is better and has no crashes". Well let me tell you something: a PC can be better, and in a few years most of the PC's will. We have a construction set (beat that). (Less important) we have cheats. And the Xbox crashes too. So there.*

Now: it's back to the game.

*: If any Xbox owner feels offended here. I'm sorry. I'm only targeting the whiners among you.

Technorati Tags: Games, Oblivion, review, RPG.

DeviantART leeching

A few days ago I talked about a Flickr background switcher and how it gave me an idea for a little script.

I present you: the DeviantART leech script. Able to quickly show (and store) the newest additions.

Why? You might ask. Well, I like Flickr very much, but for my wallpapers, I like the DeviantART 3D wallpapers more. However, it's an annoying work to check every week for cool backgrounds, click on every one of them, download them, etc... (having more than 30 tabs open in Firefox).

You can see the script in action here. It is set up to only show a few pictures. If you download the script, you can uncomment some lines in the img.php file, so it will store the pictures on your harddrive locally.

Warning: be advised that using this script puts quite the load on the DeviantART servers. I would strongly advise against setting the script up to download all 8000 1600x1200 wallpapers. If you do, I am of course not responsible at all.

Technorati Tags: DeviantART, script, php, wallpapers, programming.

CeBIT 2006

I've uploaded my pictures. There are more on my mobile phone, which I will have to upload some later time. (When I have a cradle or a Bluetooth receiver.)

Enjoy them. You're of course free to give out the link/photos, but I'd appreciate it if you mention my name/blog with them.

Technorati Tags: CeBIT 2006, software, photos, technology, travel.

Back Home

I'm back from CeBIT, Hannover! It was - like all the previous years - quite the experience. I've enjoyed it very much!

Sorry for not keeping you all updated but the hotel I was staying in didn't have an internet connection, so there.

I will place the photographs I've taken online soon enough. First I'm going to rest a little.

See you soon.

Technorati Tags: CeBIT 2006, software, technology, travel.

Game: Crashday

I've been playing a little bit of Crashday lately. Crashday is a racing game that will make you remember Destruction Derby. (Anyone still remember that game? I've played it for weeks when I was younger.) If you don't know that game: it will make you remember the much more recent game Flatout. If you don't know that game... well, then you're just not into racing games I suppose.

Crashday starts like any other racing game out there: create a profile, choose a car, start earning money and upgrade your car, then start over again. However, there are some very cool and aggresive updates (missile launcher) and play modes (pass the bomb, deathmatch) which will start pumping adrenaline once you see them in action. Crashday is not a racing simulation game, it is a racing action game, so if you expect ultra-realism, go choose another title.

The graphics however, are quite realistic, trees and cars are nicely modeled, the explosions are a joy to look at, and the tracks are well designed (the stunt tracks are supercool, but not many in number).

The gameplay itself however can become boring in career mode, I would advise everyone to download the completed save game from Gamecopyworld (search for Crashday: it's the Unbiasedgoats unlocker; and yes - it is safe) and just start playing quickies (stunt and deathmatch for the win).

And it really gets cool if you have friends! Actually, the only single reason why you should pick up this game is: multiplayer action. You get a huge kick out of blowing up your opponents while landing from a 300 m. jump (extra points for smashed headlights).

I could rant on and on but instead I'm just going to give a quick summary:

Pro (or: why buy):
- Cool gaming modes.
- Weapons!
- Nice looking graphics.
- Fun tracks.
- Multiplayer action.

Contra (or: why walk past it):
- You need a powerful rig to run it at full detail.
- Not a whole lot of tracks.
- You could consider getting Trackmania (also excellent, but no weapons) or Flatout (also stunning, but no deathmatch) instead.
- You have no friends.
- Career mode is boring.

Technorati Tags: games, software, racing.

Cool Flickr Tool

A perfect way to start a blog: write about some little handy tools, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. Previously featured on Digg and Slashdot, and now happily living in my taskbar: John's Background Switcher. Basically, it just replaces your desktop background every x hours. (Wait, there's more.)

This tool can operate in three modes:
(1) Select a set of pictures to rotate. (Yawn.)
(2) Select a whole folder.
(3) Now comes the cool part: use Flickr to randomly download a picture! (You can even specify a tag to search for!) If you don't like the picture returned, just double click the icon.

Really cool stuff! I've seen really nice and beautiful pictures already, a pity that you can't specify more options though (popularity, size, category). But oh well...

Actually, this little tool has made me think about a piece of code I could write. I will publish it shortly (a day or so - keeps the visitors coming back).

Technorati Tags: tools, software, freeware, cool.

Starting Off...

Again a new blog...

Indeed, I hope that I'll be able to update this one a bit more than my previous attempts.
'Why the strange title?', I hear you ask. Well, I don't know really. It just sounds special I guess, and it wasn't taken already.

I will start with a few silent simple postings, before replacing my old blog (Macuyiko's Mindcube), when this place is getting filled with content, I will post a notice on the old pages. So if you've found this blog already, you're in luck ;).

About the theme... It's dark, and it's black, I know. I think there are enough white-web2.0-"ooh, we're so ajaxy/CSS/XHTML/..." designs already. Besides, black will be in again, watch my words. (E.g.: using it as a background in a powerpoint presenation while using clear white Arial text is very classy.)

Ugh, what a rant, I really suck at writing introductions/first posts.

What Do You Do When It's Rainy?

Playing games of course! I've finished Quake 4 recently (which was done really fast, since I used cheats).

Before going insane and 'you ***ing loser'-like, please let me explain why I used cheats.

The game is boring... there, I've said it. Of course it's a nice game if you want to blast a few grunts real quick, but still I think that Quake 1 was much more entertaining (by the way: in Quake 1 all the doors could open, in Q4 most of them are "locked").

Of course the graphics are all bumpy and crispy and whatnot, fighting against 2 enemies at once which will vanish after two seconds was never so much fun. Not.

And thus I've spent the last two days on completing Call Of Duty 2, which was much more entertaining! The absence of a physics engine (and a health bar) is a good thing. I only have one remark though:
Direct X9: 1024 x 768 everything on high and running quite smooth (except D-Day was a bit jumpy).
Direct X7: 1600 x 1200 (!), also everything on high and running ultrasmooth, you don't see shadows on clothes and such, but I think DX7 still looks good enough, so I'm playing Singleplayer with 9, and multi with 7.

You know, graphics aren't everything, if you must choose between CoD 2, F.E.A.R. or Q4, take CoD 2, and if you haven't played the first one plus expansion, pick them up too, both are as chaotic and compelling as the second one. The first ones also have more stealthier missions and more indoor environments (which I don't like so much, so I prefer CoD 2).

One negative remark though: still no German/Japanese/Italian campaign, why not? It would give some interesting new stories and settings... Oh well, maybe for the expansion pack.

I've also been playing Civ 4 a little... I am still too dumb to fully understand it, but I quite like it.

[µ]

P.S.: again a game rant, I have to start talking about something else. Next time.

Autumn's Start

Woohoow! Autumn is in town, I really like this season (well, actually I like all seasons). I've given my blog a new theme (which I found somewhere on the internet, credits to the maker because I suck at making themes myself) to accompany this nice time of the year.

Going really fast to the holidays now (I like Christmas even more). Can't wait...

More updates later.

[µ]

Tempus Fugit

And I just can't find the time to make a post...

I've been busy with various things, starting university for example, which has been quite fun so far.

I've also been playing various games (what did you expect), Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy in the US), and Total Overdose.

I haven't found the time to play Dragonshard yet.

Fahrenheit is a wonderful cool game with the best action sequences I've seen in an adventure game! I don't play adventure games that much (especially not the recent ones, I've played Broken Sword 1 and 2 though), but Fahrenheit was really fun. A bit disappointed that it was so short and so rushed at the end, hopefully the possible sequel will improve on that part.

Total Overdose is a complete no-brainer action game, a mix of GTA and Max Payne. It takes the style of GTA and the slowmo and bullettime of Payne, multiply that with a lot of explosion and you've got Total Overdose.

It's fun for a while, now if only GTA had these kind of moves and explosions, it would be super!

Oh well, I forgot all the rest I wanted to tell, so that'll have to wait for later...

P.S.: having problems viewing the special characters, like the Mu (µ), refreshing this page should do the trick, it's a blogspot problem probably.

[µ]

First Point

We're back on track, well, sort of.

I've been revisiting some of my projects and have (finally) a new structure.

This blog, µacuyiko's Mindcube. An English blog about my life, thoughts, code, etc... Why "Mindcube"? A Mindcube is a cube in which you put your thoughts.

Mindpoint would have not enough dimensions, Mindline would be too linear, Mindsquare is already too often used. Mindcube is already used as well, so it's not my trademark.

Maybe I change it later to Mindhypercube or Mindwhatacubewouldbeiftherewerereallyelevendimensions.

I already have another blog, a Dutch one. It's not live yet and I will not post a link when it is.

I had plans for an online magazine, also Dutch, but that'll have to wait a bit.

All these (and other side-) projects are supervised by the Muzeron brand.
This blog is available at www.macuyiko.tk, the Muzeron main page at www.muzeron.tk.

This was a boring post. More interesting stuff coming later...

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Long Time, No See

First of all I want to apologize for not updating you for over a month. But I've been thinking about some things lately (both personal- as project-based), and this blog (and other Muzeron projects) will be reincarnated soon.

So stay tuned...

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MSN Versus Google, The War Is On

MSN Virtual Earth has gone live today.

It seems that this is basically a complete ripoff of Google Maps... Sigh. Oh well, what'd you expect? So, Google Maps or MSN VE, what'll it be?

Google has my support on this one, it's a company with a good policy which I can trust (although they did close my Adsense account for no reasons I could understand, I mean: can I help it that the same person keeps floodclicking my ads?).

Speaking of Google Earth, why not try Google Moon, or the Hybrid interface of Google Maps, which is rumored to use transparent .pngs, but since when can Internet Explorer render transparent png images?

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MSN Messenger

For all you people who are using MSN Messenger and wanting to try the latest (7.5) beta out: here is a nice list of mirrors.

Be sure to download the 0160 build, so you can apply the Messpatch, it's on Mess.be (browse around the site to find it, Mess does not permit hotlinking), so you can remove all the unwanted garbage.

And why does Microshit keep putting their shortcuts, homepage, toolbars, and other stupid stuff in their Messenger installer file, making it unnecessary large, and why does it enable all those 'helpful options' by default so I must uncheck those boxes every time I install. Grrrr.

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London

I've been following various news streams across the internet. Yesterday London was shook up by various explosions, and today, another terroristic attempt.

I find the people of London very brave, and they should definitely continue living their lives as normal as possible. I will not engage in a political discussion, but I find the 'zero-tolerance'/'shoot-to-kill' behavior the London police is using right now a good thing! Terroristic attempts like these and the people who organize them should be wiped out. Since 2001 countries around the globe live in fear of terrorists, and the terr'ists themselves are feeling proud because they're 'in the news again'.

Of course, there are people who say that 'they like the attention, so we should just ignore them'. I find this a very fatalistic view on the matter, if you ignore them, you also ignore their acts which cannot remain unpunished.

P.S.: I wish my English was better so I could phrase my thoughts better, but news like this makes me sad and angry. I have a feeling we're degrading into the Middle Ages again, so maybe we should use medieval ways of dealing with gangsters again, if it's the only way which gives results.

People of London, you have my sympathy!

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Monday Again

It's been a while since my last post.

I've been watching stuff, mainly. First The Hitchhikers' Guide To The Galaxy, which was quite nice. Of course it is extremely difficult to make a movie out of Adams' books without embarrassing yourself, but they sure have tried, and actually made quite a good movie out of it. Actually, I hope they make a sequel (they still have enough books left). And since I watched it, I've been feeling an uncontrollable urge to wear a towel...

Second: Invader Zim complete. Yes it's the famous, spread over-the-whole-internet-cartoon, something everyone who calls himself an internet geek should've watched. I've laughed a few times, especially with the amazing Gir, and Ms. Bitters who reminds me of an old teacher I once had.

In China they are currently struggling to find a new title for Hаrrу Роttеr аnd thе Hаlf-Вlооd Рrincе, since Half-Blood can't be translated to Chinese without breaking the meaning (half-blood equals half-human equals half-beast there), they may chose another title.

Update: officials probably found out. Link is broken, no free book for you. (Just open your P2P app for godsakes.)

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Nostalgia 2005

A few days ago I was digging in the gigantic archive of old floppy disks in the house, between which I found a really old game I used to play on my 386 when I was younger, and oh how fast did it run when we got that 486dx.

The game itself is a Boulderdash clone and is called Supaplex. Of course, I couldn't be bothered to install the game, since I do not have a 5¼ inch drive in my box anymore (who does?), and I do have Windows XP, which is extremely stubborn when it comes to playing old DOS games.

So I just queried the name on Google, and it came up with a lot of results. Of course, there are a lot of other and newer and better looking Boulderdash clones around, but the first result wasimmediatelyy on the spot: download it here, the game is still being maintained and updated so that even Windows XP users can play it.

An even better choice to download is Megaplex, which runs in a window, which plays sound! (Still no music though, which is not bad, because the music was terrible annoying ;).)

Controls are easy: arrow keys to move, press space with an arrow key to 'grab without moving' (try it), and hold space a long time to use a red disk (if you have any), which will explode, so get away quickly.

If you can't be bothered to do all that, you can go play a nice simple but challenging Planarity Flash Game.

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Memo List

Because I was bored and my memory is having problems remembering things lately, I've put together a list for me with all the games I should keep an eye on. Please only read this if you're interested in my gaming needs, otherwise just ignore ;).

• Call of Duty 2: it should be clear why, looks stunning and story will be immense again, too!
• Brothers in Arms 2: maybe...
• Bet on Soldier: again maybe, if I'm bored at the time of release.
• F.E.A.R.: graphics looks amaaaazing!
• Half Life 2 Aftermath: just one to have to complete the collection.
• Quake 4: grew up with Quake 1, so... (Actually, that's a lie, I grew up with Jill of the Jungle and later Duke Nukem. That's Duke Nukem 1, mind you.)
• Unreal Tournament 2007: woot, more killin'.
• Star Wars Battlefront 2: maybe.
• Commandos Strike Force: maybe.
• Hellgate London: this is a weird one, could be interesting.
• Prince of Persia 3: definitely!
• Battlestations Midway: could be fun.
• Star Wars Empire at War: must... Have... This! This is what Force commander should've been!
• Age of Empires 3: also really necessary.
• Paraworld: looks nice.
• Outfront 2: the sequel to the extremely hard Soldiers, which I loved!
• Fable: yes yes yes yes yes! A must-have in my opinion.
• The Elder Scrolls 4: yes, that's Oblivion, said 'nuff.
• Dungeon Siege 2: oh well, make it quick.
• X3 Reunion: I hope this one will be better, because I still love space games.
• Black and White 2: yup, also a must-have.
• Spore: now this is a weird game, I must definitely try this one out.

This nice long list really fills the page :p. Of course I could make this list go on and on and on and... you get the point.

So, I'm not bored anymore, see y'all.

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Project Gizmo

Project Gizmo is a new piece of software just like Skype. Add contact, make a profile, start talking.

I've used it for some time now, I must say it looks very clean and crisp, and is as easy to use as Skype (which seems to have updated it's website). The best of the two? I can't really say, Skype will become the MSN Messenger of VOIP: used by everyone, corporate, blah blah. Gizmo will then become the ICQ and others: trying to get a share and used by people who actually want and dare to try something new instead of following the horde.

So I leave them both installed. Now I just have to wait for my friends using any of the two, because the 'horde' I call my contacts are still using MSN Messenger...
It might take a few years before VOIP will become mainstream (especially in Belgium).
I wonder if there are other countries where people are already using lots of VOIP applications (apart from America and Japan and all those other high-tech countries).

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Whoops

Oh God! Custom badly written img tags messing up the template aaaaah!
It's fixed now.

Too bad I had to resize the Sloganizer banner... Oh well.

Since I was on a Microsoft-rant in my previous post, I'm currently downloading the latest Lonhorn built (checks) 5048. Just to look if it's any nicer (and runs better than the previous built in VMware).
I will keep you updated.

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Why Do I Have To Press Start To Shut Down My Computer?

Mess has a nice post somewhere about those 'What I'm Listening To'-messages you see in MSN Messenger, it seems that there are two other icons (apart from the headphones) too.

You can download a program which enables you to change your personal message and use these new icons (a game and office image). Since I'm too lazy too dig up the link from mess.be (which is anti-deeplink anyway), you can just download it (right click shave ass) from my EGEOFWS*.

What have those MSN Sandbox people done to start.com now? All you see is a random image, being
, or
, or
, and finally, in my opinion the best one:
.

Oh well, you can still see them imitatining Google Personal here and here and here.

*: Ever Growing Empire Of Free Web Space :p.

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Slogans

This is funny.

From sloganizer.net.

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Busy Days

Here's a quick and filled linkdump for y'all.

A dog named fish has a nice blog entry which shows how they built the Lego Star Destroyer in 10 hours, you can also download a cool stop motion video which shows the whole process in around 4 minutes.

Wired News has a nice article about a clinic which treats web addicts. Slashdot also had a nice mention to this article: Windows software is boring and uninspired. Really?

Also, check out this cool experimental flash gallery.

I also had a nice article about AI. But I lost the URL (think it was also a Wired one). Basically it was about a VR agent interacting with students. The 3D agent was programmed to mimic the students' behavior 4 seconds after the student. For example: when someone moves his head up, the agent would do the same in 4 seconds.
Only 8 students recognized the mimicry. And students found the mimicking agent much more enjoyable than the one who just behaved 'normally'.
This type of mimicry was a known fact in the psychology of humans, but now the proof has been given that also computers can use this, thus creating better AI agents, better AI salesmen, perhaps?

And to close this post: Science and Art working together.

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Daily Habbits

Whoops, forgot to mention that I actually passed for my exams...

In other news, SDP Multimedia is the best tool on Windows to save MMS streams, Alcohol 120% still remains the best tool for making ISO's, and Slashdot tells me that Science has put the 125 Science questions online, which is an interesting read.

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Back And Right Into Summer

Finally, exams have ended. I had a lot of things to do before finally starting normal life again: cleaning stuff in the house as well on the computer, install latest drivers, check all the webcomics I'd missed (, etc...

The I could start playing GTA: San Andreas. I've finished all the missions now, and I must say, the game is great! It gave me the same feeling as when I ended Vice City which was: 'I want more!'

First of all: the map is huge, there are a lot of areas to travel to and explore in. The graphics have improved too. However, the engine - which was also used in GTA 3 (Liberty City) and GTA: Vice City - has had its best days. I can't wait for the next GTA which will take place in London, 60ties, if we may believe the rumors.

There is also a GTA coming out for the PSP, which I will buy together with Lumines, Wipeout, and a PSP, of course, which will come out in Europe in September... (Firmware 1.50 is hacked by the way, search for Swaploit, or even better, KXploit.)

I have a lot of other things to do (installing Battlefield 2 for example), I will post more and detailed when I have more time.

So fuck this shit and love to y'all homies, cause this dog is gonna check out town...

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Counting Down

Muzeron states:

The Pirate Bay states: [...]

They're back, of course they are back. They had said before that their shutdown were only rumors. It was a nice joke to give them some spare time for preparing the launch of version 2 of their tracker and website (which is really unbelievable now). In about 10 languages (Dutch too), and more torrents than ever before. Means that we can download all the Linux distros again ;).

I'm going to test out the Hypercube tracker out soon too. There are a lot of other projects waiting too! A new site, finalizing my webradio thoughts, an online game, an online OS (name SnOS, more information about that later), and playing a lot of games.

The problem at the moment? Exams, I've already talked about them and in a few days they finally start. When I'm done with that it's off to university!

So I'll see you in a few weeks (no computer use during exams, it's for my own good)! I'll miss the internet and stuff, but coming back always gives a new, fresh feeling to the whole scene so...

Bye.

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I'm No Good At Inventing Titles

The Pirate Bay states:

Today the swedish anti-piracy organisations raided The Pirate Bay and
confiscated the computers running the tracker. This probably means the end
of The Pirate Bay and we, the crew, apologize for all loss of income caused
by our activity over the years.

Poor Piratebay, I thought they were immune to legal threats and stuff like that since they were hosted in Sweden. Seems even Sweden isn't as neutral as it seems.

Where will I find my Linux iso's now? It seems that the other trackers/sites/news sites haven't really noticed it yet.

Oh well, not much else to mention at the moment, here's a quick game.

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