Author: RagManX

Six versions of Windows Vista announced

This is all over the techie world, so no specific reference here.  Microsoft announced six versions of Windows Vista yesterday.  Full details available at Microsoft.

  • Windows Vista Business
  • Windows Vista Enterprise
  • Windows Vista Home Basic
  • Windows Vista Home Premium
  • Windows Vista Ultimate
  • Windows Vista Starter

Business, Enterprise, and Premium will support the new Aero user interface.  The Windows Vista Starter version will be offered in emerging markets.  This specifically means Microsoft is working to provide a lower cost version of Windows in areas with entry level computing equipment and generally lower technology availability.

[tags]Microsoft, Windows Vista[/tags]

 

 

Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) development platform

I honestly have no idea if this is any good, but it certainly sound interesting.  A MMOG development platform with no upfront costs.

THE COMPLETE MMOG PLATFORM

Our platform is in beta! Early developers sign up here!

Independent game developers, the revolution is here! For the first time, you will be able to:

  • Make a complete Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) or virtual world for less money and in less time than you could have dreamed possible.
  • Participate in the game industry’s most exciting frontier.
  • Build the features that make your game unique, leveraging the expertise of the networking and infrastructure experts who helped build the web.
  • Deliver your vision to a built-in market of players–without having to ask a publisher’s permission or give up your intellectual property.
  • Get filthy rich! *

*Or just comfortably well-off. Your mileage may vary.

There are no upfront costs. We only make money when you make money, and if you never charge a cent, you never have to pay us anything. What are you waiting for? Start building your MMOG now!

I probably lack the skill to do anything with this, but I am at least going to learn more about it and see if I can learn enough to do something with it.

[tags]MMOG, gaming, game development, multi-player games[/tags]

XFire sure seems popular

While trying to catch up with all kinds of geek/techie/gaming news today, I found this article at TwitchGuru about the XFire instant messenger/gamer tracker.  After reading the article, I’m actually a little surprised to see how popular XFire is.  I used the program about 3 years ago, maybe even 4.  Perhaps I just didn’t have enough gaming friends to appreciate it, but I didn’t find it particularly useful or in any way more outstanding than ICQ/MSN/AIM/whatever.  That said, I can see the usefulness – maybe I got in too early to benefit from the unique twist XFire offers.

If you haven’t tried XFire, and you have a lot of gaming buddies, try downloading it and using it.  Once installed, you can see what game someone on your buddy list is playing.  You can get stats on your buddies.  You can use the program to send snapshots if you see something in-game that makes you think you just have to grab a picture.  I may even install it and try it again.

How fast has Xfire grown? On average, nearly 300,000 new users register and download the software each month, which means Xfire adds approximately 10,000 new customers every day. Xfire has become so hot so quickly that Fortune Magazine’s David Kirkpatrick recently wrote that Xfire “could be the next MySpace.” It’s an accurate comparison. The best way to think of Xfire is as a combination of a social networking site and an instant messaging platform. In addition to allowing users the ability to text message or voice chat with other Xfire members, the software allows users to create an entire online community. “We wanted to find a better way for people to interact through video games and be able to communicate with one another,” Fong says.

[tags]XFire, Instant Messaging, Social networks, gaming[/tags]

Malware for sale

It had to happen sooner or later.

PandaLabs uncovers a complex malware creation system designed to spy and steal personal data

After Panda ActiveScan detected a malicious code designed to spy on infected computers and capture data, a complex espionage system has been uncovered

This system sells made-to-measure Trojans to hackers for US$ 990

Although this code is checked to avoid detection by different antivirus solutions,  TruPrevent™ Technologies have managed to detect it

The author’s website guarantees that if the Trojan is detect by an antivirus solution, it will be changed

I miss working in the security field.  I remember seeing predictions of this some time ago.  Of course, here is what these folks have to be asking now - is this something new, or has this been around a while and we’re just now finding it?  Also, one has to ask how the money transfer is taking place.  If someone is paying for this, there has to be an exchange of money somewhere.  I’m guessing that’s how people are going to try to track down the programmer in question.

I seriously doubt this is new, although it’s probably not a very old (in tech-world terms “mature”) service.  Still, this will likely grow more popular as other skilled programmers realize they can make real profits from doing bad.  But any that would offer a guarantee to reprogram said malware if it is discovered (as this one was) will have to charge more to stay ahead, fiscally speaking.  This is what you would call a growth industry, and like all growth industries, pricing will be high until it matures.  (via ArsTechnica)

[tags]Maleware, Virus for hire[/tags]

Amazing high quality game renders

If you ignore the obvious “I’m a geek and can’t get a real chick so I’ll totally scope out fake chicks” sadness in the lives of so many of us, you’ll probably be impressed with these King of Fighters renders of Mai Shurinai and others (and excuse me, but is that pronounced like “My Sharona” by The Knack?  No?  Well, it sure looks like it would be close).  I’m assuming these are press-release quality, and not in-game renders, but I could be wrong.

I’d provide an in-story image, but the page owner has right-click disabled with a copyright notice.  I know how to get around that – it isn’t really hard.  But I’ll not snag someone else’s pictures if they want me to leave them be.

[tags]King of Fighters, Game renders[/tags]

Dubious Pimpage

If you aren’t reading Dubious Quality, you should be.  Here are a couple of articles from Bill that show some of the reasons why I am a fan:

The Definitive Load Screen From Hell

Kotaku had a very funny link yesterday to a video of “Smackdown vs. Raw 2006” on the PSP. It’s not the game, actually–it’s the loading screen(s). All six minutes of them. That’s right. To go from inserting the PSP dingle-thingy to actually wrestling in career mode, it takes over SIX MINUTES. And some guy made a little film of what’s happening during that time, complete with Benny Hill theme

The rest of Bill’s commentary on this is spot-on.  And next:

The Women’s Cross-Country Sk–Commercial–ii–Commercial–ng–Commercial Finals

Even though the Olympics have become far more spectacle than sport, cross-country skiing is still the real deal. Anybody who can ski eighteen miles in a race on a torturously hilly course is a warrior. They’re bad asses. And seeing it in high-definition for the first time was a real treat.

So I decide to watch this race, because it’s incredibly intense. And here’s what I get to see:
4.5 minutes of skiing
2.5 minutes of commercials
2.5 minutes of skiing
3.5 minutes of commercials
3.5 minutes of skiing
3.0 minutes of commercials
7.0 minuts of skiing
2.5 minutes of commercials
1.5 minutes of interviews
2 minutes of commercials

Read the whole article for more insight.

Well done, Bill.

[tags]Load screen hell, Olympic hell, Dubious Quality[/tags]

Yaxtrax walker

Yaxtrax Walker

Today’s Cool Tool is the Yaxtrax Walker.  A handy way to get better traction in that slick stuff we call ice and snow.  These would have been handy to have around here a couple of weeks back when the ice/snow passed through Memphis.  I didn’t take any falls, but still would have appreciated the additional sure-footedness these could have given.

[tags]Cool Tool, yaxtrax[/tags]

Funeral Homes Sold Body Parts in ‘Ghastly’ Case

I’m not even sure I can say much about this. I’ll have to just put some of the information from the article down instead.

NEW YORK (AP)—The owner of a biomedical supply house and three others were charged with selling body parts for use in transplants in a scheme a district attorney called “something out of a cheap horror movie.”

Prosecutors said Thursday the defendants made millions of dollars obtaining bodies from funeral parlors in three states and forging death certificates and organ donor consent forms to make it look as if the bones, skin, tendons, heart valves and other tissue were legally removed.

Science myths

Here’s an interesting set of myths and truths in science. I’ll just start with the first one I saw:

It takes seven years to digest gum

While it may prove a bit more difficult to break down than organic foodstuffs, chewing gum gets no special treatment from the digestive system. Doctors figure this old wives’ tale was invented to prevent kids from swallowing the rubbery substance.

and another interesting one for anyone with kids:

The five second rule

Having an arbitrary rule justifying the consumption of food dropped on the floor within a certain time frame is convenient, especially when said food is a brownie. Unfortunately, tests (and logic) confirm that germs will stick to most foods right on contact.

[tags]Science, myths[/tags]

Bark at the moon – Guitar Hero savant

If you are a gamer, you’ve probably heard of Guitar Hero.  And if you’ve read much about it, you’ve probably heard people talking about how hard the hard level is.  If you have any doubts, check out this video by some insanely great Guitar Hero savant.  The image quality isn’t great, but it’s enough to get an idea of how hard this is.  Every time one of the circles at the bottom of the screen lights up, this guy has to hit a key on the guitar controller.  That’s fast, and tough. (via Dubious Quality)

[tags]Guitar Hero, Bark at the Moon, gaming[/tags]

The real reason blogging is hard

As someone who is just getting in to maintaining a web site and trying to keep it active, I completely understand this article. I’ve tried doing web sites in the past, but always ran out of steam within a few weeks. Blahblahblahg is the first I’ve kept going and stayed interested in maintaining for a more extended time period. And reading the linked article does say pretty much what I’m finding true. And I’m not even running a real blog yet – more a link to other sites and comment briefly on them when it interests me site.

Day in and day out, day after day, night after night, you have to keep working. Read, write, comment. Over and over. A lot of the time, it comes natural and it’s fun, but sometimes it doesn’t and it isn’t.

. . .

So What Does It Mean?

It just means that like a lot of things, blogging is hard. It’s hard for all the reasons we’ve talked about over the past few months: because of the gatekeepers, because of the people who whine about the gatekeepers, because someone didn’t answer our email, because somebody else sent us an email, because of the blog networks, in spite of the blog networks, because some of our posts are boring, because the RIAA is suing dead grannies.

But mostly it’s hard because of the grind.

If you have ever thought about running a blog-type web site, read this and see if you are still interested.

[tags]Blogs, blogging[/tags]