Thursday, August 18, 2011
Cardinal Quest released
Finally got around to playing Cardinal Quest today. Far too easy but perhaps years of playing nethack and Halls of the Things has hardened me. Looks like the author is interested in developing it further though and adjusting the gameplay accordingly.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Visual6502 in this month's "Archaeology"
Nice to see the Visual6502 team getting some peer recognition for the work they're doing.
This is a great project not just for 6502 fans but for everyone who would like to see the history of microprocessors recorded down to the level of what was made and how, not just who made what and who owns what patents.
This is a great project not just for 6502 fans but for everyone who would like to see the history of microprocessors recorded down to the level of what was made and how, not just who made what and who owns what patents.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Can Internet access seriously be considered a human right?
I've read a lot over the last year or so about whether access to the Internet should be considered a human right and while I think some of the discussion is motivated by good intentions it shows just how out of touch a lot of the current technophiles are with the real world. Now the UN is weighing in and I just have to call BS on the whole thing. There are a lot more important things than Internet access: Food, clean water, shelter, sanitation, health care, freedom of speech, freedom of association, the list goes on and it's a long time before the Internet comes up.
How come the Internet is so important to the world? Surely it's more important that people have a roof over their head and the means to feed themselves and their family. If the UN wants to make a big hoo-ha over the Internet, should we now assume that we are entitled to be housed, clothed, fed and cared for by the state as a fundamental human right? Does this mean that banks are abusing mortgate defaulters by evicting them? Would a company be be denying someone their human right to make a living by firing them?
I mean, I can understand that people who are being oppressed find the Internet useful to communicate their oppression to the outside world but seriously, if they had a right to freedom of expression a lot more good would come of it than just touching the bleeding hearts of the disaffected westerner who wants to make it their cause of the month.
How come the Internet is so important to the world? Surely it's more important that people have a roof over their head and the means to feed themselves and their family. If the UN wants to make a big hoo-ha over the Internet, should we now assume that we are entitled to be housed, clothed, fed and cared for by the state as a fundamental human right? Does this mean that banks are abusing mortgate defaulters by evicting them? Would a company be be denying someone their human right to make a living by firing them?
I mean, I can understand that people who are being oppressed find the Internet useful to communicate their oppression to the outside world but seriously, if they had a right to freedom of expression a lot more good would come of it than just touching the bleeding hearts of the disaffected westerner who wants to make it their cause of the month.
Monday, June 6, 2011
The ongoing saga of Microsoft vs Samba
At least we have another milestone on the road towards interoperability. How long until we get a definitive judgement on this and force Microsoft to play by the rules and pay up?
This really needs to be sorted out soon so that we can all settle down and use the solutions that work best for our own situations and get some proper work done. Personally I wonder if the problem now is going to be that nobody in Microsoft really knows how SMB works and the Samba team will probably have to educate them. If you look at how resource sharing is managed in Windows 7 you really have to wonder if the Windows development team (if that's an accurate way to describe them, I don't think there's much in the way of teamwork in MS) are living on the same planet as the rest of us.
This really needs to be sorted out soon so that we can all settle down and use the solutions that work best for our own situations and get some proper work done. Personally I wonder if the problem now is going to be that nobody in Microsoft really knows how SMB works and the Samba team will probably have to educate them. If you look at how resource sharing is managed in Windows 7 you really have to wonder if the Windows development team (if that's an accurate way to describe them, I don't think there's much in the way of teamwork in MS) are living on the same planet as the rest of us.
When am I going to find a new laptop that suits me?
It's not that difficult really. All I want is:
I don't think that's too much too ask for, but with the current trend for shiny screens, dinky keyboards and netbook/tablet-style form factors I think I might have to go second-hand which is pretty sad. I think the truth is that my ideal laptop is out there and it's about 3 years old.
- A decent keyboard which doesn't require contortions to reach the delete, backslash or cursor keys.
- A decent resolution screen (1600 x 1200 or 1920 x 1200) in something like a 14" or 15" form factor.
- A screen which is actually designed for presenting infromation, not doubling up as a mirror or fingerprint & dust magnet.
- Reasonably lightweight.
- WiFi and Ethernet drivers that don't chew up the CPU.
- Reasonably well-supported graphics drivers so that I don't end up finding that programs fall back to software rendering half the time, especially in web video.
I don't think that's too much too ask for, but with the current trend for shiny screens, dinky keyboards and netbook/tablet-style form factors I think I might have to go second-hand which is pretty sad. I think the truth is that my ideal laptop is out there and it's about 3 years old.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Sont, you're really scraping the bottom of the barrel now!
Apparently the lack of security on Sony's network was all due to "Anonymous" distracting Sony's crack team of network operatives from keeping the riff-raff out. If that's the best they can do as an excuse for yet another lapse of judgement it pretty much marks a major milestone on the decline of this company.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
UK PM unfit for purpose
Given his recent comments about the whole AV referendum he's either completely ignorant about it, suggesting he's not competent enough to be PM, or he's being blatantly dishonest about it, going so fat as to drag the BNP into it which is enough to make him unsuitable for the position. If the BNP get more votes through the new system, then that woule be a fair reflection on how the public voted and this is what he should have issue with, not the method of counting the votes which reveal this tendency (if indeed one was to be revealed at all).
Friday, April 15, 2011
Google has defended recent changes to its search system that reduced the prominence of some popular websites.
Microsoft whinging again. I'm just glad Google went ahead with this change because I was on the verge of giving up using it due to the amount of crap coming from the likes of Ciao. These kinds of sites should quite rightly be pushed to the background as they offer virtually no useful information about any of the searches that brought them up.
These content farms are the worst kind of sites on the internet. They offer nothing new, no unique content and all they are are holding pens for other advertisers. Good riddance to them!
Microsoft whinging again. I'm just glad Google went ahead with this change because I was on the verge of giving up using it due to the amount of crap coming from the likes of Ciao. These kinds of sites should quite rightly be pushed to the background as they offer virtually no useful information about any of the searches that brought them up.
These content farms are the worst kind of sites on the internet. They offer nothing new, no unique content and all they are are holding pens for other advertisers. Good riddance to them!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Meta M357 alarm removal
Well, that's it. I submitted a query to Meta via their web form last week and didn't get a response so I've removed the alarm from the bike. It was a lot easier than I though. Apart from the ignition and ground wires, everything else was just spliced onto existing wires, like the indicators, etc. All I had to do was to snip off everything and tape over the wire end and then rejoin the ground and ignition wires back at the wiring loom beside the battery - No big deal. Seems to me that anyone who was experienced in these matters could have the alarm stripped out of the bike and everything put back to the original state in less than an hour (taking into account the time needed to remove and refit the fairing and other bits.)
Works fine and I doubt I'll be using a Meta for the next alarm I get. Since the alarm obviously wasn't working I decided to take it apart and see how easy it might be to analyse. As it turns out the copper on the base of the circuit board was corroding and the piezo sounder had some bad corrosion on the negative connection. Seems to me like the potting compound they used had too much water content and ended up damaging the alarm. Poor design by the looks of it.
Works fine and I doubt I'll be using a Meta for the next alarm I get. Since the alarm obviously wasn't working I decided to take it apart and see how easy it might be to analyse. As it turns out the copper on the base of the circuit board was corroding and the piezo sounder had some bad corrosion on the negative connection. Seems to me like the potting compound they used had too much water content and ended up damaging the alarm. Poor design by the looks of it.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Luke Flanagan TD gives up cannabis, but for the wrong reason
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0323/breaking56.html
He gave up smoking the stuff not for his health, the health and safety of his family or anything sensible like that. He gave it up because he didn't want the Gardai calling around to his house and upsetting his family. What a hero! What a gobshite!
He gave up smoking the stuff not for his health, the health and safety of his family or anything sensible like that. He gave it up because he didn't want the Gardai calling around to his house and upsetting his family. What a hero! What a gobshite!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Interesting news but with a disturbing element
Elite systems are valuing the market for recycled Spectrum games on the iPhone at $150,000 which is kind of nice, but then they talk about going after copyright infringers. I do hope they mean the sort of people who're currently selling emulators and game bundles to punters who don't know any better and which are all available for free as I would hate to see them go after sites like World Of Spectrum which are responsible for keeping these games marketable in the first place.
Manic Miner lives on!
Elite Systems are selling signed prints of the Manic Miner artwork for the knockdown, reduced price of... £50! Signed, you ask? By Who? Who do you think?
Despite my cynicism, if circumstances were different I would have already bought one before writing this!
Despite my cynicism, if circumstances were different I would have already bought one before writing this!
App Store, Shmapp Store! What's in a name?
I see Amazon are attracting the attention of Apple's lawyers for their intention to call their android app store, "Appstore". I really doubt Amazon will find many people rooting for them, least of all those who were burned by the stupid one-click patent dispute (was it really over 10 years ago? Hard to believe the years have gone by so quickly!)
Then Microsoft wade in: "An app store is an app store," Russell Pangborn, Microsoft's associate general counsel said in January. Like shoe store or toy store, it is a generic term that is commonly used by companies, governments and individuals that offer apps," he continued.
Yes, just like those rectangular information display things that people were using on their monitors for years before Microsoft realised there was gold in it. What were those things called again? Boxes? Squares? Portals? Ah yes, Windows, weren't they?
Then Microsoft wade in: "An app store is an app store," Russell Pangborn, Microsoft's associate general counsel said in January. Like shoe store or toy store, it is a generic term that is commonly used by companies, governments and individuals that offer apps," he continued.
Yes, just like those rectangular information display things that people were using on their monitors for years before Microsoft realised there was gold in it. What were those things called again? Boxes? Squares? Portals? Ah yes, Windows, weren't they?
Monday, March 21, 2011
An open letter to John Gormley
Dear Mr Gormley,
It is with bitter satisfaction that I read of your decision to step down as nominal leader of the Green Party. That decision comes as little surprise but yet you still seem to be in denial as to the cause of the party's demise.
The simple answer is that the Green Party made a Faustian pact with little regard for the long-term implications. For a party which claims to have the environmental health of the planet as its raison d'être it's hard to fathom just why you all drank the Fianna Fail-flavoured Flavor-Aid so readily and consequences be damned. At the time it was glaringly obvious to even the most casual observer that Fianna Fail were in the process of crash-landing this country into the ground but you in your hubris decided that you could change all that.
It's hard to tell whether you were misguided, over-ambitious or just plain stupid but the fact of the matter is that you shouldn't have done it. Instead you went ahead and propped up a corrupt, selfish and incompetent government at the very time that the opportunity should have been taken to consign them to the bin. For that I will never forgive you and am delighted that the Green Party has been shown where to stick its so-called principles.
The Green Party could have been so much more if it had just stuck to basic principles, but you decided instead to play politics with one of the dirtiest players in Irish political history. All I can say is good riddance to you and to them.
For the record, our household recycles nearly all our waste. Leftovers (when they happen) are composted and the green bin is well-filled every two weeks. I literally can't remember when I last put the black bin out for emptying, and it's still only a third full. Nearly all the lights in our house are CFL or LED and we use an electronic power logging system to monitor usage and identify heavy usage. Car trips are kept to a minimum as is our central heating usage.
Why is it that so many of us make a real effort to do it right and yet you, who claimed to represent us couldn't even have the good sense to think about the future that we all have to live in?
It is with bitter satisfaction that I read of your decision to step down as nominal leader of the Green Party. That decision comes as little surprise but yet you still seem to be in denial as to the cause of the party's demise.
The simple answer is that the Green Party made a Faustian pact with little regard for the long-term implications. For a party which claims to have the environmental health of the planet as its raison d'être it's hard to fathom just why you all drank the Fianna Fail-flavoured Flavor-Aid so readily and consequences be damned. At the time it was glaringly obvious to even the most casual observer that Fianna Fail were in the process of crash-landing this country into the ground but you in your hubris decided that you could change all that.
It's hard to tell whether you were misguided, over-ambitious or just plain stupid but the fact of the matter is that you shouldn't have done it. Instead you went ahead and propped up a corrupt, selfish and incompetent government at the very time that the opportunity should have been taken to consign them to the bin. For that I will never forgive you and am delighted that the Green Party has been shown where to stick its so-called principles.
The Green Party could have been so much more if it had just stuck to basic principles, but you decided instead to play politics with one of the dirtiest players in Irish political history. All I can say is good riddance to you and to them.
For the record, our household recycles nearly all our waste. Leftovers (when they happen) are composted and the green bin is well-filled every two weeks. I literally can't remember when I last put the black bin out for emptying, and it's still only a third full. Nearly all the lights in our house are CFL or LED and we use an electronic power logging system to monitor usage and identify heavy usage. Car trips are kept to a minimum as is our central heating usage.
Why is it that so many of us make a real effort to do it right and yet you, who claimed to represent us couldn't even have the good sense to think about the future that we all have to live in?
Friday, March 18, 2011
Phase change memory goes nano
It seems that there have been some new developments in miniaturising phase change memory devices. This is a good step towards cheap, robust, mass-produced, non-volatile memory. I imagine that there are further optimisations that could be done in an end-user application of the technology. For example, at the moment they are producing the electric field for each individual bit when setting the material's state to crystalline. This could probably be parallelised by having an area of 256-bits heated to release the crystallised elements back to the amorphous state and then all the bits out of those 256 that need to be set to one would be heated while an overall electric field is applied. This way a whole chunk of bits could be programmed all in one go. Alternatively, the erase could be done as described and then with the electric field applied each of the bits could be programmed serially while the field is on using a 16 x 16 grid address, saving on the number of address lines that would have go through the device.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
National Ignition Facility milestone
Nice to see this for a bit of good news at the moment. It's been a while coming but it looks like steady progress is being made towards a solid proof of concept for fusion-based power generation.
A Most Peculiar Adventure
I stumbled across this some time ago while browsing the Freeware database at freeware.org. It's a RogueLike done for the 7-day challenge but using a rotational direction mechanism on a hexagonal board plus some other twists. It has some great sound which really adds to the atmosphere and I just found myself drawn into it.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Yes, the country was going to hell but we kept quiet - For the good of the country!?
I love how the cockroaches start coming out into the light again to tell us how clever and stoic they were, but never a thought for how much they could have done for us if they'd had the guys to say it when it needed to be said. I have a certain sympathy for Brian Lenihan in that he wasn't up to the job and had to carry a gobshite into the bargain, but to claim that his silence was for the good of the country only compounds the rubbish that Cowen was spouting to the end (who, if he had only expended a fraction of the energy and conviction he showed when trying to defend his incompetence into the running of the country, would have done something towards ameliorating the mess we're in at the moment).
Brian Cox - Showbiz 'scientist'
Apparently Brian Cox, the celebrity scientist who presents the BBC's Wonders of the Universe (which I still haven't got around to watching) doesn't think that TV programmes blasting music at the viewer is an issue.
I guess if he had problem distinguishing information from background noise he might have some consideration for those of us who despise having overly loud music forced on us to the detriment of intelligibility. It's the sort of thing that programmes like Brass Eye and This Morning With Richard Not Judy used to satirise to good effect.
I guess if he had problem distinguishing information from background noise he might have some consideration for those of us who despise having overly loud music forced on us to the detriment of intelligibility. It's the sort of thing that programmes like Brass Eye and This Morning With Richard Not Judy used to satirise to good effect.
Will we default? I don't think we have the gumption.
David McWilliams posts yet another interesting take on the current shenanigans affecting our economy at the moment.
I personally feel that if concessions aren't made by those who helped blow the bubble then we should default. Sarkozy and Merkel are desperately trying to look as if they have some kind of authority when it simply isn't the case. Merkel of all people should be have more than a passing awareness of the dangers of inflicting punitive sanctions on a country for mistakes it made.
I would love our government to put a referendum to us later in the year with a few choices:
1. Do what we're told by Europe. Sell off all our assets and end back up as serfs.
2. Offer Europe a take-it-or-leave-it best-effort deal
3. Screw the loan, pull out of the euro, start printing our own currency again and take back control of our economy.
It's especially galling that the very people offering us the loan are offering it to us on the basis of paying them back the money they pumped into the bubble in the first place, making a tidy margin on the interest earned (in effect, doubling their interest on the original loan?)
The other European countries' banks (primarily German and French I think) need to learn that their actions have consequences too and they can't push all the pain onto Paddy last just because they screwed up too.
HOWEVER, I don't think we as a country have the balls or the cop-on to make a stand like that. If we had, we wouldn't be in this position in the first place. You only have to look at the mentality of the people who tried to get 'free' money out of the ATMs when they went haywire in December last year. You can see that the mindset of hoping to get something for nothing with no regard for the consequences still persists and I don't think the lesson will ever be learnt.
You only have to think about why warnings like this still have to be made in 2011 to see what kind of state we're in. No wonder Europe thinks it can ride roughshod over us - It probably can! We could make a start by ending crap like "Arthur's day".
I personally feel that if concessions aren't made by those who helped blow the bubble then we should default. Sarkozy and Merkel are desperately trying to look as if they have some kind of authority when it simply isn't the case. Merkel of all people should be have more than a passing awareness of the dangers of inflicting punitive sanctions on a country for mistakes it made.
I would love our government to put a referendum to us later in the year with a few choices:
1. Do what we're told by Europe. Sell off all our assets and end back up as serfs.
2. Offer Europe a take-it-or-leave-it best-effort deal
3. Screw the loan, pull out of the euro, start printing our own currency again and take back control of our economy.
It's especially galling that the very people offering us the loan are offering it to us on the basis of paying them back the money they pumped into the bubble in the first place, making a tidy margin on the interest earned (in effect, doubling their interest on the original loan?)
The other European countries' banks (primarily German and French I think) need to learn that their actions have consequences too and they can't push all the pain onto Paddy last just because they screwed up too.
HOWEVER, I don't think we as a country have the balls or the cop-on to make a stand like that. If we had, we wouldn't be in this position in the first place. You only have to look at the mentality of the people who tried to get 'free' money out of the ATMs when they went haywire in December last year. You can see that the mindset of hoping to get something for nothing with no regard for the consequences still persists and I don't think the lesson will ever be learnt.
You only have to think about why warnings like this still have to be made in 2011 to see what kind of state we're in. No wonder Europe thinks it can ride roughshod over us - It probably can! We could make a start by ending crap like "Arthur's day".
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