Scribbled on August 28th, 2008
Tis' just a tiny rant... As much as I like to ocasionally play a game or two of Counter Strike (usually the Source version), I just can't help to emphasize on how much the dedicated server software for this thing sucks genitalia... I am unfortunate enough to administer one, and it's one heck of an aspirin-immune headache.
For some reason, the whole thing likes to crash in the middle of a game with a witty "C++ runtime error"... Not only that, but everybody ends up flying around the map with huge pings if someone makes the cpu usage go above 10-20% on the host machine. Why is that so? I have no idea, but obviously SRCDS is so awfully designed, that it's a surprise that so many dedicated servers exist online. To run this thing on a typical Windows system, you need a 2-3GHz machine that is completely stripped off any unnecessary services, and *maybe* then you can run a server that can handle 7vs7 players. Don't even think about copying a file, or running any other app except SRCDS, otherwise your players will give you the "glowing red eye" routine...
In a nutshell, go to hell, Valve...
Scribbled on August 10th, 2008
Interestingly enough, even here in my technology dull hometown, ATA based devices are finally dying off. It was expected, sure, but not at this rate... On one day, every store in town has loads of ATA HDDs or CD/DVD drives available at very reasonable prices, but the next day, the price shoots up and the only two HDD capacities available are 160GB and 200GB (I have no clue on why is that so). DVD writers? Yeah, sure... "Call us in a week or two" is the usual response for trying to purchase one of these...
I needed to repair a low-end PC today that had an old Maxtor Slim 30GB IDE drive barely running inside (a sh**load of bad sectors was the culprit). I assume it was the unbelieveably high temperature that it was generating that finished it off, since my last repair session involved having to place a passive cooler mount on it just to lower the temperature to 50C (otherwise, it would climb up to a whopping 70C!). Who could imagine that such a slim piece of metal could almost boil water? With all the stores around not wanting anything to do with ATA's, I had to visit a crappy store that sells "el' cheap'o" and "use for a day, then throw away" components... When a sweaty guy appeared from behind the curtain (wizard of Oz, anyone?), I immideately noticed loads of HDDs stacked up on a shelf behind him... "Got ATA HDDs?" - I asked? "What kind?" - he replied with a "you just ran over my dog" attitude, "Any kind" - I politely mumbled, adding that a 160 or 200Gig capacity will do just fine. I waited while he printed out my warranty and placed the HDD in a LiteOn CD-ROM anti static bag (WHY!?)... Well, despite that, everything went just neat-o... It was a Hitachi DeskStar (formerly IBM). I'm running the poor lil' bastard as I'm typing this, and it's way queter and cooler, thank god.
Whoever invented IDE cables should have at least thought about curling them up by default, because those god damn wide cable stripes block every vent inside the chassis! Also, their size limitation and immence width really make my day when I need to squeeze them in there without damaging them or catching an active cooler...
What can I say... A 1m SATA cable I have in my PC is a dream come true, since connecting it does not involve breaking your fingers and watching out for damaged pins, and the MASTER/SLAVE configurations with those pesky jumpers are a thing of the past.
As much as I got pissed off today because nobody has ATA drives anymore, I can only say good riddance, it was about time...
Scribbled on July 27th, 2008
With all the iPhone 3G hype that's been going around lately, it's quite a refreshment to be able to glaze at such a marvelous device! The HTC Touch Pro really packs a punch on the non-iPhone side of the smartphone market... Removable memory, huge 2.8 inch screen, FM tuner, GPS, 3G (with video calling, *cough*) with HSDPA, WiFi, 3.2MPx camera + flash, and a hidden QWERTY keyboard - it's loaded! The Qualcomm 528 MHz processor poweres this beast, and Windows Mobile 6.1 is just the right OS to run it on. While most of the world would consider a Windows Mobile based phone to be a productive, but ugly gadget, the Touch Pro, in combination with HTC's Touch Flo 3D, the UI looks absolotely fantastic!
It will be out somewhere in August with a price tag ranging from 600$ to 800$ (depending on the needed features that mobile operators will consider (un)necessary). Oh, and I will probably never even touch the "Touch", given that it's cost is a hefty one. Boo hoo, dammit...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pENEldRxuwQ[/youtube]
Scribbled on July 26th, 2008
"What you're doing is illegal, and what we're doing is not - because we will make it legal." - That's the official hymn, slogan or whatever of the RIAA, or at least that's what I think it is. I just came accross a YouTube video and actually listened to it in the background instead of watching it... That was a first. In a nutshell, it was horrifying. When watching a plain ol' spokesperson in the form of a president of a huge "sueing you for money is our business" organization such as the RIAA, it's kind of encouraging not seeing any vampire fangs on him... But listening to him actually brings shivers down my back, really.
I came down to a conclusion that Mr. Sherman is obviously a bad man (I'll just use that attribute, since people all around the world have already used "bastard", "ballsucker", "disgusting freak" and so on...). All his thesis on anti-piracy activity rely on "internet filters", or as I would like to put it - the Internet in chains (bye bye internet neutrality). And if those don't work due to widely present simple encryption methods, we'll just spew out some specialized software that the user HAS TO INSTALL or WON'T KNOW IF IT IS INSTALLED to monitor the decrypted data and see if any downloads are illegal to use. NEWSFLASH: Spyware is illegal! People don't like being spied on! Being able to play "big brother" with any PC in the world is very, VERY dangerous. Sony tried to do that once ( click me ), but miserably failed. No lessons learned from this? Why so?
The best thing to do when fighting music piracy is to just shut the hell up. The more people listen to it, the more it is likely they will buy the artists CD, concert ticket or any other form of merchandise.
Music piracy is not stealing. (that's why it's called piracy, not "music theft") Stealing a car is stealing, because the other side does not own the car anymore, right? Stealing an audio CD is stealing, because the other side does not own the audio CD anymore, right? But what about downloading music? Both sides have their Mp3 files on their media, and both of them are pretty much satisfied. There's no theft here, only copyright infringement, and that's not theft. Period.
Here's the video, try not to barf:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxYGZ7Z6joQ[/youtube]
Scribbled on July 6th, 2008
I've just put this neat little app to the test, and it look sweet so far! Although the background "dotty" image formation could be a bit more realistic (more color and dots should be involved), the tech preview proves a valuable point - photo albums can become much more interactive than they currently are! Try out some default image albums already uploaded by the Microsoft team, you will be pleasantly surprised. All images are molded together into a 3D fusion that add that final missing dimension to your photos. Too bad that it requires IE6 or IE7 at the time (ActiveX sucks for applications like this... what happened to exe files?).
Scribbled on July 5th, 2008
Using DeepZoom and Silverlight, Barrack Obama just got his own version of a "Bush mosaic", but without the dead soldiers of course. Many Obama fans and supporters sent their pictures so that a full 1Gigapixel mosaic could be formed (yeah, it's huge - that's 10000x10000 pixels). See it on deepzoomobama.com, but remember that the page requires you to have Microsoft Silverlight installed.
Scribbled on July 4th, 2008
I'm just so freakin' glad to live in a free and prosperous country such as this one... In fact, Serbia is so great and righteous, that it has to remain the last on the list for all things good, and at the very top for all things bad, just for the sake of feeling important while pouring sacks of 10 day old manure on the head of every normal person that resides within.
If you haven't noticed yet, I'm pissed. Very much so.
What I tried to do today looked too good to be true (needless to say, it was) - I tried using Microsoft DreamSpark to download some free software for students (for educational purposes). The process includes a verification procedure that confirms that you are truly a valid student of any listed university. Allot of countries in Europe are supported, but not mine, nor does it look like it will be any time soon. It sucks not having an unified student filing system, like that's so hard to accomplish. Although loads more laws, decrees, important people, general democracy realizations in Serbia are on my "I will slice your spine in two" list, this made my stomack do a 360 degree spin. Thank you, oh so great country of mine...
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