Evening Reading
by Steve Gibson, Sep 09, 2008 6:00pm PDTThat Ensemble Studios news
here in town sure was crazy to hear. Gossip sure does swing around Dallas quickly.
- Sweat power
- Puppy clone
fun
- Space program options dwindle
- Apple updated
stuff
As for the the videogame news around these parts:
- Stardock interview part 2, Demigod
- Red Alert 3 DRM more lenient
- Wii shortages will never end
- iPod touch beats DS and PSP
- Weekly PC sales charts
- Crysis PC specs released
- Fallout 3 global censorship
- Maxis Spore prototypes
- What is The Sims 3?
Lastly, it has been mentioned more than a few times to me over the years that despite
having some pretty solid growth around these parts we've lost a bit of that personal
voice. I'm going to be attempting to introduce that back to this here website. We're still
going to present information here as objectively as we can, but you just may start seeing
a little opinion box show up at the bottom of a few news items. The balance will of course
be not doing it too much to just be self indulgent, and staying away from the cute smart
ass stuff that just becomes quickly irritating. We have a few really well informed guys
around here and it's a shame that some of that analysis/opinion isnt out here on the front
page. How about we shake that up a little.
FileShack: Unity of Command, Skyjacker
Daily Filter: Planetside 2, Deadlight
Weekend PC digital deals: strategy-o-rama
38 Studios, Harry Potter Kinect - Shacknews Daily: May 25, 2012
Minecraft for Xbox 360 dev working on 'Adventure' update
I'll start off with some of my favorites:
Adium - excellent multi-IM client
Firefox (although Safari 3 and on is also quite a good browser)
Unison - robust Usenet client (although not free)
Transmission - excellent BitTorrent client
iTunes - people have their complaints, but I've never found a music organization and playback program I've liked better
Colloquy - IRC client
Miro - robust video organizer and playback (will play pretty much any video format)
Pixen - like MS Paint, but with more features
Logic Pro
Final Cut Studio
Evernote
I actually really like iCal, iPhoto, Pages and Keynote more than any alternative for those functions
Any other programs I'm missing?
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What are good radio stations out here? I like rock (new and classic), oldies, blues, classical, talk, some pop. Give me some suggestions and thanks in advance!
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I have this new PC! It's a P5Q pro, an E8500, a Sapphire 4870, 4gb OCZ RAM*. The case is an Antec Sonata 3, 500W. When I switch it on, it makes all the right noises, but nothing ever happens to the screens. The card has two DVI ports, but comes with a VGA adaptor, and using this I've tried it on 4 monitors (All LCD: 2xLG, both DVI and VGA, 1x Samsung, VGA only and 1x Apple Display, DVI only), all of which suggest that they detect when they've been plugged in, but never make any changes when the machine is turned on.
I've reseated everything, the only thing of note is that without a graphics card in at all, it beeps the "I have no graphics card" tune. The LEDs on the card show nothing, I've tried resetting the CMOS. Is there anything else to try before sending it back?
* Thanks, Toraz!
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I'm really close to an impulse buy -- classic games that everyone raves about, very cheap -- but I dunno, I never played them so I won't have any nostalgia working for me.
And I've never really gotten into any turn-based tactical stuff. But I do like turn-based (Civ IV) and tactical (Myth) so maybe I'm good to go? :-)
Sell me! Anyone?
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We're all going to die in less than an hour!
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Like some of you i am totally gay for the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Now i'm back on my pvp character after a 1 year break i have a simple dilemma:
- get S4 honor gear now
- save up to 75k honor and gear up at L80
I know arena points will be reset so i'm cashing those as much as i can.
Honor will most likely not be reset. But i am not sure about a possible cap for WolTK.
TBC capped vanilla WoW grinded honor to 25k. Do you expect the same to happen for the next expac?
Anyone got any blue posts or other interesting links on this matter?
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yay? nay?
typing seems fast-ish.. not sure what else is improved.
I really with Apple would revamp the mp3 playback UI on the iTouch/iPhone to use a virtual clickwheel on the screen, instead of those shitty slider bars.
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I'd buy it problems and all if I had a capable PC. Hopefully they'll polish it up a bit by the time I finally do get one.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-XbjFn3aqE&fmt=18
Adam Savage somehow manages to tell us not to seek out sulfur hexafluoride while teasing us. >:(
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Good lord.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26439957/ click on "Live video"
Not very exciting right now, they're focusing beam 1, but it might be interesting later on today. Also a warning, the audio is really low for me, I have to turn my volume all the way up to hear anything. I'm waiting for the scream.wav+ghost face.
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http://www.houseind.com/movie/
This is a pretty entertaining video of a 102 year old guy demonstrating how odd spelling is in the English language. Way more interesting than you may think. ;)
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It's still gathering data from my library to do the Genius thing. Let's hope it doesn't suck. I'm annoyed I can't remove the ITMS arrows. Fuck off, little arrows.
Also, WTF waiting until Friday for my 2.1 update. Goddamnit. Also, if it doesn't have push so I can finally have actual AIM on my phone I'm going to be really fucking annoyed.
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I played Brothers in Arms!
in reply....
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I have this 3 picture (2-4x10 1-8x10) trapeze style wall frame and not sure what to put in it. I need some clever ideas. Something thought provoking or just neatorific.
http://icomeinpeace.shackspace.com/PICS/trapframe.jpg
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http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1829648
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I was just watching the development diary video for The Sims 3, and they were talking about how they use some of their development team to make the animations in the game. It got me to thinking about how many game companies still use their development team for voiceovers and bits of writing.
I really believe that, in order for games to make that next leap - from incredibly advanced and interactive entertainment to a viable art form - developers need to work closely with actual writers to develop a story and dialogue that doesn't constantly make you remember that you're playing a game. What would happen if David Mamet signed on to a Rockstar title? I think a game could also be taken much more seriously if the team would hire good voice talent to deliver lines; and the writing has to be solid to get the talent (in the games industry, anyway). Rockstar and Bethesda have managed this to some small degree, but there's still a lot of progress to be made. Make animation more natural by hiring actors to move realistically. If you can believe a character's physicality, any given situation becomes truer.
All this could contribute to a beautiful symphony of emotion that art is capable of composing. In games, it's the little faults that always distract us from appreciating the environment, no?
What do you think, Shack?
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I remember when Rockband came out, people around here were out of their mind for it. Same with GH3. Same with GH2.
It seems like the shack hype has really died around these games. So how long until these things stop being crazy cash cows?
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http://sh.edushi.com/
this is crazy cool
from http://flowingdata.com/2008/09/10/see-the-world-through-simcitys-eyes-one-up-on-onionmap/
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So which server am I supposed to play on?
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nope.
up pops the TF2 defragger. damn. this game is crazy!
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http://www.boingboing.net/2008/09/09/add-cowbell-and-chri.html
Gotta have more cowbell! http://www.morecowbell.dj/
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