Friday, May 4, 2001

Shogo for Amiga Released -- 7:02 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

AMIGART is reporting (actually, they reported this last week) that Hyperion has released their port of Shogo to the Amiga. They also report that the game is available from Eye-Play (no affiliation, yadda, yadda). You will need a PowerPC-equipped Amiga to try it. AMIGART even linked to my very own Haus of Shogo! Thanks PlanetShogo.

There are also patches already available for the full version of Shogo for the Amiga and for the demo. Make sure to check those out.

Evil3D Reviews Shogo for Linux -- 6:37 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Avatar at Evil3D posted a review of Shogo for Linux. Overall, it is a very positive review. Unlike my review of the game which compares the Linux version to the Win32 version, this review goes into more detail on the game itself. That's especially helpful for people who haven't played the game before. Check it out. Thanks Linux Today.

Rest of RAMBUS Case Thrown Out -- 3:49 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

The federal judge in charge of RAMBUS' suit against Infineon has thrown out RAMBUS' remaining three claims. Round 1 goes to Infineon. Naturally, there will be appeals. However, Infineon and the other memory maker's lawyers now have more ammunition. This comes on the heels of the revelation that RAMBUS is making a whopping $2 in royalties per 128M DDR RAM chip from Samsung. Thanks Slashdot.

Pondering the Imponderable -- 10:42 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Ouch! We just had a power blip here that caused my computer to restart. Actually, that was the problem. It didn't want to restart. Thankfully, after turning it off and letting it sit for a little while, it came back up with only a few lost chains for my troubles. I think I might have to look into a little UPS.

Q3A/TA Beta Patch Next Week -- 10:11 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun

id's Robert Duffy updated his .plan with word of a new beta patch for Quake III Arena/Team Arena next week. Here's a snip:

We will be releasing a point release beta early next week. This one has taken some time but it addresses quite a few things. Graeme has been very busy with the network stuff and net traffic is now being compressed at about 4:1, this should make a huge difference for modem players. There should be a substantial FPS boost for most people and there are a bunch of fixes/tweaks in place. This release will also contain an auto update system so you can check for new updates at any time. If you get the beta, the final will be offered via the auto update. This addresses all of the cheats and hacks we know about as well. That is an ongoing battle. This point release will utilize a different protocol as a result of the new network compression.

Linus Torvalds Rebuttal -- 10:07 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun

SiliconValley.com has a rebuttal to the Microsoft speech yesterday from Linus Torvalds, the man behind Linux. His response is far more sarcastic than Cox's was, but he does do a good job of poking holes in the arguments presented. Thanks Slashdot.

Thursday, May 3, 2001

Alan Cox Rebuttal -- 8:32 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Linux kernel guru Alan Cox issued his response to the speech delivered by Microsoft's Craig Mundie earlier today. Good stuff. Thanks Linux Today.

The Master comments: That site is getting hammered right now, so it takes a bit to load. Good rebuttal, and I hope Microsoft's PR department is having a bad case of congestive heart failure right now.

Pool of Radiance II Preview -- 7:58 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Gamespot has a preview of the upcoming AD&D RPG, Pool of Radiance II. Pool of Radiance II will use the AD&D 3rd edition rules and will be turn-based. This title might interest me, since J.t. and I wasted quite a bit of time on the original Pool of Radiance in college, if memory serves me correctly. I could never get used to the real-time combat of Baldur's Gate II. Thanks Blue's News.

J.t.Qbe comments: Your memory still serves you correctly. I remember many hours spent in front of my old 8MHz 8086 system playing that game. In fact, that game is where the name J.t.Qbe originated, I believe. I'm with you on the real-time combat thing. I really wanted to like Baldur's Gate.

The Master comments: Heh-I played this game on my old Apple //c. Awesome game, I hope the second iteration is as good.

More Shogo Walkthroughs -- 6:55 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

In an effort to lighten up the post-Microsoft-speech mood around here, I added a couple more Shogo level walkthroughs. These two are actually pretty easy: 27_New_MCA: Bullet in the Head and 28_Airshipdock: An Old Friend.

M$ Declares War on OSS -- 1:40 pm CST, Update by The Master

Check this out: Microsoft declares War on Open Source Movement.

Okay, what right does Microsoft have to declare war on anything? Those losers are gradually driving the cost of basic software right through the bloody roof, and since it's all about the Benjamins, they could give a damn about the poor schmucks that have to pay the bill. Go lay by your dish M$. Open Source is here to stay. I especially like this part:

He said open source programming created software with greater danger of security risks, product instability, a breakdown of common industry design standards that could force valuable intellectual property into the public domain.

Now, considering that ANY open source OS is more secure, stable, and reliable than Windows 2000, I find that little comment a bit hard to swallow. Intellectual property is another place where I get the heebie-jeebies. Too many patents and property rights have been doled out for common-sense programming techniques over the years, and I for one am tired of hearing companies rant over their rights for things they have no right to own.

A.T. Hun comments: Hmmm, anybody nervous up there in Redmond? :) The full text of his speech is available here. The cynic in me says that MS must be paranoid if they are bothering to even acknowledge open source this much. You can sum up his speech very easily by saying, "If it doesn't make money for us, it's bad." Read it yourself and then tell me he's saying something else. I also love how he mentions the failure of companies to give away software and try to make money elsewhere, yet MS has not been above using that very model if it means crushing the competition. IE comes to mind . . .

J.t.Qbe comments: Open source software is Microsoft's biggest nightmare: an enemy which can't be bought or crushed by the usual methods, an enemy which can't be pinned down to one place or time. Microsoft will fight this war the only way it can: with FUD, misinformation and outright lies. You can see it already in this speech. Microsoft wants to redefine terms to its own advantage and then be the sole source of information: if you'll just listen to Microsoft, you'll stay away from that evil, unamerican free software. Problem is, fewer and fewer are listening to Microsoft without a fair dose of skepticism. Watching Microsoft fight this war is like watching the lunatic swinging at bugs only he can see. We're seeing the implosion of Microsoft. Get'cher popcorn here.

Shogo for Linux Review Updated -- 1:06 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

I made a minor update to my review of Shogo for Linux. I discovered that my problems with getting the Shogo multiplayer wizard to refresh more than one server at a time is indeed a problem with my wireless setup and not with Shogo itself.

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